Lemon Basil Pesto “Hummus” – Delicious Dairy Free Nut Free Pesto

 

I always have trouble using a full batch of pesto up, not anymore! The leftovers of this dairy-free nut-free pesto can be used as a pesto hummus dip to snack on!

Hi friends!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. We’re taking a bit of an extended vacay and bumming it in Cali for a couple more days.  I will share pictures soon (and what it’s like traveling with a baby)! In the meantime, I’m popping in to share with you this hummus pesto hybrid recipe!

I was craving pesto but, I’m still not doing dairy or nuts (read more about breastfeeding a baby with food allergies here) so my usual pesto recipes wouldn’t work (see macadamia nut arugula pesto and walnut pesto.)  I saw lot’s of recipes online using sunflower or pumpkin seeds, but I wanted the flavor to be more traditional, so I decided to use garbanzo beans instead!

It took some tweaking, but it came out delicious!  It’s very lemony, garlicky, and salty just like pesto should be even without the nuts or the parmesan cheese.  You can easily adjust the lemon, garlic, and salt up or down to meet your preferences. 

I suggest starting with 1-2 cups of basil and increasing from there, if you start with too much basil it may taste very “earthy,” and there is no parmesan cheese to cover that taste up.  So start low and add as desired!

When you heat this sauce (like pour it over warm pasta), it melts and yields a creamier consistency so that you get lots of flavor in every single bite! I ate it on chickpea pasta (my favorite high protein pasta) and baked salmon. Both were delicious!  If you are looking for recipes too use this pesto on try these delicious recipes:

• Pan Seared Pesto Salmon (sub for macadamia nut pesto)
• One Pan Chicken and Tomatoes (sub for arugula pesto)
• Sheet Pan Hummus Chicken & Green Beans (sub for other hummus)
• Zoodles with Creamy Lemon Shrimp (sub for lemon hummus)
• Cilantro Jalapeno Creamy Shrimp Stir Fry (sub for cilantro jalapeno hummus)

 

I love pesto, but I HATE how I never seem to finish a batch of pesto, whether I buy it or make it at home half of it always seems to go to waste.  That’s what is so great about this recipe. It works as hummus pesto or pesto hummus.  If you don’t finish the pesto in a recipe, you can grab some veggies and/or chips and eat the leftovers as part of a healthy snack win-win!  

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