Can You Make Pesto in a Blender?

Of all the many things that you can make in a blender, pesto is one of the more debated recipes. There are those people who say you simply can’t make pesto in a regular blender.

Other, say hogwash…they make amazing pesto in a blender and who can argue?

Finally, there are the old school types who say that you don’t need a food processor or even a blender to make pesto and that you can do it the old fashioned way.

So, in an effort to answer those questions and some related ones, I’m writing what should be the end all and be all article on how to make pesto with a blender (as you can guess, I’m on the side that says you can!).

Let’s get started.

Can you use a blender instead of a food processor for pesto?

Many people don’t happent to own a food processor and they want to know if you can use a blender to make pesto. Most recipes that you find online are going to call for the use of a food processor to make pesto.

If you have a food processor, then you know how great they are for making:

• Pie Crust
• Falafal
• Hummus
• Nut Butter
• and yes, pesto

But it is possible to use a blender instead of a food processor to make pesto (as well as any of those other recipes).

They key is to use the right blender or the right pesto recipe.

I’ve made pesto many times in my Ninja blender and it’s come out great. I also made it in my smaller nutribullet blender (which I think does a better job at making pesto) and have had lots of success.

What’s The Drawback To Using a Blender To Make Pesto?

While it’s certainly possible to make pesto in a blender, it’s not the ideal choice of kitchen appliance. The reason is that blenders are tall when compared to food processors. That height is fine when you’re making a smoothie. But it becomes a liability when you are making something smaller such as a pesto.

Consider what happens when you put the basil, olive oil, cheese and pine nuts into a blender. Most of that material will sit at the bottom and the blender blades will have a hard time blending it  up.

When you use a food processor, you don’t experience the same issues. That’s because a food processor is not as high in design. Blenders were originally designed for smoothies and other liquid based applications.

Food processors are more geared towards making things such as hummus, tomato salsa, and even pastry dough. The are successful at these tasks because of their design, which includes a lower profile than a blender.

Now, if you are making a huge ammount of pesto. Say, for a party dish and you need a lot of pesto, then a blender will work just fine.

Also, if you happen to use a smaller blender, such as a nutribullet, then you won’t have as much of an issue.

Between the two blenders that I’ve used most, the Nutribullet was way better at making pesto. The Ninja was a bit of a pain, to be honest.

How Do You Make Pesto Anyway?

Pesto at it’s core is a sauce made with basil and olive oil. Along with those two ingredients you are likely to find pine nuts, cheese, and sometimes lemon juice.

Some people (vegans) tend to leave out the cheese. And that’s perfectly fine to do. While it might not be the autehtic genovese style pesto, it will sure taste great!

Here’s a video from Laure Vitale where she shows you exactly how to make pesto. And the cool thing is that she uses an immersion blender. That’s actually my favoriate method of making pesto (we will come to that later on).

As you can see, she uses lemons in her recipe. That’s not somethign I choose to do most of the time. But feel free to include it if you like.

Should You Buy A Special Food Processor For Making Pesto Or Can You Use Your Blender?

If you don’t own a food processor and you have the extra space for it on your kitchen table, then it is worth consdering. However, I would not reccomend that you order one of these food processors simply to make pesto.

You can make pesto with an immersion blender, or a smaller bullet blender. Large blenders like the Vitamix and Nutribullet simply are too big to make pesto.

I would suggest that you use a smaller blender such as a nutribullet or an immersion blender. In fact, with an immersion blender, you can make a ton of non-traditional things. I wrote up a whole article on what you can do with an immersion blender that you can read if you’re intersted in learning more.

You should only buy a food processor if you’re looking for something that can make things your blender can’t do. For instance, if you like to make pie crust from scratch (that’s obviously something you need a food processor for). Likewise, if you want to make hummus or falafel, or create shredded vegetables for salads, then you will need a food processor.

I don’t want to go into too much depth about what type of food processor you should buy because I’ve covered it elsewhere. But here are my top suggestions:

 

 

What Types of Blenders Work Best For Making Pesto?

The best type of blender for making pesto is an immerson blender or a smaller bullet sized blender. I would steer clear of large sized blenders.

If you do happen to have a large blender then it’s going to be tricky to make pesto. One of the problems with the larger blender is that there is not enough material for the blender to work with. The basil will often times sit at the bottom of the blender and isn’t going to fill the blender jar.

If you use a smaller bullet sized blender, then you don’t have this issue.

So, my list of blenders for making pesto is as follows:

• Any Bullet Blender
• Any Immersion Blender

If you have a larger blender made by Ninja, you will have to stop the blender and use a plastic or wooden spoon to scrape the sides and make sure that everything is in order. I’ve made pesto in a large capacity blender (the Ninja) and it’s just not a good use of the blender.

Here’s the blenders that I suggest you get if you don’t have a blender and are planning on buying one and want one that you can make pesto with.

I would suggest that you either use a smaller blender or a food processor, or if you don’t have either and want to make it from hand, then do that. You can make pesto by hand like they did in the old days. I will cover that in my next section.

Can You Make Pesto By Hand?

Sure, you can certainly make pesto by hand. In fact, that is how pesto was made for thousands of years. Pesto is one of the oldest sauces in European cusine.

In the video above, the lady uses a motar and pestle. These are great to have on hand if you’re ever looking to crush whole spice or make pesto the old fashioned way. They are also a great decoriative touch. You can even use these to serve guacamole with at a party!