This Oil-free Vegan Spinach Arugula Pesto is so full of flavor and whole food ingredients. It is made with fresh arugula, spinach and almond butter! It is delicious served on pasta or drizzled over buddha bowls!
OIL-FREE VEGAN SPINACH ARUGULA PESTO
I couldn’t decide what to make for dinner tonight….needed something quick and with leftover things in the fridge. You should be able to make this with most of your stocked ingredients. Also, a change from quinoa, brown rice and lentils was needed….so I decided on pasta. We LOVE pasta. I had some extra arugula and spinach and they were screaming “make me into a pesto!”
Unlike most pestos, this one contains no basil, no parmesan cheese and no oil! Don’t you worry though, this pesto is still just as fabulous, packed with flavor and you won’t miss any of the traditional ingredients! Dairy-free and oil-free pesto? You bet.
THE SECRET TO THIS OIL-FREE VEGAN SPINACH ARUGULA PESTO
A lot of pestos are just fresh cold ingredients, but I decided to caramelize the onions and cook the garlic for added flavor. It turned out so amazingly, delicious and my husband gobbled it all up. Ssshhh don’t tell him there is spinach in there! He doesn’t like spinach but it’s amazing what people will love when it is turned into a sauce!
For this Vegan Arugula Pesto, you need the following (+ salt/pepper/water):
- red onion
- dried oregano
- dried basil
- garlic
- nutritional yeast
- roasted almond butter
- fresh lemon juice
- arugula (use all spinach if you don’t like the strong taste of arugula)
- spinach
- pasta of choice
You will not miss the parmesan or oil in this pesto, it has a restaurant-quality rich flavor to it and zero lack in flavor!
I hope you enjoy this Vegan Arugula Pesto! Drop me a line below after you make it!
Other Vegan Oil-free Pestos:
Oil-free Vegan Spinach Arugula Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon chipotle spice (optional for a little kick of heat)
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons (32g) creamy roasted almond butter
- 1 tablespoon (15g) fresh lemon juice
- 5 oz (about 4 packed cups) package of a mix of fresh arugula and spinach (use all spinach if desired)
- 12 oz fettuccine pasta or desired pasta
Instructions
- Add the red onion, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, chipotle spice and 1/4 cup (60g) water to a large pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very tender and almost all the water is gone. Add the minced garlic and cook another two minutes, stirring and watching closely so it doesn't burn. Once all of the water is gone, remove from the heat.
- In a food processor, add the cooked veggie mixture, nutritional yeast, almond butter and lemon juice. Process until smooth. Add in the spinach and arugula in batches, if necessary, and pulse until very smooth. Taste and add any additional seasoning or salt, if desired. Serve over brown rice fettuccine or desired pasta. Add some toasted garlic Ezekiel bread for dipping!
yum! You are always my go to for quick, oil-free recipes. Thank you! This was delicious, my boyfriend and I loved it.
This was so good! I’m wiping out the food processor bowl and eating it straight! I can’t wait to try it on a flatbread type pizza and some whole wheat pasta! But if those don’t work out, I think it would be good on anything!
Yay, I love that you loved it Shelly!! Oh yes, check out my flatbread pizza recipe here: https://thevegan8.com/vegan-pesto-pizza-oil-free/
Could you replace the greens with basil?
Hi Cheryl, I’d make this pesto instead that already uses basil! https://thevegan8.com/penne-pesto-this-rawsome-vegan-cookbook-giveaway/
Hi Brandi! Love your site! Could the almond butter be left out? And nut milks in other recipes for those of us with nut allergies?
Hi Hilary! You could leave the almond butter out, it will just be less rich. As far as nut milks, it really depends on the recipes, but in general if you replace the nut milk with soy milk, you should be fine, but definitely don’t just omit it, you will need to replace with another milk 🙂
Looking forward to it, Brandi. Making it tonight~! Thanks for updating it.
Wonderful Lisa, I hope you enjoy it!
Should there be a chipotle spice in the recipe? Noticed that you mentioned it in the directions.
Hi Lisa! Sorry about that, I have updated the recipe. It is optional, just gives it a little heat. Hope you enjoy it!
It’s really good, but doesn’t taste like a pesto to me and is a tad sweet. Not sure how to balance that.
Sweet?? It shouldn’t be sweet. There is nothing in the recipe that is sweet. Did you use sweetened almond butter by accident? Here is a more traditional pesto if you like to try it: https://thevegan8.com/penne-pesto-this-rawsome-vegan-cookbook-giveaway/
Made this with spinach and it was amazing. tasted like we were eating at a fancy Italian restaurant