Nasturtium pesto

Nasturtium pesto uses nasturtium leaves, stems, and flowers in place of basil. The flavor is still herbal, but with a radish-type 'bite' and a very slight earthy flavor. You can also use a mix of nasturtium leaves and basil for a more traditional flavor.

This is a humble little pesto, and I don't want you to think it will win any awards or turn you into a celebrity chef. However, my friends always ask to take some of my nasturtium plants home after trying this sauce, along with the recipe.

If you grow nasturtium in your garden, this is a great way to use it up. You can also make large batches to freeze, and it's way more affordable than jars in the store.

Jump to:

• Recipe
• Nasturtium Pesto
• Adjusting the recipe
• Using nasturtium
• Nuts
• Citrus
• Make it spicy
• Working in batches
• Storing
• How to use nasturtium pesto
• Other nasturtium recipes & resources

Recipe

Adjusting the recipe

Traditional pesto uses basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and olive oil. One of the best things about pesto is how flexible the recipe can be. That's why this nasturtium pesto recipe tastes so good.

But don't stop here, you can easily mix in different herbs, greens, nuts, and citrus. If you think a flavor combination will work, you should give it a try.

The rest of these sections talk about each of the ingredients (and alternative options), in order to inspire you.

Using nasturtium

Nasturtium leaves, stems, flowers, and seeds are all edible. For this nasturtium pesto recipe, you can use just the leaves, or add in the stems and flowers too. Feel free to mix in other greens you have in your garden, like spinach, arugula, or kale.

Nasturtium leaves

Nasturtium leaves have a stronger peppery flavor compared to the other parts of the plant. They also have a little bitterness, similar to salad greens like arugula. This bitterness is barely noticeable (if at all) in the flowers and stems.

The leaves can be used at any point, whether they are big or small, or early or late in the season. The bigger ones are tougher, but that texture won't matter much once processed into this pesto. Sometimes the bigger ones taste more bitter, or get bitter after hot spells or water stress.

If the leaves taste too strong or are too tough later in the season, you could try blanching them first. You Grow Girl has instructions for that.

Nasturtium flowers

The flowers taste peppery and herbal, not very floral. That's a good thing, in my opinion, as I don't want floral notes in this pesto. I haven't detected a noticeable flavor difference between nasturtium colors or varieties.

The flowers can be used as a dye and make a pretty vinegar, but they shouldn't affect the color of the pesto. That is, as long as the majority of your pesto is made up of the leaves.

Stems

The stems have a similar flavor to the leaves, but slightly brighter and less bitter. They are a great stand-in for chives, especially on top of salads, soups, and baked potatoes.

If you want to add stems to the pesto, roughly chop them ahead of time or they can end up wrapping around the food processor blade (thanks to Victoria for her suggestion in the comments).

Nuts

I use pistachios for this nasturtium pesto even though pine nuts are more traditional. While we are mixing things up, let's look at all of the options.

Pistachios

The unique flavor of pistachios works in nasturtium pesto because it brightens the green-herbal flavors, while adding some basil-like qualities.

Pistachios overlap with basil flavor quite a bit, leaning more herbal than earthy like other nuts. They are both lightly sweet, grassy, citrusy, and piney, and they share several aromatic compounds.

Pine nuts

Pine nuts are also very compatible with nasturtium. They are high in terpenes (piney flavor) that enhances the bright-green flavor of nasturtium. It's the same reason pine nuts works so well on arugula salads too.

Pine nuts also have a buttery flavor and oily texture that smooth out the sharp, peppery bite without making it muddy. They are soft and easily break down in a food processor, creating that pesto texture you're used to.

It's almost like pesto should have been made with nasturtium all along! That said, pine nuts are expensive, so if you want to sub in some other nuts, that's okay too.

Almonds

Almonds have a pretty neutral flavor with a hint of sweetness. The pairing keeps the bright flavor of nasturtium leaves, slightly taming the sharpness. They are harder nuts that might create a crunchier textured pesto. (That can be good or bad depending on your preferences and intended use).

Walnuts

Walnuts are one of the cheaper options as the grocery store, which can be nice when making a large batch of pesto. However, the flavor will change due to the natural tannic bitterness of walnuts.

Bitterness can help balance rich and salty foods - just like green bell peppers do on a cheesy pizza. So a more bitter nasturtium pesto could work on a cheesy bruschetta, pasta, or stirred into a soup.

The texture should be fairly traditional since they are soft - not as soft as pine nuts, but not nearly as hard as almonds.

Citrus

Most pesto recipes add a little bit of citrus to help stabilize the color and add acid to balance out the fats from olive oil and nuts. Lemons are called for in traditional basil pesto recipes, but I've swapped it out for this one.

Make it spicy

Love spicy food? You can easily make this nasturtium pesto recipe to be as spicy as you want. If you have a favorite hot sauce that you think will work, try it on a spoonful of pesto - if it works, add some in to the food processor.

Use spices

I suggest using red pepper flakes in the recipe because they add heat without changing the flavor and are easily accessible to everyone. However, there's a lot you can do with other pepper spices.

• Whole peppercorns: they break down in the food processor to give the classic pepper flavor
• Pink peppercorns add a piney-berry like flavor that's slightly sweet
• Guajillo pepper is rich and fruity and already works well with grapefruit and pistachios!

You can also try stirring in some chili crunch... which I will be doing next summer once I make my next batch. I love the version from Trader Joes (you'll find it by the pesto and other sauces).

Use fresh peppers

Another way to add heat is with fresh peppers. My go-to are jalapenos because their green-grassy flavor is perfect in nasturtium pesto. You can also try habanero for its citrusy flavor profile or serrano for a more vegetal flavor.

Start by adding some slices into the food processor and pulse until combined. Taste it for the heat levels and keep adding more until the pesto tastes just right.

Working in batches

Food processors can only hold so much, and if they are stuffed too full only the bottom half gets chopped, leaving the top leaves mostly whole. But you can still make a big batch of nasturtium pesto - I've got you covered.

First, loosely add leaves until your food processor is about ¾ full. Pulse until they are well chopped. Then add more nasturtium leaves until it's ¾ full, and pulse again. Continue until you've processed all of your leaves or the food processor reaches half full.

At this point, add in your other ingredients: olive oil, nuts, cheese, and citrus. Process until the desired consistency is reached. Spoon into other containers and store in the fridge or freeze for later use.

If you still have more nasturtium leaves to turn into pesto, start the process over. There's no need to wash out the bowl since the small amount of leftover oil and bits of nuts won't matter.

Storing

Store the nasturtium pesto in the fridge for short term use. The olive oil might harden a little but quickly softens when brought to room temperature. You can also freeze it for long-term storage.

This recipe isn't safe for water bath or pressure canning, and I don't know of one that is. So do not can this pesto.

How to use nasturtium pesto

The best thing about this nasturtium pesto recipe is that it can be used in place of tradition pesto for almost anything. And with pesto prices what they are now (not to mention pretty bland flavors these days), this is a real treat.

Other nasturtium recipes & resources

For other nasturtium pesto variations, try one of these recipes:

• Nasturtium pesto with sunflower seeds by The Organic Gypsy
• Nasturtium pesto with breadcrumbs and mint from Gardenerd
• Nasturtium flower pesto - using only the flowers for a pretty color, from Self Sufficient Me

Here are some other recipes that use up nasturtium leaves (and flowers):

• Nasturtium jelly recipe from Creative Canning
• Summer nasturtium soup from Larder Love
• Nasturtium & strawberry salad recipe by Champagne Tastes

Every year I get overwhelmed with Nasturtium that regrows from the past year. I'm always looking for ways to use it, rather than cutting it back and composting it. Have you found other ways to use it? Share in the comments.