Arugula Pesto

Arugula pesto made with fresh arugula leaves, garlic, olive oil, walnuts, and Parmesan cheese.

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
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Updated September 17, 2023
Elise Bauer
Arugula Pesto
Elise Bauer

Have an abundance of arugula? A great way to use it up is by making an arugula pesto.

By the way, gardeners out there, if you ever plant arugula, be warned, it grows like a weed! (Hence our need to make pesto.)

To make this pesto I used mature arugula from our garden (though you could use baby arugula too, it just isn't as strong.)

I tried making it with both walnuts and pine nuts and strongly prefer this pesto with walnuts. The strong, meaty flavor of the walnuts balances out the astringency of the arugula, a good blend of flavors.

Arugula Pesto
Elise Bauer

I've made pesto both with mortar and pestle and with a food processor. The food processor method is definitely easier but the mortar method produces larger pieces of the arugula.

I prefer a mild garlic flavor that you can achieve by using roasted garlic. The 1/2 raw garlic clove is added for a little kicker. The first time I made this pesto it was with only raw garlic and it was a little overwhelmingly garlicky. Using roasted garlic is a great way to still have the garlic flavor but without the intensity.

Arugula Pesto

Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Servings 4 servings
Yield 1 cup

Ingredients

  • 2 cups packed arugula leaves, stems removed

  • 1/2 cup shelled walnuts

  • 1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese

  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

  • 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled

  • 1/2 clove garlic, peeled and minced

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Special Equipment

  • Food processor or mortar and pestle

Method

  1. Brown the garlic:

    Brown 6 garlic cloves with their peels on in a skillet over medium high heat until the garlic is lightly browned in places, about 10 minutes. Remove the garlic from the pan, cool, and remove the skins.

  2. Toast the nuts:

    Toast the nuts in a pan over medium heat until lightly brown, or heat in a microwave on high heat for a minute or two until you get that roasted flavor. In our microwave it takes 2 minutes.

  3. Process in food processor:

    (the fast way) Combine the arugula, salt, walnuts, roasted and raw garlic into a food processor. Pulse while drizzling the olive oil into the processor. Remove the mixture from the processor and put it into a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

    OR use a mortar and pestle:

    Combine the nuts, salt and garlic in a mortar. With the pestle, grind until smooth. Add the cheese and olive oil, grind again until smooth. Finely chop the arugula and add it to the mortar. Grind up with the other ingredients until smooth.

  4. Adjust to taste:

    Because the pesto is so dependent on the individual ingredients, and the strength of the ingredients depends on the season or variety, test it and add more of the ingredients to taste.

    Serve with pasta, over freshly roasted potatoes, or as a sauce for pizza.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
304 Calories
31g Fat
4g Carbs
4g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 304
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 31g 40%
Saturated Fat 6g 28%
Cholesterol 11mg 4%
Sodium 494mg 21%
Total Carbohydrate 4g 1%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 3mg 15%
Calcium 132mg 10%
Iron 0mg 3%
Potassium 82mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.