Super Kale Pesto
This delicious, healthy kale pesto recipe can be served on pasta, sandwiches, etc. This pesto is ready in under 10 minutes. It's vegan and rich in Omega-3s!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on July 17, 2024
When asked what I do for a living, my response lately has been, “I’m a food blogger,” which is usually met with an eyebrow raise. “What kind of food?” they ask. I explain that I publish tasty recipes that just so happen to be healthy. (I probably need a better elevator pitch.)
I stand by my statement with this pesto. Yes, it’s packed with so-called super foods, but it’s also mighty tasty and ready in under 10 minutes.
Hemp seeds are new to me. I’d come across them in health magazines and vegan blogs before, so I knew they’re high in protein and full of essential amino acids. I’m not the kind of person who takes wheat grass shots just because they’re healthy, though. I wasn’t interested in hemp seeds until I read in Martha Steward Living that they actually taste good. Like pine nuts, sorta. Sold!
I found a bag of hemp seeds in the supplement aisle of Whole Foods for 10 bucks, reminded myself that they’re still cheaper than pine nuts and tossed the bag in my cart. At home, in a post-shopping fit of hunger, I whirred together garlic, kale and hemp seeds in my food processor. I reheated some leftover pasta from the fridge. About 10 minutes after I got started, I was enjoying a super nutrient-dense dinner. I must have polished off at least 1/3 cup of hemp seeds and half a bunch of kale in one sitting. I’m expecting my Popeye muscles any day now.
Later, it occurred to me that I could use flaxseed oil instead of olive oil in the pesto. I had a forgotten bottle of flaxseed oil in my fridge. Flaxseed oil is a bit limited in cooking preparations, since it should only be served chilled or at room temperature. To retain nutritional benefits, both flaxseeds and hemp seeds should be kept in the refrigerator and never cooked.
The flaxseed oil significantly ups the amount of omega-3’s in the pesto. I couldn’t detect the flavor of flax in the pesto, which was a big plus. The oil has made a few of my salad dressings taste overwhelmingly flax-y. The hemp seeds disappear into the pesto, too, leaving a pleasantly nutty flavor and some creaminess.
If you don’t have hemp seeds and flaxseed oil on hand, you can totally make this into a kale, walnut and olive oil pesto. That version will be very good for you, too. I’ve been trying to incorporate more inflammation-reducing omega-3’s in my diet (my dry skin needs all the help it can get), so I’m excited to have found a delicious way to get them. You can learn more about those omega-3’s here.
This pesto is not just for pasta. In fact, I might prefer it as a full-flavored dip or spread rather than on pasta. You could spread it on sandwiches or wraps and mix it into quinoa or grain salads. I’m also thinking it would be great with wild rice and roasted carrots. Or potatoes. On toast, with or without a fried egg on top. Speaking of eggs, you could mix this pesto into scrambled eggs or serve it on top of a frittata.
If you are serving the pesto on pasta, you could lighten up the meal by adding more produce. In the summer, you could mix in zucchini noodles and/or grilled bell peppers and/or slow-roasted tomatoes. Sautéed mushrooms or chunks of roasted winter squash would be nice in the cooler months. Let me know how you like it!
Super Kale Pesto
This kale pesto recipe is made with Omega 3-rich hemp seeds and flaxseed oil. Ready in under 10 minutes! For a more pantry-friendly option, use walnuts/pecans instead of hemp seeds and/or olive oil for the flaxseed oil (it’s just as tasty). Recipe yields about 1 ¼ cups pesto.
Ingredients
Pesto
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic
- 3 cups packed kale (about 1 small bunch)
- ¾ cup hemp seeds or toasted walnuts or pecans
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- ¾ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- Red pepper flakes, optional (if you want to add some kick)
- ¼ cup flaxseed oil or extra-virgin olive oil (more if desired)
- Entirely optional: ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Pasta (if you want pasta…)
- 1 pound (16 ounces) whole grain pasta, like linguine
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
Instructions
- Make the pesto: In a food processor, add the peeled garlic cloves and process until the garlic is minced. Add the kale, hemp seeds, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Turn on the food processor and drizzle in the oil. Process until the pesto reaches your desired consistency, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Taste and add more lemon, salt or pepper if necessary. (You can thin out the pesto with more oil, but if you’re serving with pasta, keep in mind that you can also thin it out with reserved pasta cooking water.)
- Cook the pasta (optional): Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, according to package directions. Reserve one cup cooking liquid before draining the pasta. Let the pasta and pasta water cool for a minute to make sure the high heat doesn’t damage the flax oil pesto.
- If you intend to have leftovers, transfer the amount of pasta you think you’ll be eating immediately to a serving bowl and mix in pesto with splashes of cooking water. Otherwise, you can mix the pasta and pesto together in your cooking pot, adding splashes of cooking water as necessary. Keep in mind that you have diluted the flavor a bit with the cooking water, so taste and add more lemon, salt or a drizzle of olive oil as necessary.
Notes
Recipe loosely adapted from The Oh She Glows Cookbook.
Suggestions for leftovers: If you intend to have leftover pasta, it’s best to store the noodles and pesto separately. Avoid reheating pesto (it will lose its vibrance and some of its flavor)—especially if you used flaxseed oil, which is heat sensitive. To serve, bring the pesto to room temperature and add a little water if necessary to get the right consistency.
Make it vegan: This pesto is vegan as long as you skip the Parmesan.
Make it gluten-free: This pesto is gluten-free; just be sure to serve it on gluten-free pasta or whatever else.
Make it nut-free: Use hemp seeds instead of walnuts or pecans.
Recommended equipment: If you’re in the market for a food processor, I love this small, highly rated Cuisinart food processor (affiliate link).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
DEAR Lord this is gorgeous and I want it.
I have made kale pesto before, I love it. I made it with zucchini pasta and cherry tomatoes. Beautiful pictures, you’ve inspired me to do it again!
I made this last night!! It was the first time I have had kale pesto, really great! I served with gluten free pasta, tomatoes, and grilled shrimp. I am a new reader to your blog, looks like I will have to try more of your recipes!
Thanks, Annie! I’m so glad you enjoyed the pesto! Happy cooking.
Kate, I have been hoping that you might consider a cookbook ever since you announced your career move to full-time blogger status. I would truly be thrilled if you wrote a cookbook (in any format)!
Thank you, Kim! We’ll see. ;)
This was yummy!!! Very fresh tasting. Even my daughters (4 and 3) gobbled it down.
That’s great to hear! Thanks, Katie!
This pesto looks so awesomely delicious! Love the addition of red pepper flakes — always nice to have a bit of a *kick*!
Hi Kate – I’m such a fan of your website, writing, and recipes! It’s so much fun to try your recipes … and so far, everything has been tasty. What a great resource as I venture into the land of plant-based eating.
Question for you on the flax seed oil. From what I’ve read about it, combining flax seed oil with anything too hot breaks down the oil and you lose the health benefits. So I wondered if adding in some of the pasta cooking liquid would be a no-no?
I made this in my VitaMix so I steamed the kale for just a couple of minutes, then let it cool and THEN added everything else. It still needed some liquid but I just added room temperature water. We enjoyed it over some spelt spaghetti. It was great! Thank you!!
Hi Nancy! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes. Good question about the cooking liquid. My cooking liquid had been sitting out for a few minutes before I mixed it into the pasta, so I don’t think it was hot enough to damage the flax oil. I assumed most others would be doing the same. I just read online that flax oil starts to degrade at temperatures above 120 degrees Fahrenheit and water boils at 212, so I’ll add a note to the recipe about letting the water cool a bit.
Oh my gosh looks so good – can’t wait to make this. I recently discovered hemp milk, which is delicious as well and a good break from my almond milk!
Oh, I should try hemp milk! Maybe I can turn the rest of my hemp seeds into hemp milk.
Hi Kate, This looks fantastic, I’ve just made the kale pesto (without the hemp seed though, it’s a bit hard to get them here) and it’s also tastes great. How long can i keep it in the fridge?
Hi Maya, I’m sorry I didn’t answer your question soon, but glad you enjoyed the pesto! It keeps for a few days in the fridge. I like to press saran wrap against the surface to help prevent oxidation.
This was great! Next time, I will omit the lemon because it was too tangy with the kale. I made it vegan by using nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese!
But definitely write a cookbook because I love your recipes and because they use such whole ingredients, they can easily be made vegan or gluten free by substituting small things!
Thanks, Ashley! I’m thinking about a cookbook, we’ll see!
Loved this! I make Socca all the time and this was such a great variation. It was such a hot summer night, so decided to try it out on the grill in 2 cast iron skillets and it turned out absolutely amazing! I subbed a few things because I wanted to use what I had on hand. I grilled some radicchio and portobellos and used this instead of the squash and spinach. Will make it again and again! Thanks so much, Kate!
Your grilled versions sound awesome! Thanks, Maureen!
I always think of pesto as such a to-do, but I see now that it’s pretty easy. Admittedly I didn’t use exact measurements, but it still came out great. I used walnuts and half walnut half olive oil and a baby spinach and kale mix. I consider parmesan mandatory :) I loved it. My kids didn’t go for it, but that’s their loss. More for my husband and me!
Thanks, Aviva! Glad you enjoyed the pesto! I don’t think it ever requires exact measurements. You can’t go wrong!
Made this tonight with Broccoli greens ( used hemp seeds and olive oil) plus added a pinch of fresh lemon zest from the juiced lemon … It was wonderful!
Thank you for another recipe to use up the broccoli greens after the garden has quit producing broccoli florets.
You’re welcome, Susan! I never would have thought to put broccoli greens in pesto, brilliant!
I just made this kale pesto today. I froze most of it (I made a lot) and plan to use it in soups and frittatas this winter. It’s the only way I can get my husband to eat kale. I also tossed in a whole jalapeno per batch scince I had some laying around.
I discovered your blog a couple of months ago and now I’m obsessed. I have tried several of your recipes but haven’t left any comments until now. I just had this for lunch and I have to say thank you for introducing me to this!! I have never been able to get myself to eat kale but this is the perfect way to disguise it. I’m also a strong believer of mushrooms making everything better and topped this dish off with sliced, sautéed portabella shrooms.
Dinner menu: Freekeh pilaf with roasted cauli, yum!!
Hi Priya! Thanks for saying hello. I’m delighted to hear that you’re enjoying my recipes! I bet this pesto is fantastic with mushrooms on top.
Love this! I added a bit of nutritional yeast instead of parmezan. That way you can keep it vegan but still give it a nice cheezy touch.
This looks so good and healthy. Gonna try to make this tonight. Love Love your pics of your pup!
Thanks for your recipes!
Thank you, Jean! Hope you love the pesto!
This recipe ROCKED! I used walnuts and olive oil because it’s what I had on-hand and I even used leftovers as part of a bruschetta.
Thanks, Stephanie! Your bruschetta sounds so good!
My cousin and I made the walnut/olive oil version for dinner yesterday for Game-of-Thrones night. Delicious. I’m never sure if my husband will take to a new healthy dish, but he loved it as well. He suggested sprinkling more chopped walnuts on top, which i will try next time. Now to see if the toddler takes to it. Definitely making this again. If I could suggest anything it would be to start light on the salt for those who want to add the Parmesan. I say again…delicious. Thank you for all your work, Kate.
Thank you, Eva! So glad you enjoyed it. I like your husband’s suggestion of adding more walnuts on top! Hope the toddler goes for it!
I just made this but substituted the hemp seeds with sunflower seeds. It was delicious! Thanks a lot for posting this!
Awesome! Thank you, Sofia!
Thanks for this great and healthy recipe. I had it with spaghetti squash and it was delicious.
Thank you, Julia! Love the idea of serving it with spaghetti squash.
Loving this recipe and your website! I’m always looking for vegan b vits and omega 3’s, due to severe shellfish allergies I’m unable to take supplements and don’t eat fish. I’ve tried both versions with hemp seeds and walnuts, both loved by my veg-avoiding boys! My son is also allergic to soya and your recipes are labeled so we, it’s easy for me to find good healthy recipes. Still trying to re-educade DH that dinner doesn’t have to be meat and 2 veg!Thanks for your great work
Made the walnut version twice in two days. Absolutely delicious. Second time round I added fresh cherry tomatoes to the mix. Worked nicely.
Awesome, thanks Archie!
I wish I could find kale, but it’s not a thing here. :( Anything that could be a good substitute in this recipe?
Looks delicious
Yummm! I had no hemp seeds so I used a mix of sunflower and pumpkin. It was divine!thanks
This looks fabulous! I recently became vegan and am absolutely loving it and the all the fun recipes I’m finding.
I just had one question about this recipe- I see that the parm is optional, and given my lovely new diet, I would need to omit it. However, I am worried about taste. Have you tried it without the parm? Do you think it would still be pretty taste as the vegan variation? Cheese has been my hardest food to let go of, and though I have found some decent alternatives for cooking, I don’t there there is a great substitute for Parmesan.
Can you replace hemp seeds with flax seed and flax seed oil with hemp oil?
Probably!
I just made this kale pesto and it is amazing! The flavors are so fresh. I was a bit afraid of using 3/4 cup of hemp seed because it visually seemed like a lot of hemp seed, but it’s not overpowering at all. I actually prefer hemp seeds over the traditional pine nuts! This is probably going to be my go-to recipe for pesto from now on. Thanks so much for sharing! And thanks for giving me a way to secretly feed kale to my husband.
How long does it keep for?
Probably about a week!
Hi! Bought baby kale thinking we could eat it in a salad. Wrong!! I was looking for a way to utilize it and came across this recipe. I had all the ingredients so whaa laa!! It is amazing. What a great way to get that pesky vegetable in something and make it taste wonderful!! The only change I made was I used limes since I had no lemons.
Thanks!!
You’re welcome! And this is a great way to sneak in those greens ;)
Is the kale cooked or raw?
Raw, which helps to keep maximum nutrients in this one.
thank you
Very tasty, thank you!
Kate T.,
I came across your blog when looking for something new to do w/ kale. I like your kale pesto recipe, and I think I’ll give it a go. I just wanted to let you know that the food processor your rec. and link to on Amazon has a recall. Well, it may. Cuisinart recalled all 8 million blades that have rivets on the blade. The video on Amazon shows the rivets. Cuisinart will send you a new blade, but the wait is quite long. I have one of the massive 14 cup processors, and I just try to make certain that there aren’t any shards of metal in my hummus…as one does. Here is one link to the recall, but you can pretty much just Google “Cuisinart Blade Recall”:
https://www.cnet.com/news/cuisinart-recalls-food-processors-after-blade-pieces-end-up-in-food/
So, just FYI. Thanks for the inspiration.
Marc~
Thanks Marc! I updated about the recall in a more recent post, but thank you for looking out.
Hi Kate (and Cookie!)
I made this pesto a couple days ago and have been enjoying it on different things but I actually think it came out a bit too salty. I followed the recipe (olive oil instead of flaxseed oil and used hemp seeds, not walnuts). I’m wondering if the problem is that I used iodized, “regular” salt, not sea salt. Do you know if smaller portions should be used with regular salt versus sea salt? The other problem with my pesto may have been that I used minced garlic from a big jar I got at Costco (thought it was a great deal at the time but I’ve been using it for months and still have 2/3 of the jar left!). I use it when recipes call for fresh garlic because I don’t want it to go to waste but I bet it messes up the results because the garlic has been sitting in water and citric acid. I’m just being nit picky though. Overall, I like the pesto and will give it another go. My first time using hemp seeds too so that’s exciting! Thank you for this unique and healthy recipe.
Hi Lacey! Yes, generally you’ll want to scale back a little when using regular salt vs. fine sea salt because regular salt is even more fine. If you found this pesto too salty, I’d scale back quite a bit and then add to taste next time. Sorry about that! I used to use jarred minced garlic in recipes but have since realized that fresh garlic is wayyyyy better. Especially when you’re not cooking the garlic, I’d stick with fresh.
Another awesome recipe — what a great way to eat your greens! Thanks again for a wonderful, flavorful and healthy recipe. P.S. My husband says it goes well with syrah-rose wine. :)
Thanks for the tip, Julie! Sounds like a delicious pairing. :)
Delicious and easy. Pasta that you can feed to guests with pride AND my kids loved it. Sharing this with friends and keeping it! Maybe next time I’ll throw in a drained can of fire roasted tomatoes too! Thank you!
Wonderful, Karis! Thanks so much for commenting.
This is so delicious! I used olive oil since I didn’t have flaxseed oil on hand. I added Parmesan-Gouda (Vitamin K2!). Made myself an omelette (with organic Omega-3 eggs! ;-) with the kale pesto inside, just warm enough, keeping kale raw. SO delicious… this is a keeper.
Yum! Sounds delicious, Dodi.
This was a great recipe. Only thing I did differently was blanch the kale to cut the bitterness.
Great tip, thanks Amy!
Hi! when I made the pesto it looked so good! Brought it in my lunch with cooked pasta, heated the pasta only and added the pesto. Unfortunately, it was very bitter! Any idea how I could make it less bitter? I don’t eat cheese… Thanks
Hi Viviane, I’m sorry to hear that! Do you like kale? It is more on the bitter side. Salt helps cut bitterness. Pecans are sweeter than hemp seeds, so you might enjoy this pesto with pecans more. I am not sure what else to suggest.
Try no zest.
Ahem, how exactly is parm an option in pesto? :)
I love your site – a dozen of your recipes are on regular rotation in our house – and this pesto is yum. I have done this verbatim, which is the bomb, but I really miss the basil, so I now put in half of each.
I also add the zest of an entire small lemon, in place of the juice.
Thanks for the recipe!
Ha! The vegans out there would definitely argue the “optional” point. I’m so glad you enjoyed the pesto!
Hello,
This looks delicious and I am going to make it this weekend! What are your storage guidelines?
Thanks for creating this!
Alice
Hi, Alice! I put them in my notes: If you intend to have leftover pasta, it’s best to store the noodles and pesto separately. Avoid reheating pesto (it will lose its vibrance and some of its flavor)—especially if you used flaxseed oil, which is heat sensitive. To serve, bring the pesto to room temperature and add a little water if necessary to get the right consistency.
Sounds absolutly delicious! I want to try it today or tomorrow, but there is one question left. Do you use hemp seeds with “skin” or without (sorry, I do not remember the original word for it, I hope you know what I mean)
Hi, Moira! I use hulled hemp seeds. :)
Hi Kate! You don’t have to cook the kale before processing it?
Nope, not necessary!
First time making pesto…it had a weird aftertaste – could be the (shaved) walnuts (they weren’t toasted though)…also used Spinach instead of Kale….olive oil instead of flax oil…all of these things could’ve contributed to the aftertaste ….but overall, it had a decent taste…thanks for sharing!
So I run a preschool and work hard to find food that is healthy and that they will actually eat. This was one of those rare situations that everyone loved it and it goes on the rotation! I did have to omit hemp seeds and used half roasted unsalted sunflower seeds and half roasted pepitas and OMG there was not a bit left over! divine Thanks so much and seriously try it with other nut combos. Thanks
Hi. Whole family loving this. Glad to include kale in our diet. Many thanks for introducing us. Can I just ask if I could freeze the left over pesto in portions?
Thanks again.
So happy your family is loving this! I don’t freeze all my recipes so I can’t be of help with how this would work. But would love feedback if you try it! Thanks for your review :)
Delicious!
Thank you, Tina for your review!
Made this the other week with walnuts and spinach (left out cheese to be vegan) for a dinner with friends and the ingredient proportions were perfect! Simple, great tasting inexpensive recipes like this make it so easy to keep up motivation for healthy living and I’m grateful you shared it!! Thanks and I’ll definitely be trying out more of your recipes!
Yes, please try out more! This is a great one for sure. Thank you, Catherine for your review.
I’ve been making this recipe for a couple years. Its outstanding. Its packed with nutrition and the family will never know! My husband and 2 year old love it. It also freezes beautifully making it great for meal prep and us busy parents
Hi, Emily! I’m thrilled this recipe is something easy and delicious for your family. Thank you so much for the comment and review!