Beet leaf pesto


Beet leaf pesto
Here's a pesto recipe made with beet leaves, where the pine nuts are replaced by roasted walnuts.

The result is a highly original pesto, with an astonishing pinkish-green color and a delicious little bitterness.
5,167 5/5 (1 reviews)
Grade this recipe:
Keywords:
Last modified on: June 4th 2025
For 250 g, you will need:

Change these quantities to make:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 15 min.
Cooking: 5 min.
All in all: 20 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at 17:20, you will finish around : 17:40.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: 19:10.Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 1 min.
Beet leaf pesto
Place 50 g walnuts in a small frying pan over medium heat...

Stage 2 - 5 min.
Beet leaf pesto
...and roast them, stirring regularly.

Note: You can also put them in the oven, but it's a shame to start your oven for such a small quantity.

Set aside and leave to cool.

Stage 3 - 5 min.
Beet leaf pesto
Wash then spin-dry 150 g beet tops, keeping only the leaves.

Stage 4 - 1 min.
Beet leaf pesto
Place the leaves in a food processor, sprinkle with half the 1 lemon juice, and blend for a few seconds.

If necessary, process the beet leaves in batches - we just want to reduce their volume a little.

Stage 5 - 2 min.
Beet leaf pesto
Add the rest of the lemon juice, the zest of half the lemon, the walnuts, 2 pinches vitamin C if necessary (to avoid oxidation and keep a nice color), salt, pepper and a little olive oil.

Stage 6 - 3 min.
Beet leaf pesto
Blend again, drizzling in more olive oil until smooth.

Check the seasoning and your pesto is ready.

Stage 7 - 3 min.
Beet leaf pesto
Place in a jar, pour a film of oil over the top, close tightly and store in the fridge.
Remarks
We don't use the stems, just the leaves, so there's no need to blanch.

The proportions are only indicative, so feel free to adapt them to the beet tops you have and your own taste.
Keeping: Several days in a closed jar in the fridge.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe30 RDI=10 %30 RDI=3 %40 RDI=6 %580 RDI=30 %2,420 RDI: 30 %
Per 100 g8 RDI=3 %7 RDI=1 %10 RDI=2 %150 RDI=8 %640 RDI: 8 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man
Possible allergens in this recipe: Nuts, Milk
How much will it cost?
  • For 250 g : 1.70 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Other recipes you may also like
Spaghetti Carbonara
Spaghetti Carbonara
A very famous Italian pasta recipe: egg yolks, cream, bacon, Parmesan and lemon juice.
February 21th 2011342 K 24.8 25 min.
Cornmeal baps for Anne
Cornmeal baps for Anne
These small round baps are made with a mix of wheat flour and fine cornmeal. The dominant corn gives a moist and very yellow crumb.
October 24th 2017265 K4.3 5 hours 55 min.
Exotic fruit tart
Exotic fruit tart
An exotic fruit tart (bananas, kiwi and pineapple), with crisp pastry and almond cream which are cooked beforehand. It's a rather simple recipe, but the final result will impress your guests.
May 27th 2020326 K5 2 hours 25 min.
Crème brulée
Crème brulée
Crème brûlée (burned cream) is quite easy to prepare: it's a simple egg-cream dessert. The only difficulty is in making the delicious crunchy caramel layer on top. The perfect crème brulée (for me) is a cold and soft cream, with on top a nice hot caramel crust. This is a completely new version...
December 31th 20111.67 M 74.3 4 hours 40 min.
Finger biscuits
Finger biscuits
These small biscuits, that look a bit like savoy biscuits, are delicious alone or with Champagne, but are also the base for charlottes or Tiramisu.
July 30th 2021348 K5 50 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-07-27)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page