Skinny Pesto Sauce (2024)

FAQs

Can you get low fat pesto? ›

Reduced Fat Basil Pesto with fragrant basil, cheese, cashews and pine nuts. Low in fat and salt but high in authentic Italian flavour. Perfect for light, fresh baked salmon with a Pesto crust, rice salad and open sourdough sandwiches.

Also, if your pesto is too thick, feel free to thin it out with a few tablespoons of extra olive oil or water. Taste and season. Give the sauce a taste (you can dip a veggie stick or piece of bread in, if you'd like), and season with extra salt and pepper if needed.

That's largely down to the fact that most pesto sauces contain generous amounts of oil, nuts, and cheese. All three of these are high in fat and calories, so eating too much pesto, too regularly, and not getting enough exercise can ultimately be fattening.

Cashews. Cashews resemble pine nuts in color, texture and mild sweetness, and can be used as a substitute in just about any recipe. Stick to unsalted versions (roasted or raw varieties both work), and toast them to provide extra depth of flavor.

Given all of the above, pesto can undoubtedly be considered a healthy food, and as long as you keep track of portions, it can also be part of a diet that supports a healthy weight. Pesto is nutrient-dense, and because of its fat content, it's also calorically dense.

As long as it forms part of a diverse diet with plenty of vegetables, fibre, and moderate levels of protein and dairy, there's absolutely no need to worry about pesto being bad for you. It's packed full of nutrients and healthy fats, which are needed in a well-balanced diet.

I usually thin out the pesto using some of the pasta cooking liquid, you can also use chicken or vegetable stock. Let that come to a simmer. Add a touch of heavy cream for creaminess and a good amount of grated parmesan cheese. As always, season your sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

If your main goal is to cut calories and fat, go for the marinara. If, however, you'd like to add some extra nutrients via greens such as basil or kale, and nuts, such as pine nuts or walnuts, opt for the pesto every once in a while. It's a tasty alternative to marinara, and a little goes a long way.

If desired, you can thin out the pesto with more olive oil. (Consider, however, that if you're serving the pesto on pasta, you can thin it with small splashes of reserved pasta cooking water to bring it all together.

As you would expect, pesto's wider variety of ingredients means it does slightly better in the vitamin and mineral stakes. Pesto outsmarts tomato sauce in many of these, but the pasta sauce still provides a sizeable chunk of your recommended daily targets.

Is it OK to eat a lot of pesto? ›

Pesto contains, on average, 1% salt. That's not enough for it to be labelled a "high salt" food, but it is enough for the government to recommend that it should only be eaten in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

Italian Tradition

Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with a dish of trofie (the traditional Ligurian short pasta), lasagna, potato gnocchi or as a topping for a bowl of minestrone. It can be mixed into tomato sauce to enhance the flavor of pasta dishes or used with fish fillets to make them more appetizing.

Cashew for their creamy texture, and almonds for their flavour. The pesto turned out great, taking on some different flavours from the nuts, but still providing the classic flavour thanks to an abundance of basil, parmesan, and a squeeze of lemon.

Pistachios, almonds, and walnuts or even seeds like sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin can replace the traditional pine nuts in pesto. Pretty much any edible nut tastes delicious—just make sure to toast and cool the nut before grinding them into the sauce.

Many pesto recipes call for raw pine nuts, but toasting the nuts can make the final sauce's flavor deeper and richer. Toast the nuts and then combine them—either as a paste or whole—with fresh basil, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and garlic.

In addition to preservatives and lower quality oil, other ingredients in store-bought pesto may be less than ideal. “Many store-bought brands will likely contain added salt,” says Hunnes. She adds that there may also be more health benefits to making it yourself.

For example you could use a tomato based sauce for pasta instead of pesto. Or if it's a soup, a dollop of garlicky mayonnaise will give the same richness and flavour boost.

CONS: Oil. Salt. Strong flavor can overpower more delicate flavors in foods.