Plate of vegan red pesto with pasta and a fork.

Have you heard of red pesto!? Compared to its traditional basil-based cousin, red pesto is made up of roasted red bell peppers and sun-dried tomatoes.

Although you might think the term ‘pesto’ automatically entails green herbs, the word actually comes from the Italian ‘pestare’ which means ‘to crush’, as pesto back in the day was made by crushing the ingredients with a mortar and pestle. So, no basil needed for pesto — just something to crush up all your ingredients with! (As I don’t have a mortar and pestle, nor the upper body strength to create pesto with it, a food processor is a good substitute!)

Why You’ll Love This Vegan Red Pesto

Also known as pesto rosso, red pesto is a delicious and hearty alternative to the bright and zingy basil pesto. The addition of roasted bell peppers and sun-dried tomatoes imparts a slightly sweet flavor to balance out some of the savoriness. While pesto rosso resembles marinara sauce in appearance, its taste and texture are very different from what you’d slap on a homemade pizza, as the walnuts add a chunkiness and the roasted bell peppers introduce a sweet and balanced taste. This recipe is also a pesto without pine nuts — while pine nuts are delicious, I prefer the chunkiness (and lower cost!) of walnuts.

This pesto is vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free (all the -frees!); however, you could easily add Parmesan cheese instead of nutritional yeast to add some umami-rich flavor. If you’re unfamiliar with nutritional yeast (sounds weird, I know), it’s a vegan option sold as a powder or in small flakes that has a nutty and umami flavor, tasting slightly like Parmesan cheese.

Vegan red pesto with pasta swirled on a fork — Cambria Glosz from Veggies Then Wine — *The perfect bite.*

How to Make Roasted Bell Peppers

For this red pesto recipe, you could easily purchase roasted red bell peppers from a store. However, if you want to make them at home, I find it to be extremely easy, not too time-consuming, and delicious in flavor.

Here’s how to make roasted bell peppers at home:

Take whole bell peppers and spray or drizzle a small amount of avocado oil on them.
Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and pop in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Roast for 30 minutes, flipping over halfway through. The skin should be blistering.
Remove from oven and place on a cutting board or other flat surface and put a glass bowl on top of them, covering entirely. This is to help the skin peel off easily.
After 5-7 minutes, remove the glass bowl and peel off the skin — be careful of the heat!
Gently scrape out the seeds and slice into big strips.

How to Make Red Pesto

Once you have your bell peppers roasted — or removed from their jar — you’re ready to start pureeing! The ingredients for pesto rosso are pretty simple. You’ll need:

Roasted red bell peppers
Sun-dried tomatoes (ideally in oil)
Olive oil
Fresh garlic cloves
Walnuts
Nutritional yeast or Parmesan cheese (for non-vegan)
Fresh basil (optional)
Teeny amount of lemon juice
Salt
Pepper

Now, all you’ll need to do is add to a food processor and puree for 60-90 seconds. If you want a smoother sauce, you can puree it for longer — vice versa for a chunkier sauce.

Ingredients for red pesto in a food processor.

How to Serve Red Pesto

Now that you’ve made your red pesto — what should you serve it with? The food options for pesto rosso are pretty endless, as its salty, savory, and slightly sweet flavors go with so many different foods and cuisines.

Here are some ideas for what to serve with red pesto:

Pasta — obviously!
Pizza — either as the base instead of pizza sauce, or dolloped on top
As a dip for a delicious crusty bread
As a spread on sandwiches
On top of chicken or fish

Do you have any other ideas for how to serve pesto rosso? Let me know in the comments!