Tired of the same old pesto recipe? Get ready to elevate your dishes with this creamy and flavorful cashew pesto. It is packed with the goodness of roasted garlic, fresh mint, and tangy lemon. This pesto recipe with mint is perfect for pasta, sandwiches, or as a dip for vegetables. Easy to make and packed with nutrients, the cashew nut pesto is a delicious and versatile addition to your kitchen.
About the recipe
Pesto with cashews is my go-to pasta sauce on busy (or rather lazy) days when cooking is not on top of my mind. Those long days when you and the family come home tired and hungry, and you’re so tempted to order take-out 🙁
If I have an abundance of Thai basil leaves, I make the Thai basil pesto instead. Or spinach pesto if I have a lot of spinach in my fridge.
Or I make the red pesto pasta with chilli pesto if I have cherry tomatoes and red pepper.
This pesto recipe with cashews uses less oil and cheese. You’ll love this recipe because it is also customizable according to your preferred taste. Have a look at the additions and substitutions below to pick and choose your favorite pesto!
Try the quick and easy angel hair pasta with fresh homemade cashew pesto that takes less than 30 minutes of your precious time. You’ll be glad that you did.
I usually pair it with some roasted vegetables and easy protein like baked chicken breasts for a quick and easy dinner. It also pairs well with sauteed shrimps with peppers or panko-crusted cod.
Other than pasta, this mint pesto can be drizzled on soups like roasted pumpkin soup or a salad like Italian balsamic pasta salad. Once you realise how easy and delicious it is, you’ll be tempted to eat it with anything from veggie sticks to chips to pizza!
Trending Videos
Ingredients for cashew pesto recipe
- Mint and cilantro: One of the reasons for using mint and cilantro is that they can withstand heat better than basil. So you can use this mint pesto for warm dishes, too.
- Toasted cashews: When compared to pine nuts nutritionally, cashews have more protein and minerals like calcium and iron while less in calories and fat. (source) Cashews are also less expensive than pine nuts, so it helps if you’re cooking on a budget.
- Roasted garlic: Roasting your garlic rather than using raw garlic makes the pesto taste even better.
- You’re going to use only a couple of garlic cloves, so roast a few whole garlic heads and refrigerate or freeze the rest. There are tons of ways you can use roasted garlic and they keep well for months.
- Homemade compound butter, garlic bread, pasta sauce and dips are some of the recipes where you can use mashed roasted garlic. You can also use them in sauces like roasted garlic pasta sauce and dressings for salads like beet walnut feta salad.
- Chillies: For that spicy kick. You can skip it if you’re not a spice person.
- Lemon juice: Adds a bit of zest to the pesto and goes well with mint flavor.
- Pink Himalayan salt: This is yet another ingredient that gives a unique flavor. It is more of a personal preference and I use it in all my salads and sauces. You can replace it with regular sea salt.
- Parmesan: Well after all, it is pesto, folks!
- Olive oil, that brings it all together into a creamy sauce.
How to make pesto with cashews- step by step
(You can find the exact measurements and instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this page.)
Roast garlic and cashews
Roasting garlic and cashews in the oven: Cut a whole garlic bulb in half horizontally, drizzle a little olive oil and wrap in a piece of foil. Roast for about 25 minutes at 180°C/ 350°F. Spread cashews in a sheet pan and roast for 5 minutes.
Roasting on the stovetop: Peel and roughly chop garlic cloves. Heat a small pan and dry-roast the chopped garlic and cashews on a low flame for about 5 to 8 minutes. Roast until the cashews are browned and you get a nice aroma.
Blend cashew pesto
If you want a smooth pesto, process the toasted cashews, garlic, parmesan, salt and chillies (if using) first until finely chopped. Then add mint and cilantro and process until smooth. While the motor is still running, add olive oil and process for a minute or two.
If you like your pesto a little chunky, process all ingredients together except olive oil until you get the desired consistency. Then add olive oil as above.
The texture depends on how you’re going to use the pesto. As a rule of thumb, if you’re using the pesto recipe for pasta, it is better to have a chunky texture.
For other uses such as adding to dips or topping, a smoother texture works great.
Angel hair pasta with pesto sauce
Though any kind of pasta can be used in the pesto pasta recipe, spaghetti and angel hair pasta are my favorites since they require less pesto sauce that clings to the strands uniformly. I love angel hair pasta especially since it cooks very fast, as we saw in the recipe for pasta with shrimps and red sauce.
How to cook Angel hair pasta
Boil water (about 3 liters/ 12 cups for this recipe) in a large stockpot with 1 tablespoon of salt. There should be enough water and space for the pasta to move around. So choose a large pot to boil the pasta.
Angel hair pasta typically takes 2 to 4 minutes to cook depending on the brand. Cook 1 minute lesser than the time specified in the package. Mine said 2 minutes so I cooked for 1 minute.
Cook the pasta and drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
Transfer the drained pasta to a large bowl and immediately toss with the cashew pesto sauce, adding pasta water as required. Serve sprinkled with parmesan and chili flakes!
Tips to make the best Angel hair with pesto
- Reserve a cup of pasta water before draining. This helps in 2 ways:
- To get the delicious saucy consistency when tossing the pasta with pesto (the starch in the water does the trick)
- While storing leftover pasta in the refrigerator, refrigerate the pasta water also in a separate container. For serving the pasta warm, take out both and leave them outside the fridge for about 15 minutes. Then, boil the pasta water and add to the pesto pasta, a little at a time and toss.
- Do not toss the pasta in the pot in which you boiled the pasta. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl, add the pesto and toss, adding pasta water as you toss.
- Cold pesto pasta tastes refreshingly good. But if you like warm pasta, do not heat the pesto or reheat the pasta after adding the pesto sauce. If you’re not serving right away, use the above method to warm up the pasta.
Additions and substitutions
- Make it an almond pesto by replacing cashews with almonds.
- Change this recipe to mint basil pesto by replacing parsley with Italian basil. It works well with Thai basil, too!
- Make mint pesto without nuts by replacing cashews with an equal amount of boiled peas or edamame beans.
- Make mint pesto with seeds by replacing cashews with toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds.
Is cashew pesto healthy?
When you look at the ingredients for pesto individually, each of them has great health benefits like antioxidants, HEART-HEALTHY FATS, fiber and a whole lot of NUTRIENTS.
However, the pesto has a bad reputation of being high in calories due to the large quantities of olive oil.
In this recipe, I’ve used an optimum quantity of olive oil (1/2 cup for 2 cups of pesto that equals 9 to 10 servings when added to pasta) that gives a nice balance.
So the pesto pasta is delicious and saucy, yet not so greasy with too much oil.
How to use cilantro mint pesto
- Make mushroom pesto pasta.
- Make pesto-topped salmon with this cashew mint pesto.
- Drizzle on your pizza, salads, soups, fries or roasted veggies. Pile on to the roasted garlic flavor by adding a few spoons of this pesto to roasted tomato garlic soup.
- Make a cashew pesto pasta salad with any short pasta and chicken. (Drizzle a few spoons on creamy veggie chicken pasta salad or substitute the yogurt sauce with pesto.)
- Use as a sauce for pan-fried chicken or salmon.
- Marinate thin-sliced chicken breasts with mint pesto and sear or bake them.
If you love vegetarian pasta salads, try this easy Italian pasta salad.
Craving creamy pasta, but worried about high calories and expanding waistline? Try these no-guilt pasta recipes like zucchini mushroom pasta and creamy vegetable pasta with vegan garlic sauce.
Or make the 6-ingredient spaghetti arrabbiata with fresh tomatoes, chili flakes, and easy homemade tomato paste.
More Sauces and Chutneys
Creamy Harissa Dip with Yogurt and Tahini
Silken Tofu Pasta Sauce
Easy Sweet Onion Dressing for Salad
More pasta recipes
★★★★★Did you try this recipe? Please give a star rating in the comments below ★★★★★
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Join over 1000 home cooks like you who subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get all the latest recipes right in your inbox. Or follow me on your favorite social media: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube. Thank you and happy cooking!
Great twist to the quite common pesto! Came out well for me. Thanks for your description and pictures.
Thanks, Xavier, I’m glad it turned out great for you!
Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!
I make pesto all the time and thought I’d tried pretty much every combination. But I haven’t yet tried parsley and mint together and especially not with chilli. It sounds intriguing and delicious.
#CookBlogShare
Thanks, Choclette! The chilli does make a difference and if you like spice, you should try it with the chilli. Please let me know how it turned out for you.
I actually don’t like basil in pesto so this would really work for me. I love the sound of the lemon and mint with the garlic. Great flavour combos and I’m all for a quick and easy meal in the week. Thank you for sharing them with #CookBlogShare
Thanks for the lovely comments, Jenny! We all love quick and easy meals, right?:-)
Amazing pesto! and the color is lovely 🙂 I love my pesto with a chunky texture btw.
Thank you, me too 🙂