Arugula pesto is a 5-minute pesto recipe made with fresh arugula, parmesan cheese, walnuts, olive oil, and lemon. This nutty, zesty, sweet, peppery spread will soon become your favorite, year-round pesto. It’s low carb, gluten-free, and utterly scrumptious!
Arugula Pesto with Walnuts
This super easy pesto is one of the first arugula recipes to appear here on The Kitchen Girl blog in 2014. My unshakeable obsession with this scrumptious spread dates all the way back to my college days!
It’s fresh, easy, affordable, and delicious on EVERYTHING! My favorite way to eat it is straight from the spoon. If I’m being more civilized though, I’ll spread it over crostini or tossed with tortellini pasta salad or in soup.
Arugula Pesto Ingredients:
- fresh arugula
- extra virgin olive oil
- Parmesan Reggiano cheese
- walnuts
- salt and pepper
- water (as needed to adjust consistency)
- fresh lemon juice
* See full recipe below
Feel free to adapt these ingredients to your liking. We’re pretty confident that if you like flavor, you’ll love this combination!
How is arugula pesto different from basil pesto?
1. The flavors are quite different, actually. Arugula pesto is nutty from the walnuts, sweet and salty from the parmesan, and peppery from the arugula. I literally eat this stuff right off the spoon! I can’t do that with basil pesto as it tends to be too bitter for that.
2. The pureed textures are pretty much identical with both pestos, especially since the ingredients are so similar.
3. The preparation is identical. Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender, which yields a similar texture.
4. The ingredients are almost identical except basil pesto is made with basil. Also, I always use walnuts instead of pine nuts. You can use either, but I prefer the flavor of walnuts…and you save money!
5. Arugula pesto ingredients are always available and always reasonably priced. Basil is expensive when it’s not basil season…and I need my pesto fix every month of the year!
Another unique pesto recipe
My friend Carol over at From a Chef’s Kitchen blog makes a Radish Greens Pesto using fresh radish greens in place of basil. While you could make this pesto any time of the year, it’s especially perfect for the summer months when the garden is going crazy!
How to make arugula pesto
Step 1: Place ingredients into a food processor or blender.
Step 2: Pulse or blend ingredients until well-combined.
Step 3: Add small amounts of water as needed to adjust consistency. (this is one of my pro tips to use less oil…no one has ever complained).
Step 4: Serve immediately, or refrigerate up to 5 days. Boom! So easy!
* See full recipe below
How to serve arugula pesto
- dip for vegetables and crackers
- as crostini topping
- marinade for chicken, fish, and seafood
- omelet ingredient
- charcuterie
- sandwich condiment
- pasta sauce
- pizza topping
Arugula Pesto Storage tips
Refrigerate pesto in an airtight container and enjoyed within 3-5 days. Naturally, the fresher, the better, but I think it’s most optimal on day 2 and day 3.
Can I freeze pesto?
Yes, it freezes nicely! You can do one of two things:
1) Place pesto in ice cube trays, freeze them, pop them out, store in the freezer, and thaw as needed.
2) Store pesto in small containers, freeze and thaw as needed. Storing in smaller containers makes it quicker to thaw.
Does arugula pesto turn brown?
I’ve made this pesto recipe many times and have noticed that, unlike basil pesto, it hardly turns brown. This is mainly because I add lemon to it, which I don’t usually do with basil pesto. You can also blanch arugula or basil for pesto if you don’t want to use lemon.
Recommended tools
- 7 cup food processor (fitted with the chopping/mixing dough blade)
- citrus squeezer
- garlic press
- airtight storage containers
More Arugula Recipes
- Citrus Galore Winter Salad
- Savory Sweet Potato Salad
- Vegetable Quinoa Salad
- Spiralized Beet and Kale Salad
Other easy dips and spreads
- 5 Minute French Onion Dip
- Loaded Black Bean Dip
- Herb and Artichoke White Bean Dip
- Creamy Avocado Ranch Dressing and Dip
- Smoked Salmon Dip with Greek Yogurt
Arugula Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups Arugula same as 3.5 oz
- 1 cup Walnuts
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice optional, but recommended
- 2 cloves Garlic chopped
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup water as needed for thinning
Instructions
- Place ARUGULA, CHEESE, WALNUTS, OLIVE OIL, LEMON, GARLIC, SALT, and PEPPER in a food processor fitted with the dough/chopping blade attachment.
- Pulse or blend until all ingredients are well-combined.
- Add water in small amounts to adjust consistency.
- Store in airtight containers up to five days in the refrigerator and up to 90 days in the freezer.
TOOLS NEEDED
Nutrition
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This is my first time making Arugula pesto and it came out great. I halved the recipes cause I dint have enough Arugula. I did add a tiny bit of basil that I had on hand, Thanks for posting!
Ohhh I love hearing this! It’s one of my absolute favorite ways to make pesto. So glad you enjoyed and thanks for letting me know 🙂
This pesto sounds so tasty and flavourful! I am definitely going to be giving it a try!
Awesome, Bintu! Hope you love it like we do 🙂 Arugula pesto is so good on EVERYTHING!
I loved it! So easy to make and delicious!!
Awesome, Toni! So glad to hear it…thanks!
This was my first time trying arugula in pesto – so good! Thank you!
Yay Tawnie! So glad to hear it 🙂 I’m so crazy about arugula pesto!
I absolutely love the flavors in this pesto! Very unique!
Thanks, Jocelyn! You are so right…arugula pest definitely has a unique flavor compared to other pestos 🙂
I adore this pesto! It’s so delicious served over pasta or as a sandwich spread.
Thanks, Iryna! So glad you enjoy arugula pesto. I love it over pasta too! 🙂
Hi Tracy, I did your recipe and I love it! No more Basil pesto in my house! Thank you!
Oh Eduardo, I totally get it…and I kinda feel the same way LOL. Thank you for the kind words 🙂 My day is made!
Arugula has such a great flavor. This pesto sounds amazing. I can’t wait to make this.
Awesome, Andrea! Hope you love it like I do 🙂
Girl…this looks so good! I love that you used arugula!
Thanks Sandi! It’s my fav pesto of them ALL! I eat by the spoonful LOL
Yum! This looks like the perfect way to use up extra arugula. I love regular basil pesto, so this version sounds so delicious as well!
Thanks, Danielle! If you love basil pesto, I think you’ll feel the same way about arugula pesto. Hope so! 🙂
This sounds amazing! Love how quick and easy it is to make.
Thanks, Jen! Yep, arugula pesto is definitely quick and easy! 🙂
I absolutely love Arugula (although it’s called rocket in my part of the world). I love how you used it here especially with the walnuts. I want to eat this pesto on everything!
Thanks Tilly! Yes, I hear rocket too (sometimes), esp in the culinary world. Hope you love this recipe 🙂
I planted arugula in my garden and it grew like crazy on me. Am going to try to make your pesto but am wondering if it can be frozen or maybe even canned. Also as it is flowering already I think it may be bitter so may needsomething to offset that. Any suggestions?
Hi Mike, ya, I freeze pesto in ice cube trays then transfer to a plastic bag/container. I have never canned pesto so you’ll have to google that one. As for the last question, unfortunately the bitter flavor rules once it gets past the flowering stage, in my experience. You could combine the green with something else like kale or basil to cut back on the peppery taste, but those are also bitter. Let me know if you come up with a solution 🙂
Excellent! I love your site. I remember you from the days when you worked in the Carbondale Neighborhood Co-op and made the best pizza. My favorite was the arichoke, walnut and feta pizza.
Oh Carol, thank you for visiting my site, commenting, AND remembering the old days 😉 I miss that pizza…can’t believe how long ago that was and I remember like it was yesterday.
Hey let me know how what kind of content I can create that helps you overcome cooking/kitchen challenges. I always love to hear from my readers 😉
Cheers!
Arugula always reminds me of the greens that the wife craved at the beginning of the Rapunzel fairy tale. Its taste is so unique, I imagine that was what she must have made her husband go steal from the witch.
I can’t afford to use so much pine nuts, do you think walnuts could be a good subsitute, or maybe hazelnuts?
I love your site!
Thanks so much for the comments! And yes, I often use walnuts in my pestos as they are more much less expensive. I got fancy for this blog post 😉
I really do appreciate your visit to the site. Come back anytime!
Love, love, love this! How do you do it girl? Thank you for giving me even more ways to enjoy arugula. I love it’s spiciness and how easy it is to spruce up almost any meal. Keep those recipes coming, you are awesome!
Angela, I love arugula too and really wanted to spotlight it. Besides eating it straight out of the jar on crackers, it really does go a long way in other dishes. Try it on spaghetti squash sometime. Aye yay yay, it’s awesome!
Btw, thank you for the inspiring words. You make me feel like I’m doing my job. You’re awesome! 😉