Beet Greens Pesto at Home

This year, on somewhat of an impulse, I planted a bunch of beets in my garden all at once. The problem with planting them all at the same time is that they will all be ready to pull out of the ground and eat, all at the same time. So, a couple weeks ago I found myself with a basket full of beets. I also knew that I genuinely wanted to utilize the greens since they’re said to have more nutrients in them than even kale and spinach.

Some of the greens I used in my daily green smoothies but I still found myself with a rather large amount left over. So, I decided to try the beet greens in a pesto.

I honestly wasn’t sure how well a Beet Greens Pesto would work out but I have seen it before on a menu while traveling so I figured it must be okay. Turns out, I loved it! PLUS, I’ve shared a recipe with you for Beet Pestoso it’s only natural that I would also share a recipe for a pesto utilizing the greens. OH, maybe I should try combining these two recipes and see what that’s like! (I’ll report back on that one)

As you might expect, it has a milder and more earthy taste than old-style pesto. The recipe I’m sharing today is for pure beet green pesto but there are so many things that you can do with this. I would use this as a base and add to it. I made the beet greens pesto plain, split it up into a few small batches and tried adding various herbs to it to see how it tastes. Both parsley and basil were great additions!

I used pinenuts, although I’ve seen pestos made with a variety of different nuts and instead of old-style parmesan cheese, I used THIS Vegan Parmesan cheesethat I’m obsessed with and keep on hand at all times (<<<<seriously Deeply good and delightfully simple to make).

I also used this lemon infused olive oil from Trader Joes that I’m using on pretty much everything at the moment. ps- Trader Joes haul with my fav items is coming to the blog in the particularly near future!! Expect to see this olive oil on the list.

The other great thing about pesto: it takes a quite minimal amount of effort to make. All of the ingredients are placed in food processor and blended until they’re mostly combined.

This Beet Greens Pesto will last in the fridge for up to a few weeks. I used it on toast, over pasta, as a dip with a little extra cheese sprinkled over top. It’s tasty, healthy, and nutritious. win win win.

I hope that you have a particularly lovely Monday, friends!!