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Spice things up on your next pizza night by including this sun-dried tomato pesto as the ‘sauce.’ It’s too good not to wow! My sun-dried tomato pesto recipe is dairy free and bursting with flavor.
I had no clue how deep my love for a sun-dried tomato pesto recipe goes, but it’s legit! This recipe is a blend of some great Italian spices + flavors, and works with pasta, veggie bowls, and pizza, as well as a dip for crackers.
Table of Contents
What are sun-dried tomatoes?
Sun-dried tomatoes have literally been dried in the sun, then packed into glass jars with olive oil. At first glance, I think they look disgusting. Yet you gotta get over that because they really are flavorful and make a delicious pesto. You can add them as a topping to pizza, veggie bowls, veggie wraps, or transform them into the most flavorful pesto you’ve ever had.
Can you freeze it?
You can freeze this sun-dried tomato vegan pesto recipe in any freezer safe container. I like to use shallow mason jars, as they are the perfect size for a serving, yet I know freezer safe bags work well to save space. The day before you want to use it, just put in the fridge and allow it to soften so you can spread it easier. Make sure to mix it up well before using, so that all the oils are reincorporated into the sauce.
What to do with sun-dried tomato pesto
- Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta: Cookie&Kate has a delicious vegetarian one
- Summer Pesto Pizza: Swap out your pizza sauce for this pesto, then experience a crazy flavor explosion
- Crackers and Pesto: The new comfort food
- Drizzle on a Veggie Bowl: This pesto is incredible on a bowl
- Fresh Veggies and Pesto: Carrot sticks, sweet bell peppers (especially the mini ones), radishes, celery, and more can be dipped into sun-dried tomato pesto for a delicious snack
How to make this recipe
Just like any pesto recipe, you’ll need a food processor, mortar and pestle or blender to combine the ingredients well. You’ll also need a few plant-based ingredients to make this recipe. All of them can be found at your local grocery store.
Cook with me! Follow along with the sun-dried tomato pesto recipe card below. It’s very easy and I know you will love how it turns out. The flavors are out of this world!
More pesto recipes
If you want more pesto recipes, then check these out:
Recipe swaps
If almonds aren’t your thing, swap them out with another nut. I like walnuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, or pine nuts for this recipe. If you like the idea of sun-dried tomatoes, yet can’t use them, try roasted red peppers. These are delicious in their own right, and can give a similar texture + color that the tomatoes give. While the shallot gives a unique flavor to this pesto, swap it with 1/4 cup yellow onion if no shallots are available.
No matter what you swap in or out of this recipe, I want to know how it turned out! Don’t forget to leave a comment + review on how this tasted, and how you enjoyed it. I love new ideas for pesto, so share away!
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw almonds
- 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes oil-packed. undrained
- ½ cup fresh basil
- 1 shallot
- 1 garlic cloves
- ¼ tsp sea salt, unrefined
- extra-virgin olive oil extra virgin, if needed
Instructions
- Place the almonds in a food processor or blender and pulse until finely chopped.
- Add the tomatoes, basil, shallot, garlic, and salt and pulse until everything is finely chopped but not completely pureed.
- If the machine is having trouble processing, add a little olive oil. Taste and add more salt, if needed.
Equipment
Notes
- Transfer to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for several months.
This truly is an amazingly delicious pesto! Very deep flavor. Since I didn’t use oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, I had to add a lot of oil to get it to a consistency I like. But no problem. Now I don’t have to add any olive oil to the food I’m eating this pesto with. 🙂
I made this recipe from your cookbook, Simple Green Meals and loved it! So fun to see it on the blog now so i can access it here too. Thanks for all your tasty recipes that are also so healthy for our bodies. The more plants we eat, the better we feel!
So true!! 😀