This fresh garlic scape pesto is a delicious, spicy alternative to the classic basil pesto! The flavor is super similar but with a stronger garlic kick. You can use it in place of regular basil pesto in pretty much any recipe!
This garlic scape pesto only requires a handful of simple ingredients and comes together in a food processor just 5 minutes!
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Why You'll Love This Garlic Scape Pesto
This garlic scape pesto is an incredibly versatile sauce that tastes great on Italian favorites like pasta and pizza, but also makes a delicious garnish for any dish! The garlic scapes make it a little spicier and more flavorful than traditional pesto for a unique twist that packs a punch!
It's quick, easy and requires minimal ingredients and clean-up!
You might also like these other pesto varieties!
More fun ways to use this homemade garlic scape pesto include:
- Spread on roasted chicken and top with cheese, then broil
- Use as a dip for crusty bread or veggies
- Make a caprese style sandwich with pesto
- My favorite pesto risotto with toasted pine nuts.
- Mix into this creamy spinach orzo
- Make this heirloom tomato galette
- Drizzle on top of sweet corn gazpacho
Ingredient Notes
You just need a handful of ingredients to make this garlic scape pesto!
Garlic Scapes - The star of this pesto are the garlic scapes! A garlic scape is the flowering stalk of hardneck garlic. So it tastes like garlic, just a little bit milder -- kind of in between garlic and green onions/scallions. You can find garlic scapes at the farmers market during spring and early summer! Choose smaller, bright green scapes; they'll be more tender and less pungent.
Basil - Fresh, sweet basil is best for making pesto!
Olive Oil - Make sure you use high quality, cold pressed extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor!
Pine Nuts - If you don’t like pine nuts, you can substitute walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, cashews, or pistachios in this pesto for a similar flavor and texture! Or just leave them out entirely if you have a nut allergy!
Parmesan Cheese - You can substitute your favorite hard Italian cheese. I always use Pecorino Romano if I have it on hand.
Lemon Juice - You need just a little bit of fresh lemon juice to add some brightness to the pesto!
Arugula - This is optional, but you can also add in ½ cup of arugula for an extra peppery bite!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Garlic Scape Pesto
Trim the garlic scapes by cutting off the tip just below the bulb and end if it seems woody (like you would with asparagus). Discard the bulb and end of the stem, then chop the remaining scapes into 1 inch pieces.
Add all of the ingredients to a food processor or blender and pulse until everything is finely chopped and resembles a thick paste.
If you prefer a thinner pesto, add in more olive oil 1 teaspoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired!
That's it!! In just 5 minutes you have the most delicious fresh garlic scape pesto sauce!
Tips for the Best Pesto
This garlic scape pesto has a bright, fresh flavor so it's best eaten raw or added at the very end of cooking (for example, toss with cooked pasta just prior to serving).
Pesto will naturally lose its vibrant color overtime, so if you want to keep it bright green you can blanch the basil prior to blending!
To blanch the basil, fill a large bowl with cold water and several ice cubes and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then add the basil leaves and blanch for a quick 15 seconds!
Immediately remove the leaves from the boiling water and place in the ice water bath. After a about 10 seconds, remove and squeeze out any excess water, then pat dry.
Recipe FAQ's
You can store this fresh garlic scape pesto in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week! Be sure to drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top before storing to help keep it from turning brown.
Absolutely!! Just swap out the parmesan cheese for nutritional yeast! You may want to reduce the nutritional yeast to 2 tablespoons since it has a more concentrated flavor than parmesan.
Yes! I recommend portioning small amounts of the pesto into ice cube trays to freeze. Then remove and store in a freezer bag. Thaw individual pesto cubes at room temperature for about 30 minutes before you want to use it.
Don't worry, this is completely normal! The basil oxidizes and loses color the longer it's exposed to air, but it has not effect on the flavor. But if the color is important to you, see my tips on blanching the basil first to keep it bright green! Also be sure to store the garlic scape pesto with a little oil drizzled on top to keep the air away.
Fresh garlic scapes taste like a cross between garlic and scallions. They have a mild spicy bite that takes pesto to another left!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
Recipes That Use Fresh Pesto!
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Recipe Card
Garlic Scape Pesto
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup garlic scapes, (8-10 scapes)
- 1 cup fresh basil, packed
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- Trim the garlic scapes by cutting off the tip just below the bulb and end if it seems woody (like you would with asparagus). Discard the bulb and end of the stem, then chop the remaining scapes into 1 inch pieces.
- Add all of the ingredients to a food processor or blender and pulse until everything is finely chopped and resembles a thick paste.
- If you prefer a thinner pesto, add in more olive oil 1 teaspoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired!
- That's it!! In just 5 minutes you have the most delicious fresh garlic scape pesto sauce!
- You can store the pesto in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week! Be sure to drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top before storing to help keep it from turning brown.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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