Low Fat, No Dairy Pesto Sauce

Some health conditions led us to the need to eat healthier, but there are limited recipes that meet the several requirements for someone with Hypertension 2 and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). Sometimes you’ll find recipes that may fit part of the bill, but it often requires some tweaking. It can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to even begin the adjustments without ruining the flavor.

That led me to start documenting some of the healthy recipes we eat on a regular basis to hopefully help or inspire someone in a similar situation.

Pesto is typically made with your choice of greens and a lot of olive oil and parmesan cheese, making it a food that is not allowed for Low Fat, Low Cholesterol (LFLC) diet that we’re trying to adhere to. I came across recipes that are vegan-friendly (no cheese), and oil-free, and decided to tweak it to our taste buds.

Print Recipe

Low Fat, No Dairy Pesto Sauce

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: pesto, sauce, vegetarian

Servings: 4

Equipment

• 1 Food Processor, Blender, or Immersion Blender

Ingredients

• 150 grams fresh basil leaves
• 100 grams fresh spinach optional
• 30 grams walnuts or pine nuts if you want it "authentic"
• 15 grams almonds skinless
• 6 cloves garlic
• 24 grams nutritional yeast or parmesan cheese (dairy and higher fat)
• 15 ml olive oil
• 45 ml water more, if needed
• 2 grams garlic powder
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Instructions

• Pulse everything together in your blender (or immersion blender) until smooth. Add more water in 5ml increments if it's too thick for your liking.

Notes

• Olive oil. I tried making it without olive oil and it was really lacking in flavor. Adding one tablespoon (15ml) improved it a lot. 
• Nuts. I use walnuts and almonds because that’s a pantry staple for us and pine nuts are expensive.
• Garlic powder. You can omit this if you don’t have any, but it’s flavor profile is different from fresh garlic so it adds depth.
• Parmesan cheese. Obviously, using parmesan cheese will make this non-dairy and has higher fat content, so it won’t be applicable for NAFLD.
• Storage. Once smooth, I place them in ice trays until frozen and transfer them to a deli container. You can easily use them from frozen.