Low Calorie Pesto Sauce
This Skinny Pesto Sauce has half the fat and calories of the traditional recipe, and it's so easy to make and delicious!
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 92kcal
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 large clove garlic
- 4 cups fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- zest from 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Equipment
Instructions
- Pulse 2 tablespoons pine nuts and 1 large garlic clove in food processor until finely chopped.
- Scrape down sides of food processor with a spatula, then add 4 cups basil leaves (lightly packed), ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, lemon zest (from 1 lemon), 2 tablespoons water, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt.
- Purée mixture just until smooth. Season generously with additional salt to taste. (I used 1 teaspoon salt total.)
- Serve sauce immediately, or store in refrigerator until ready to use. Enjoy!
Notes
Servings - This recipe makes about 1 cup (or 8 servings / 2 tablespoons each), which is enough for 1 pound of pasta. Try my Pesto Pasta with Marinated Tomatoes, which uses this sauce!
Low Fat + Low Cal - To cut calories and fat (but keep the flavor), this recipe uses traditional pesto ingredients, but cuts the amount of oil, cheese, and nuts in half (compared to my traditional recipe). Fresh lemon enhances the basil flavor and brightens up the finished sauce. The finished recipe has about 74 grams of total fat, which is less than 10 grams per 2 tablespoon serving.
More - Check out the info before this recipe card for helpful tips, recipe variations, ideas for using the sauce (besides pasta), related recipes, and more!
Nutrition
Calories: 92kcal
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