This Basil Pesto Butter is the perfect marriage of soft and delicious butter with vibrant pesto. Elevate everything from your morning eggs and toast to proteins, veggies, pasta, and so much more. This easy-to-make condiment will become a household favorite, and it comes together in about 20 minutes or less if you're using leftover or store-bought pesto!
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When we have a ton of basil in the garden, we're always looking for new ways to infuse our homemade walnut pesto into everything, like this pesto aioli and pesto vinaigrette. This butter is one of our favorites.
A version of this butter appeared first on our pesto butter salmon, and we decided it needed it's own post, because it's just so versatile. We know you're gonna love it!
❤️Why We Love This Recipe
- Made with simple ingredients. If you're making our walnut pesto to use in this recipe, you can find what you need at any grocery store.
- Quick and easy! This recipe comes together in 20 minutes or less, and that's if you're making pesto from scratch!
- Super versatile. Everything from toast, eggs, veggies, corn, potatoes, pasta, seafood, beef, chicken, and more can be kicked up a notch with this seriously delicious butter!
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🌿Ingredients
Here are the ingredients we used for this recipe. You can find more information on substitutions below.
- Butter. Good butter is KEY here, it is easily the most important ingredient! We love to use Plugrà, a European-style butter that's 82% butterfat for a rich, with a super creamy texture and excellent flavor. We recommend using unsalted butter because pesto tends to be on the saltier side.
- Walnuts. Traditionally, pesto uses pine nuts, but because they can be a little bit more difficult to source and more expensive, we're using walnuts to make a small batch of our walnut pesto recipe.
- Basil. When making your own pesto, fresh basil is crucial! Look for vibrant green leaves and discard any with blemishes.
- Garlic. Fresh garlic is necessary here.
- Parmesan cheese. Grate it yourself to make sure it blends into the butter mixture nicely.
- Extra virgin olive oil. A classic in Italian cooking! This helps give your pesto a distinct and authentic flavor.
- Kosher salt. To taste. We use Diamond Crystal Salt and it has nice large salt crystals. It's less salty than regular table salt, allowing you to control the salt level easier.
Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.
✨Substitutions & Variations
- Brown butter. For an extra flavorful condiment, brown the butter and let it cool and re-solidify (while still remaining softened.
- Lemony. Add fresh lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice for a citrusy brightness.
- Spicy. Add red pepper flakes or a spicy chili of some sort to add a spicy kick!
This recipe hasn't been tested with any other substitutions or variations, so we can't guarantee any results. If you make a change, let us know how it goes in the comments below!
🔪Prep Work
- Soften butter by leaving it out at room temperature for a few hours.
- Wash and dry the basil, then remove it from the stems.
- Mince garlic.
- Grate parmesan cheese.
- Toast walnuts.
How To Make Pesto Butter
Pulse together the dry ingredients
If making your own pesto, add toasted walnuts, basil, salt, garlic, and Parmesan cheese to the food processor and pulse to combine until a coarse mixture is created.
Finish the pesto
To finish the pesto, pulse and stream in olive oil until the pesto is silky smooth.
Pro Tip
Stream the olive oil in a thin stream. This allows the pesto to emulsify instead of becoming greasy and separating!
Add butter & process
To the same food processor, add in the softened butter. Food process until smooth, taste and adjust seasonings, and enjoy on a slice of bread, or any way you choose. Enjoy!
Pro Tip
If making this recipe for the first time, remove some of the pesto from the food processor before mixing with butter. Too much pesto could cause the mixture to separate. Process the mixture, taste it, and ensure the mixture is combined well, then add more pesto to taste.
There are so many ways to enjoy this pesto butter! We made a summery corn board that featured corn in various forms with five different butters. We paired this pesto butter with our roasted tomato butter, whipped honey butter, bacon butter, and our viral cowboy butter!
Calling pesto lovers!
Pesto Cauliflower
Drizzle this cauliflower with a bit of melted pesto butter for even more rich flavor!
Storage
Fridge Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. Allow to sit out at room temperature for about an hour so the butter can soften up to be spreadable.
Freezing
Store leftovers in an airtight freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, gently in the microwave (at roughly 30% power) or in the fridge overnight.
We'd recommend slicing into individual servings before freezing so you can defrost as needed.
This butter will keep in the freezer for 3-6 months.
Make ahead
The butter can be made up to 6 days in advance and stored in the fridge.
If you're planning a large menu and you need to break up some of the tasks, start by making the pesto and then storing it in the fridge for 4-5 days. Cover the top of the pesto with a layer of oil to help slow bacterial growth and keep the pesto green in appearance.
When it comes time to serve, drain the excess oil from the pesto, then combine the softened butter and pesto as usual to make the spread.
Dinner idea!
Creamy Pesto Pasta
Add a generous dollop of pesto butter to this creamy pasta for even more rich, luxurious flavor!
Expert Tips
- Use softened butter. Make sure the butter is nice and soft. This will ensure easy spreading and blending for a silky butter.
- Use high-quality butter. High-quality, European-style butter has a higher butterfat percentage than standard American-style butter. It makes this spread even more tasty!
- Make your own pesto. If you can, fresh, homemade pesto is going to give the butter incredible flavor, so make it yourself if possible!
- Drain excess oil from pesto. Too much oil can break the emulsion with the butter and pesto.
- Add pesto slowly. Again, we don't want to break the emulsion, and we want to ensure that the pesto flavor is right where you want it, so make sure to remove some of the pesto from the food processor before adding the butter.
Add a rich, pesto flavor!
Salmon Bruschetta
Spread a dollop of pesto butter on the crostini before adding more toppings for lots of extra flavor!
💬Common Questions
There may be too stark a temperature difference between the butter and pesto. Make sure the butter is nice and soft, and that the pesto is room temperature. If the butter is too cold, it can break the emulsion.
There may also be too much pesto or oil. Pesto contains a lot of oil. You can drain off any excess before combining with the butter. It's also wise to add pesto slowly. Start with 4 tablespoons, then add more slowly to ensure it doesn't separate!
If it does separate, you can always add more butter!
Yes! Food process the butter and pesto together, then transfer to parchment paper or plastic wrap and roll into a cylindrical shape. Place in the fridge to firm up for 1-2 hours until solid. To serve, cut into quarter-inch rounds.
No, this recipe can be mixed by hand, it just won't be quite as light and fluffy, and more on the "chunky" side!
🍴Main Course Pairings
Enhance these main courses by serving with this butter.
🍴Side Dish Pairings
Anything from your morning eggs to pasta, mashed potatoes, and more can be elevated with this butter.
🌟Leave a Review!
If you make this recipe, we'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below with your rating for the recipe. Share with us by tagging us on Instagram! We love seeing your creations! 📸
📖 Recipe
Pesto Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
Pesto (if making homemade, can use store bought)
- ⅓ cup walnuts toasted, about 38g, can substitute with pine nuts (traditional pesto ingredient) or any nut of choice
- 1 cup fresh basil tightly packed, about 56g
- 1 clove garlic peeled
- ⅔ cup parmesan cheese freshly grated, about 42g
- ¼-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt to taste
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Butter
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened, 1 stick, reduce added salt in pesto if using salted butter
- ¼-1/2 cup pesto added slowly and to taste to prevent separation
Instructions
Pesto
- If making your own pesto, add toasted walnuts, basil, salt, garlic, and Parmesan cheese to the food processor and pulse to combine until a coarse mixture is created.⅓ cup walnuts, 1 cup fresh basil, 1 clove garlic, ⅔ cup parmesan cheese, ¼-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- To finish the pesto, pulse and stream in olive oil until the pesto is silky smooth.½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Pesto butter
- Remove about half of the pesto from the food processor and set aside for now.
- To the same food processor, add in the softened butter. Food process until smooth, adding more pesto slowly and to taste to ensure it tastes how you'd like, and to prevent any separation from occuring.½ cup unsalted butter, ¼-1/2 cup pesto
- Enjoy right away as softened butter, or roll into a log on parchment paper or plastic wrap and refridgerate until solid, about 1-2 hours.
- Enjoy with your favorite sides, pasta, vegetables, protein, and more!
- STore leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 7 days. Freeze for up to 3-6 months.
Save This Recipe! 💌
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Notes
- Use softened butter. Make sure the butter is nice and soft. This will ensure easy spreading and blending for a silky butter.
- Use high-quality butter. High-quality, European-style butter has a higher butterfat percentage than standard American-style butter. It makes this spread even more tasty!
- Make your own pesto. If you can, fresh, homemade pesto is going to give the butter incredible flavor, so make it yourself if possible!
- Drain excess oil from pesto. Too much oil can break the emulsion with the butter and pesto.
- Add pesto slowly. Again, we don't want to break the emulsion, and we want to ensure that the pesto flavor is right where you want it, so make sure to remove some of the pesto from the food processor before adding the butter.
Briana says
What else is there to say about pesto and butter combined?! It's truly luscious and SO EASY! We hope you enjoy this as much as we do!