When made with fresh mint, pine nuts and a bit of balsamic vinegar the fresh mint pesto will have a lovely flavour.
Very quick to make and ideal as:
- A tasty dip for samosas, chicken nuggets, etc
- Blended with pasta
- Or even on top of fresh fruit like strawberries.
Fresh mint is great for making dips and pesto. The recipe below shows how to use it to make sweet mint pesto – but there are lots of other ingredients you can use to make your own preferred flavour. Such as pinenuts, adding basil, etc.
How to make the Mint Pesto recipe
Ingredients:
- 40 g Fresh Mint leaves (1 bunch)
- 40 g Pine Nuts
- 2 to 3 tbsp Sugar – depending how sweet you would like it to be
- 1 Lemon (2 tbsp lemon juice)
- 1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 60 ml Virgin Olive oil
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
- Chef’s knife (optional)
Instructions
- Pick the mint and remove the leaves from the stem
- Chop the leaves into smaller bits (optionally, I just found it easier to blend)
- Squeeze the lemon and extract the juice
- Measure the other ingredients
- Pour all the ingredients in the blender
- Blend until smooth
- Put in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours before using.
3 key questions
1. What’s the best mint for pesto?
Fresh mint leaves add real flavour to many recipes, like the mint pesto recipe.
You can buy Fresh Mint in many shops (for example you can Buy it on Amazon)
The mint sold in shops tend to be spearmint (often used for lamb dishes, pasta, etc.)
There are many different varieties of mint and each has it’s own unique flavour.
The 3 alternative mint types worth trying are:
- Apple Mint – Strong apple flavour.
- Peppermint – Bit like spearmint but with a stronger flavour.
- Orange Mint – lovely sweet flavour.
They are all very easy to grow at home : How to grow mint
2. What can I use instead of mint?
There are lots of herbs you can use to make pesto – each has a unique flavour.
For example the basil pesto (pictured with roast potatoes) in as obvious one (full details on the vegan basil pesto recipe)
The alternative herb to use is coriander (cilantro) and will add very distinctive lemon & lime taste to the pesto
3. Can I freeze mint pesto?
The simple answer is yes.
And it’s great if you have to much mint and you can store it long term.
There are 2 ways to store mint pesto:
- In the fridge – either using the oil layering trick. And it will store for 5 to 7 days.
- In the freezer – simply put the pesto in ice cube trays and it will keep for several months.
There is step by step advice on the basil pesto to freeze article – the method will be the same.
Fresh Mint Pesto
Equipment
- 1 Food processor
- 1 Chef Knife optional
Ingredients
- 40 g Fresh Mint Leaves
- 40 g Pine nuts
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Balsamic syrup
- 60 ml Virgin olive oil
Instructions
Get the mint ready
- Pick the mint and remove the leaves from the stem
- Chop the leaves into smaller bits (optionally, I just found it easier to blend)
Add into Blender
- Add the mint leaves into the blender
- Add the other ingredients
Blend until smooth
- Blend until smooth
Chill
- Put in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours before using.
Video
Nutrition
How to use mint pesto
Great as a dip, added to pasta or on top of meat.
For example it tastes great combined with samosas or even chicken nuggests.
It’s very easy to store in a freezer – just use an ice cube tray to store it.
Ideal if (like mine) your mint is growing like crazy and you want to store it.
Have you made the recipe?
Would love to hear what you thought of it
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