Easy Broccoli Pesto

Do you have a hard time getting your kids to eat broccoli? Not anymore! This easy broccoli pesto has all the delicious flavor of pesto but is made with broccoli.

What is Broccoli Pesto?

Broccoli Pesto takes the traditional Italian recipe, rich with basil, garlic and pine nuts and reimagines it as a kid-friendly, flavorful broccoli spread!

This easy broccoli pesto tastes just like traditional pesto but with a sneaky side of veggies.

It’s the perfect ingredient to add to pizzas, sandwiches, wraps, pasta, chicken and so much more.

Is Broccoli Pesto Kid-Friendly

My kids don’t mind the taste of pesto. I often tuck pesto in a tomato sauce or under pizza toppings and it’s always been a welcome flavor at our dinner table.

But broccoli is another story. “I don’t like those trees” is what my son used to say when he was four. My solution since then (he’s 16 now) has been to serve this vitamin-packed vegetable in pesto sauce!

It amazes me how often kids will be open to trying a hated vegetable if it’s simply served up a different way, so they don’t quite recognize it as the same, hated food.

Ingredients

Like the classic Homemade Pesto recipe, you just need a few basic ingredients to make it happen. The amounts are in the recipe card below, but first, check out what makes this broccoli pesto so epic:

• Broccoli florets: fresh or frozen. You want to add them steamed but still crunchy.
• Fresh basil: gives this sauce the classic pesto flavor.
• Garlic: that touch of flavor that makes everything tastier.
• Grated Parmesan: add saltiness and consistency.
• Salt: just a pinch to enhance the flavors.
• Olive oil: to turn all the ingredients into a sauce.

How to make Broccoli Pesto

Grab your food processor because making this pesto broccoli is as easy as pressing a button. Check it by yourself:

1. Combine
   In the food processor, you combine all the ingredients, except the olive oil, and pulse until finely chopped.
2. Add the oil
   Between pulses, you slowly pour in olive oil in a thin stream. Add more oil if needed to achieve pesto consistency.

It's that easy! You can then store your homemade pesto in the fridge for up to a week or freeze it for up to 3 months. First time making this recipe? Watch this quick video to see it comes together step-by-step:

How to Use Broccoli Pesto

There are so many fun dinners for kids you can make with broccoli pesto. You can add a few tablespoons to Creamy Alfredo Sauce or use it in Pesto Chicken Pasta, Pesto Salmon, or Baked Pesto Chicken Thighs.