Homemade Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
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Homemade sun-dried tomato pesto is surprisingly quick and easy to make for something that feels elevated and adds big, bold, instant flavor to your favorite Italian-inspired dips, pastas, pizza, sauce, and soup. Grab a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, obviously, plus pesto basics like basil, garlic, and Parmesan, and you’ll have this blitzed together in no time.
Once upon a time, after making an already rather large batch of my favorite sun-dried tomato white bean dip, I was inspired to make a pesto out of the extra little red gems lingering in the fridge. Pesto is squarely among my favorite condiments to begin with, so it’s not exactly shocking; what I hope inspires confidence is that we’ve been going back to that same pesto rosso recipe for more than 10 years now. It’s that good!
Why You’ll Love This Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Recipe
- Throw it all in the food processor and you’re done—no chopping, no fuss
- Flavorful and rich, with tang and sweetness all in one
- Carefully balanced to taste bold without being too garlicky, too salty, etc.
- Keeps for about a week in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer
- Easy to use in many delicious ways; if you want to be a little creative in the kitchen, this quickly takes everyday appetizers, sandwiches, wraps, and pastas to the next level
Ingredient Notes
Mix and Go
Like most pesto recipes, the actual act of making this is incredibly simple as long as you have a big food processor to enlist. (If not, you’ll have to use elbow grease to finely mince the tomatoes the old-fashioned way, then mortar and pestle the rest.)
Add everything except the olive oil to the bowl and process until it’s fairly smooth. Then, with the motor running, drizzle in oil until the mixture reaches a consistency you like.
To this batch, I added only 1/4 cup of olive oil, which left it quite thick, as you can see in the photo above. This worked perfectly for my intended purpose of mixing with pasta; for looser pesto, just add more oil—roughly 1/3 cup total.
Pro Tip
Be sure to sample and adjust seasoning to taste! This advice is written near the end of most recipes, and it’s easy to write off, but taking 30 seconds to do it is often what separates a good base from a finished product you’ll really love.
Ways To Use Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
The most obvious and yes, best, way to use sun-dried tomato pesto is to mix into pasta. My favorite tip for making this work well is to stir roughly equal parts of the pesto and starchy cooking water into the drained, warm pasta. This loosens the pesto just a touch without watering it down, so it clings to the pasta and adds a big punch without you needing to add huge glugs of oil or an overpowering amount of pesto.
Pesto rosso also makes a truly outstanding addition to pizza sauce and virtually any Italian or Mediterranean-inspired soup. It’s a favorite part of my 20-minute tomato soup and also gives that little extra pizzazz to tomato meatball or Italian chickpea soup.
Have a little left? Stir some into hummus or another dip; add a swirl to sandwiches or wraps; or dollop over roasted chicken or grilled veggies. Basically anywhere you’d like a little extra punch of flavor, this will bring it home.
Easy but Elevated Entertaining
If you really want to impress, serve a small bowl of this pesto on a cheeseboard with baguette slices, a few types of cheese, and homemade olive tapendade as well. And let me know when to come over—I’ll bring the sips!
Storage & Freezing Tips
- In the Fridge: Covered tightly, this pesto keeps for about a week.
- In the Freezer: Pack tightly in a freezer-safe container and remove as much excess air as possible. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge or on the counter as needed.
- When Ready to Use Again: Set the pesto on the counter for a few minutes and give it an extra-vigorous stir when using again. You want to reincorporate both any solidified olive oil and the exposed top layer, which loses some flavor through oxidation and is best not to concentrate in the first few bites.
More Pesto Recipes To Try
Homemade Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups sun-dried tomatoes oil-packed but drained, see note
- 1 and 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves loosely packed
- 3 cloves garlic peeled but whole
- 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts toasted if possible
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients except olive oil to the bowl of a food processor. Blend until thoroughly combined.1 and 1/4 cups sun-dried tomatoes, 1 and 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, 3 cloves garlic, 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts, 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 Tablespoon tomato paste, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- As the motor is running, pour in 1/4 cup of the olive oil and blend until well-incorporated. Add more olive oil only to adjust the consistency as desired.1/4 to 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Sample and adjust seasoning to taste. Use right away, or store in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy!
Notes
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: It doesn’t matter whether you use whole or julienned sun-dried tomatoes for this, since the food processor will break them down to tinier bits just the same. You’ll find oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes in jars of varying weights, and the volume of tomatoes inside will also vary; in my experience, any jar in the 6-8.5 ounce range is likely to yield enough tomatoes for the 1 and 1/4 cups called for here. I typically just use the whole jar and adjust the other ingredients as needed or to taste.
- Food Processor: If you need a good food processor, I recommend this one; it’s a work-horse!
- Make by Hand Option: Finely mince the tomatoes the old-fashioned way, then use a mortar and pestle to grind them together with the rest of the ingredients into a somewhat smooth paste.
- Use in Pasta: I recommend stirring roughly equal parts of this pesto and starchy pasta water into drained, warm pasta. This loosens the pesto just a touch without watering it down, so it clings to the pasta and adds a big punch without you needing to add so much that it overpowers everything.
- Storage: Covered tightly, this pesto keeps for about a week in the fridge.
- Freezing: Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Pack tightly in a freezer-safe container and remove as much excess air as possible to keep it tasting as fresh as possible. Defrost in the fridge or on the counter as needed.
- When Ready to Use Again: Set the pesto on the counter for a few minutes and give it an extra-vigorous stir when using again; you want to reincorporate both any solidified olive oil and the exposed top layer, which loses some flavor through oxidation, so it isn’t concentrated in the first few bites.
This post was originally published on September 4, 2017; it’s been updated with new photos and much more succinct yet helpful information on recipe substitutions, storage, and ideas to use it.
You can just see the flavour in this pesto!
Pasta and pesto is such a quick and delicious dinner, I always have a jar in the fridge!
I fell in love with the look of your sun dried pesto when I saw it in pinterest earlier. I wish I could get some with a freshly baked bruschetta bread. The color of the pesto is so vibrant and inviting!
Thank you, Helene, that is so kind! Whip up a batch, it’s easy and you’ll love it on fresh bread for sure!
I love a good pesto recipe. This looks like it is full of flavors! Thank you for sharing.
I LOVE pesto but have never tried it with sun dried tomatoes! I bet it tastes amazing…as in, I need to make this ASAP!!!!
I make similar pesto and we love it! It is so easy to make and so versatile! Like you said we also used it for pizza, crostini appetizers, pasta…It’s a great condiment!
Hi Julia! Great minds think alike on this one, no doubt about it! <3