Is Pesto vegan?

Key facts

Verdict

Usually not vegan

Category

Condiments

Also listed as

Pesto

Best swap

Vegan pesto brands

Why

The traditional recipe is basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, salt and two hard cheeses, both of which are also made with animal rennet. Vegan jars replace them with cashews, nutritional yeast and miso, and dedicated brands are now stocked by most supermarkets.

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What is actually in it

Pesto Genovese has a protected recipe: Genovese basil, Ligurian olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, coarse salt, Parmigiano Reggiano and Fiore Sardo pecorino, pounded in a marble mortar. Both cheeses are DOP products made with animal rennet from calf stomachs, so classic pesto fails on two counts at once — dairy and slaughter by-product. Rebuilding it without cheese is mostly about replacing three functions: salt, glutamate and fat-emulsifying protein. Nutritional yeast and miso handle the first two; soaked cashews or blanched almonds handle the third and keep the sauce from splitting when it hits hot pasta. Pine nuts are expensive and increasingly substituted with sunflower seeds or walnuts even in commercial jars. Watch the chilled fresh-pesto tubs, which often add cream or mascarpone for a milder taste, and jarred pesto sold as vegetarian, which is not the same claim. A practical kitchen note: never cook pesto — loosen it with a ladle of starchy pasta water off the heat, or the basil oxidises and the sauce turns bitter and khaki.

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