Kale Pesto

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Yield: 20

Kale Pesto

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Kale pesto is one of my favourite ways to use up a big bunch of greens. I blitz kale with garlic, parmesan, lemon juice, nuts (whatever I have), and olive oil for a bold, vibrant pesto that’s full of flavour and goodness. It’s a bit earthier than traditional basil pesto but just as versatile – perfect stirred through pasta, dolloped on soups, or smeared onto toast. It keeps well in the fridge and adds a lovely depth to even the simplest meals.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 130g Kale
• 70g Almonds
• 50g Parmigiano Reggiano (or other hard Italian cheese)
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & pepper to season

Instructions

1. Add the kale, almonds, Parmigiano Reggiano, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil to the bowl of a food processor. Blitz for 30 seconds, or until well combined and smooth.
2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

• Kale makes a heartier, more robust pesto than basil or spinach. It's got a slight bitterness that's balanced beautifully by the almonds and cheese.
• I use this food processor for making pesto. It's powerful enough to break down the fibrous kale leaves without overworking the ingredients.
• Remove the thick stems from the kale before adding it to the processor. You only want the leafy parts, as the stems can be tough and woody.
• For a milder flavour, blanch the kale in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then plunge it into ice water and squeeze out the excess moisture before blitzing. This softens the bitterness and makes the pesto brighter green.
• Almonds give this pesto a lovely creamy texture. If you prefer, you can lightly toast them in a dry pan first for extra depth, though it's not essential.
• The lemon juice cuts through the richness and adds brightness. You can increase it to a tablespoon if you want more zing.
• If the pesto is too thick, add a little more olive oil or a splash of warm water to loosen it up.
• For a milder garlic flavour, use 1 clove instead of 2, or blanch the garlic briefly in boiling water before adding.
• Store in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 5 days. Pour a thin layer of olive oil over the top to prevent oxidation and keep it fresh.
• You can freeze kale pesto in ice cube trays for up to 3 months. Pop out individual cubes as needed and defrost at room temperature or stir directly into hot pasta.

What I Cook With

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• 
  KitchenAid Chopper
• 
  Mason Jar with Acacia Wood Lid

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

20

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 82Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 79mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 2g

Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

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Kale Pesto Recipe

A Fridge Full of Kale

The other day, after whipping myself up a gorgeously verdant kale and bacon salad, I found myself staring at an intimidatingly large bunch of leftover kale. And I mean a lot. The fridge situation was looking a little jungle-esque. Never one to let anything go to waste (my freezer is practically a time capsule of leftovers), I grabbed the food processor and made a batch of kale pesto.

Now, pesto is one of those glorious little things I always forget just how versatile it is until I make it again. Chicken, pesto pasta, roasted veg, sandwiches, even the odd spoonful straight from the jar – it perks up just about anything. My kale pesto comes together in a flash, thanks to the food processor, and packs such a punch of flavour it makes me feel like I’ve performed kitchen magic.

Technically, the word “pesto” comes from the traditional method of using a pestle and mortar. But look, I’m no purist. I love old-school techniques but I’m also a realist – I happily whack everything into the food processor and give it a good blitz. It’s easy, quick, and still absolutely delicious.

Gifting and Jarring Kale Pesto

One of the sneaky delights of making pesto is just how much you get out of a single batch. It might not look like much going in, but somehow it always seems to fill every little jar I have stashed away. And trust me, I have a lot of jars. It’s practically a hobby at this point! Especially those little desert jars, and I use Pringle caps as lids. Top tip right there!

Anyway, I love giving these jars away. Friends, family, neighbours – most of them have learned to expect a rogue jar of something delicious from me at random times. There’s something lovely about gifting food – It’s intimate, generous, and frankly a bit old-fashioned in the nicest way.

At the time I make this, many of us are self-isolating and working from home. It feels like everyone is leaning a bit more into those small, homey rituals. Sharing food, even from a distance, feels especially comforting. Just pop a jar on a neighbour’s doorstep with a note and a smiley face. Instant joy.

Simple Food, Big Flavour

I know people can get a bit nervous about kale. It’s a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it ingredient. But honestly, once it’s blitzed with olive oil, garlic, lemon, nuts, and cheese, it turns into this gorgeously nutty, slightly grassy, utterly moreish concoction that barely tastes like kale at all.

One of the things I love most is how easy it is to adapt. Out of parmesan? Use pecorino. No pine nuts? Try walnuts, almonds, even sunflower seeds if that’s what you’ve got on hand. The key is just to keep tasting until it hits that sweet spot. I find the lemon juice really lifts everything and helps balance out the richness.

And let’s be honest – sometimes dinner just needs to be a ten-minute job. A spoonful of this stirred through pasta, or dolloped on toast with a fried egg, and suddenly it feels like a meal. A fancy meal, at that. The kind you might pretend took a bit of effort, even though it absolutely did not.

Ingredient breakdown

Kale

Kale makes a heartier, more robust pesto than anything else in this collection. It has a slight bitterness and a fibrous, substantial texture that produces a pesto with real body and presence rather than something delicate and mild. The most important prep step is removing the thick stems before anything goes into the food processor. You only want the leafy parts because the stems are tough and woody and won’t break down properly no matter how long you run the processor. If you find kale too bitter on its own, blanching the leaves in boiling water for a minute or two and then plunging them into ice water softens that bitterness considerably and also gives the finished pesto a brighter, more vibrant green colour.

Almonds

Almonds are the nut of choice across this pesto collection and they work particularly well with kale because their natural creaminess and slight sweetness counterbalances the bitterness of the greens. You can toast them lightly in a dry pan first for extra depth and complexity, but raw almonds blend into a smooth, creamy consistency without any issue and the difference here is subtler than it is in some of the other recipes. Either way works.

Parmigiano Reggiano

Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano adds the salty, savoury backbone that anchors the whole pesto. Because kale is such a strong flavoured green, you need a cheese with enough character to hold its own, and Parmigiano Reggiano does that beautifully. A hard Italian cheese like Grana Padano or Pecorino works just as well if that’s what you have. Grate it yourself for the best result.

Lemon juice

Just a teaspoon, which is the smallest amount of lemon across all the pestos in this collection, but it does important work cutting through the richness of the almonds and olive oil and brightening the flavour of the kale. If you want more citrus punch, increase it to a full tablespoon. Taste after blitzing and decide. The kale can handle a more generous squeeze of lemon than something more delicate like the baby spinach version.

Garlic

Two cloves of raw garlic, which suits the robust nature of this pesto. Kale is assertive enough to stand up to a proper garlic presence without being overwhelmed, unlike the baby spinach pesto where restraint made more sense. If you prefer something milder, drop back to one clove or blanch the garlic briefly before it goes in. The garlic mellows as the pesto sits in the fridge, so keep that in mind if you’re making it ahead.

Extra virgin olive oil

Half a cup goes in with everything at the start, which is the same approach as the other pestos in this series where all the ingredients go in together rather than the oil being drizzled in slowly. Kale is dense and fibrous, so having the oil in there from the beginning helps the processor break everything down properly. Add a little more if the pesto comes out thicker than you’d like, or loosen it with warm water if you’re planning to use it as a pasta sauce.

Salt and pepper

Added to taste at the end. The Parmigiano Reggiano brings plenty of salt, so taste before you add anything and season up gradually. The pepper is worth being generous with here because a little heat and spice works really well against the bitterness of the kale.

Serve this with

• Tossed through hot pasta like rigatoni or penne with a splash of pasta water to help the sauce coat everything evenly.
• Stirred through a warm grain bowl with roasted vegetables, feta, and a drizzle of extra olive oil for a quick weekday lunch.
• Spread thickly on toasted sourdough and topped with a fried egg and chilli flakes for a breakfast or brunch situation that uses the pesto as more than just a condiment.