This toasted pecan pesto with basil is low histamine and dairy-free, making it a great basic low histamine sauce to use year-round. Did I mention it keeps in the freezer for up to two years? That's one way to stretch your summer harvest of basil!
Jump To
This low histamine pesto recipe nearly saved my sanity during the first month of my low histamine diet. I must have used it on chicken at least once a week, almost always with a side of garlic asparagus and some roasted sweet potatoes.
Not only is it versatile & actively antihistamine, but it's also a huge throwback to my childhood. My grandfather had a load of pecan trees down in Louisiana, and every summer, my Mom used them to make pesto.
She'd harvest the basil from her garden, throw in some pecans from her dad's land, and blend both in a food processor with some olive oil and garlic. A traditional pesto recipe uses pine nuts and Parmesan cheese, and while you could use pine nuts instead of pecans, I personally think pine nuts taste gross.
The Parmesan is probably a no-no for everyone, though, unless you're a unicorn and have a very empty histamine bucket. While my Mom used to prepare everything in one go, I know that not everyone can tolerate nuts of any kind. That's fine.
You can leave out all of the nuts and it won't change the flavor too much (though they add a certain nostalgic, delicious flavor for me). The most important point is that you add in a bit of extra salt to compensate for the lack of cheese, even if you use the pili nuts (my secret cheese replacement).
About this recipe
Simple Low Histamine Sauce. This is a great sauce to eat with white meat, toaster-oven white pizzas, and gluten-free pasta (I like this chickpea pasta).
Cooking With the Pesto. Don't stir-fry this pecan pesto for more than 15 minutes, otherwise you're really cooking out the freshness of the basil (even if you're using it after keeping it in the freezer for while). I also wouldn't bake it for more than ~20 minutes, either, but conduct your own experiments.
Freezes Great: Have I mentioned that this pecan pesto freezes like a dream? I always keep some in my freezer, usually making huge batches at the end of every summer. The blending process sort of infuses the basil flavor into the oil, so every bite really comes out tasty and flavorful, no matter what time of year you enjoy it.
Ingredients
Basil: this herb has actively histamine-lowering properties, and as long as you don't react to it, it's delicious & easy to pair with a variety of other flavors.
Raw Garlic: similar to the nuts, using raw garlic adds an umami element to the sauce that really complements meats and root vegetables.
Pecans: hopefully you’ve previously soaked & dried your pecans to reduce antinutrients, but regardless, pecans add volume & a light nutty taste to the pesto without adding a strong flavor.
Pili Nuts: these unusual nuts come from the Philippines and they're reminiscent of parmesan cheese in flavor, in my personal opinion.
Olive Oil: olive oil may have a mild smell, but you can’t taste it much in here. If you need to substitute, avocado oil will be the next best option.
How to make pecan pesto: step-by-step instructions
NOTE: This recipe will make about 6 patties, and I generally use 3 of those on two medium chicken breasts. So for me, this makes 4 medium chicken breasts worth of sauce; however many meals that evens out to is up to you!
Step 1. First, wash your organic basil, and then dry it gently and pluck off each leaf. Place them into your mixing bowl, trying to get as little of the stems as possible. If it adds up to a little more or less basil, simply add a little more or less of the garlic & oil later on.
Step 2. Peel your garlic cloves; you can chop them into a few pieces each, if your food processor is weak.
Step 3. Pack the basil, garlic, and pecans into the food processor, and blend it until a chunky paste, about 30 seconds.
Step 4. Then pour in the oil slowly (or all at once if that's not possible), until the pecan pesto has smoothed out.
When to Add the Nuts: If you really want to, you can add the salt and pili nuts right into the mixture; they'll freeze just fine. But I recommend toasting & chopping the nuts right before serving, so you can taste the individual ingredients even more pointedly. It also makes the plating much prettier.
Step 5. Assuming you're not using all of this pesto at once, this is where the parchment paper comes in. Pull off a piece that's about 10 inches long, wide enough for 6 pesto patties, and lay it onto a flat surface.
Scrape the pesto from the bowl of your food processor into 6 even patties onto the bottom third of the sheet, and then fold the top on the patties and press lightly. Transfer these directly into the freezer for at least an hour. Alternately, use well-oiled ice cube trays.
Pro-Tip: Place your pesto trays on a flat surface in the freezer with a lightweight flat object on top of them. This will keep the parchment paper sticking to either side, allowing for easy storage.
Step 6. After an hour or two, take the patties out of the open freezer and make sure they're solidly frozen. If you have the space, you can let them freeze overnight & that's that, but if time is of the essence, then give them another hour before you check again; it shouldn't take more than a few hours for them to harden up.
Peel apart the paper and stack the patties in a freezer-safe container for storage. From a lifetime of experience, they'll stay good for several years in the freezer, though they'll brown quite a bit after the first month unless properly stored.
Step 7. When you're preparing your pesto for serving later on, a single patty calls for 10-12 salted pili nuts, if you didn't use parmesan. Toast the pili nuts before serving, for an extra crunch, and roughly chop them to top your main dish. Add salt & pepper as desired, and enjoy.
Recipe notes & tips
Types of Basil: Thai basil or holy basil won't work in this recipe, so make sure you're buying or growing "normal" basil, also called Italian, Genovese, Large-Leaf, or Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum).
Substituting Nuts: while I really recommend pili nuts & pecans, you could theoretically use any other nuts, like pine nuts or macadamias, maybe even almonds. Just remember to toast & finely chop!
Making it "Saucier:" When I was a kid, my Mom would reconstitute "freezer pesto" with some skim milk, but if you want a runnier sauce, I recommend thinning it out with a touch of olive oil or coconut milk (though almost any plain-tasting fat would work).
Salt & Pepper: I always prepare this recipe without salt so that you can salt the dish you're making, without having to try and calculate exactly how much salt is in the pesto. I always grind a bit of black pepper and pass the salt shaker over a few times, keeping it nearby in case I didn't add enough, but I know not everyone tolerates black pepper.
What to do with pecan pesto
- stir it into your next omelette
- add it to hot mashed potatoes
- on lamb burgers with a gluten-free bun
- as a salad dressing when thinned-out
- layer it between pieces of baked fish and cook it in a cast iron skillet
- slather it on your favorite cut of fried chicken
- tossed with root vegetables
- mix it with tolerated cheese and spread it onto your gluten-free cracker of choice
When to Make Pesto: I highly recommend making this in the middle or at the end of the summer, when you can get lots of fresh organic basil from the local market for cheap. You can buy basil year round, but it gets incredibly more expensive as weather gets colder. Just remember to always buy organically-grown basil.
Pecan Pesto FAQ
Pecan basil pesto can last for up to one week in the fridge or up to two years if properly stored in the freezer.
Yes, you can make pesto with pecans instead of pine nuts, but it will taste a bit different, though equally as savory.
At the moment I haven't heard of any commercial pesto sauces made with pecans instead of pine nuts.
Yes, you can freeze pecan basil pesto in patties or in ice cube trays, and then stack them inside air-tight freezer containers for up to 2 years.
Homemade Pecan Basil Pesto Recipe Card
As always, if you like the recipe, I really appreciate a 5 star review or comment!
📖 Recipe
Easy Pecan Pesto Recipe (4 Ingredients)
Ingredients
- 2 Cups fresh organic basil leaves gently packed (about 4-5 fully-grown plants from a garden or farmer's market; make sure they're 100% organically-grown)
- 2 cloves of organic garlic (7g; the more you use, the stronger the garlic flavor)
- ¼ Cup olive oil I highly recommend using olive oil, but deodorized organic coconut or sesame oil might taste okay, if you can't have olives
- ½ cup pecans see notes
- ¼ cup salted pili nuts optional (these are not a common or cheap nut to buy, but they are one of the fattiest nuts in existence & I swear they taste exactly like parmesan cheese, except they're dairy-free and unaged; alternately you can add a quarter cup of parmesan, if tolerated)
- *sea salt to taste if not using a salty cheese
Instructions
- NOTE: *Before you start, keep in mind that if you're not using parmesan, for the purposes of this recipe, the pili nuts and sea salt are sort of like garnishes. You should only prepare proportionally enough of them for the amount of pesto you plan to make at that moment. This recipe will make about 6 patties (I generally use 3 of those on two medium chicken breasts, for reference).
- Wash your basil, and then dry it gently and pluck off each leaf. Place them into your mixing bowl, trying to get as little of the stems as possible. If it adds up to a little more or less basil, simply add a little more or less of the garlic & oil.
- Peel your garlic cloves; you can chop them into a few pieces each, if your food processor is weak.
- Pack the basil, garlic, and pecans into the food processor, and blend it until a chunky paste, about 30 seconds. Then pour in the oil slowly (or all at once if that's not possible), until the pecan pesto has smoothed out.
- Assuming you're not using all of this pesto at once, this is where the parchment paper comes in. Pull off a piece that's about 10 inches long, wide enough for 6 pesto patties, and lay it onto a flat surface.
- Plop 6 even patties onto the bottom third of the sheet, and then fold the top on the patties and press lightly. Transfer these directly into the freezer for about an hour, placing them on a flat surface with a lightweight flat object on top of them. This will keep the parchment paper sticking to either side, allowing for easy storage.
- After an hour or two, take the patties out of the open freezer and make sure they're solidly frozen, or even better, you can leave them overnight to harden.
- Once fully-frozen, peel apart the wax paper and stack the patties in a freezer-safe container for storage. From a lifetime of experience, they'll stay good for several years in the freezer, though they'll brown quite a bit after the first month. When you're preparing your pesto for serving later on, a single patty calls for 10-12 salted pili nuts, if you didn't use parmesan. Toast the pili nuts before serving, for an extra crunch, and roughly chop them to top your main dish. Add salt & pepper as desired, and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
Save this post for later!
Felix Meyer says
This was a very good recipe for using up my basil. Thank you.
Max says
My pleasure, Felix! I'm so glad you like it. 🙂
Cathy says
What brand of pili nuts do you use, or where do you buy them?
lowhistamineeats says
I use this brand now; it's the one I've come back to the last few times I've bought pili nuts for pesto.