Who doesn't want a good pesto sauce to replace that boring red sauce from the preggo jar you've been grabbing every time you make pasta? Well this recipe for basil pesto with almonds instead of pine nuts is so simple, easy, and delicious, you'll want to put it on everything.

Basil Pesto with Almonds

Traditional pesto sauce recipes are made with fresh basil and pine nuts, but in this recipe we use almonds. Why? I like the flavor better and honestly I can never find pine nuts for some reason. The store always has every kind of almond you can think of but for the life of me, I can never find pine nuts. Go figure. But, this recipe tastes better than any store bought pesto sauce so I'll keep my almonds thanks!

Ok, this basil pesto with almonds sauce could not be any easier to make. If you have a blender or better yet, a food processor, you are good to go. Through everything in there and let it do the work for you. Amazing pesto ready for anything in 5 minutes.

Pesto Ingredients

So making this sauce is super easy and quick right? Let's talk what makes it spectacularly next level. As with all good recipes, the ingredients need to be great to make the recipe everything and then some.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is a tricky ingredient. Most olive oils out there are not real olive oil. They are blends of other crappy oils that are sold to you as olive oil. If you want really good, authentic olive oil, look at the label. If the oil is from multiple different places- red flag- don't get it. You want to buy olive oil that says it's made in one place. Otherwise you are getting a mixture of oils from all over- not pure, real, olive oil.

Always buy "extra virgin." Don't bother with virgin, light, or any other labels that honestly don't mean very much at all. If you can find one with a label that says EVOO made in Australia or Chile, that's the one to get. Australia has the highest standards for quality olive oil and they do not allow mix over from previous harvests. It's going to be fresh and authentic from both countries.

Garlic

Please. please, don't settle for minced garlic in a jar. Get fresh cloves of garlic and throw them in the blender or food processor. It's simple and easy and makes SUCH a big difference.

Jar garlic is very very sour tasting compared to the aromatic and wonderfulness that is fresh garlic.

Almonds

I love to toast my almonds a little in the oven before adding them to the blender for the sauce. I think it adds a bit more flavor. Simply pre-heat the oven to 400 and toast them up for 5-10 minutes. Or, better yet, put them in your toaster oven for 5 minutes or so on the toast setting. But, this part of the process is totally optional. You can also buy pre-toasted almonds if you want.

I would get the sliced almonds. They tend to blend better without leaving chunks behind.

Basil Pesto with Almond Uses

This basil pesto with almond sauce is definitely amazing on more than just some fresh pasta. We use it on naan bread pizza (omg YUSS please), our homemade Gnocchi recipe, grilled chicken, even some toast with tomato and mozzarella (hello yummm). There are so many ideas for a good pesto sauce like this one.

Tag us on Instagram @grabthemangos and give us a rating and review right here in the comments! And don't forget to pin and save it for next time!

If you LOVE this recipe, try out our easy homemade Naan bread to make a pesto pizza with or our homemade gnocchi recipe to slather in pesto 🙂