Description
This Best Cottage Cheese Pesto is a creamy, flavorful, and healthier twist on traditional pesto. Combining rich full-fat cottage cheese with fresh basil, toasted walnuts, shredded Parmesan, garlic, and olive oil, this pesto offers a smooth texture and bold taste perfect for pastas, marinades, or salad dressings. Easy to prepare in a blender and ready to enhance any meal, it’s a fresh, nutrient-packed sauce with a delightful balance of creamy and herbal flavors.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 1 cup full-fat cottage cheese
- ½ to 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed and stemmed
- ¼ cup walnuts, toasted
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese (freshly grated, optional but recommended)
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ to ½ cup olive oil or avocado oil
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Gather and Prepare Your Ingredients: Assemble all the ingredients including cottage cheese, basil, toasted walnuts, shredded Parmesan cheese, garlic cloves, olive or avocado oil, salt, and pepper. Have your blender or food processor ready for use.
- Combine Ingredients in Blender: Add 1 cup cottage cheese into the blender, followed by ½ to 1 cup fresh basil leaves, ¼ cup toasted walnuts, ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, and 2 cloves garlic. Pour in ¼ to ½ cup of olive or avocado oil depending on the desired creaminess.
- Season and Blend: Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Blend the mixture until smooth using a high-powered blender or food processor for the best texture. If too thick, gradually add more oil to reach your preferred consistency.
- Store Your Pesto: Transfer the smooth pesto into a tightly sealed jar. Store it in the refrigerator where it will keep fresh for up to 5 days.
- Enjoy Your Pesto: Use this creamy cottage cheese pesto as a sauce for pasta, a marinade for meats, or a flavorful salad dressing to elevate your meals.
Notes
- To toast walnuts, dry roast them in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned, about 3-5 minutes.
- You can adjust basil and oil quantities to make the pesto more or less herbaceous or creamy.
- For a nuttier flavor, consider substituting walnuts with pine nuts or almonds.
- The pesto can be frozen in ice cube trays for longer storage and convenient portioning.
- Fresh garlic can be replaced with roasted garlic for a milder, sweeter taste.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Blending
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: Cottage Cheese Pesto, Healthy Pesto, Basil Walnut Pesto, Creamy Pesto Sauce, Italian Sauce, Homemade Pesto
