5-Minute Tomato Basil Pesto Sauce
Our 5-Minute Tomato Basil Pesto Sauce may become your favorite quickie dinnertime go-to from this day forward. And this delicious no-cook, gluten-free, plant-based recipe may make you shop differently, too. For instance, you might start keeping a pack of sun-dried tomatoes in your pantry, just in case. This is the kind of sauce that makes you feel all chef-y even though it only takes a whole five minutes to make!
And the coolest thing about this simple recipe is that it couldn’t be any easier to make. All you do is place the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until you achieve a chunky consistency, or go ahead and smooth the lumps out if that suits your fancy.
And the list of ingredients is short and sweet; every single part can be adjusted to make you happy without messing up the result. We use versions of this sauce in our favorite Sun-Dried Tomato Best-o Pesto Pasta as well as in our Instant Pot Sun-Dried Tomato Spaghetti Squash.
If you haven’t tried either of these swimmingly easy to prepare dinners, you really should, and soon! Sun-dried tomatoes are head turners when it comes to adding a nice punch of flavor. And when it comes to nutrients, these sun-dried powerhouses of taste are not too shabby either.
5 Stand-Out Facts About the Nutrients in Sun-Dried Tomatoes:
- One cup of sun-dried tomatoes has 139 calories, 8 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber.
- A one-cup serving of sun-dried tomatoes has 39 percent of the RDA of potassium.
- Men get 82 percent, and women obtain 27 percent of the recommended daily intake of iron.
- One cup provides 23 percent of the RDA of thiamine and riboflavin, as well as 31 percent of niacin.
- Sun-dried tomatoes provide 19 percent of the daily intake of Vitamin K.
Regarding the potassium, it’s essential for muscle contraction and the transmission of nerve impulses. And those B vitamins are ideal for converting food to energy, maintaining the nervous system and keeping skin healthy.
As for Vitamin K, it is necessary for blood clotting and regulates bone mineralization.
And back to those B vitamins, they’ve been linked to the retention of brain matter which makes it highly beneficial as a preventative measure regarding Alzheimer’s. For more on that subject, we recommend that you watch this incredibly informative video.
5 Stand-Out Things to Remember About 5-Minute Tomato Basil Pesto Sauce:
- It’s quick to prepare… 5 minutes is hard to beat!
- Short shopping list… we’re talking just a bit more than a handful of ingredients here!
- Hello, there’s no cooking required… no kidding… there’s no cooking!
- There’s only one container needed to make the entire recipe… everything goes in the blender!
- Additionally, there’s no chopping required… drop in the wholesome vegan ingredients and let the blender do its job!
One last thing worth mentioning is that we love to top off this sauce with a sprinkling of our nutty, cheesy Plant-Based Pine Nut Parmesan!
We’d love to hear from you when you try this delicious recipe. And until you get around to making this tasty dish, Pin this recipe on Pinterest for safe keeping.
Happy eating!
5-Minute Tomato Basil Pesto Sauce
- 5Prep:
- 0Cook Time:
- Yield: 8 Servings
What’s not to love about a recipe that makes a meal come together in as few as five no-cook minutes? Plus, this tasty sauce dirties only one container – the blender! Amazingly, even though it’s ridiculously easy, our 5-Minute Tomato Basil Pesto Sauce is the kind of creation that makes you feel all chef-y when you make it. It always makes me want to invite friends over for a bite… it’s rather impressive. Our no-cook tomato-based aromatic sauce is nothing short of sensational, which we think has everything to do with the gobs of fresh basil and oregano. And no matter how you decide to use your fabulous sauce, be sure to top off whatever dish you’re saucing beautifully with a nutty, cheesy sprinkling of Plant-Based Pine Nut Parmesan! We use this sauce in our Sun-Dried Tomato Best-o Pesto Pasta as well as in our super quick recipe for Instant Pot Sun-Dried Tomato Spaghetti Squash. This recipe makes enough for eight pesto-size servings or about four to six servings when using as a full-covering sauce.
Ingredients
- one 14.5 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
- 1/2 cup of lite coconut milk, another plant-based milk or vegetable broth - We sometimes use this concentrate to make veggie stock though we do usually opt to use lite coconut milk when making this pesto sauce.
- 3 oz or about 1 cup of dry-packed (not in oil) sun-dried tomatoes - We like buying these organic sun-dried tomatoes in bulk to save money, and they're nice to have on hand!
- about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of fresh basil leaves - Go big on the basil. The more basil, the more beautifully herby the flavor!
- 2 to 3 tbsp of fresh oregano leaves or about 1 tsp of dried oregano - Again, go big when using fresh herbs!
- about six cloves of fresh garlic, peeled - If the sound of six cloves sounds too much or too few, adjust to suit your preference.
- 1/2 to 1 cup of vegetable broth - If you're cooking pasta, you can opt to use reserved pasta cooking water. Use as much or as little as you like. More liquid means a thinner pesto, less means thicker.
- a dash of pink Himalayan sea salt, or another salt, to taste
- an optional finishing squeeze of fresh lemon juice, about a teaspoon worth - We opt, yes!
- an optional shake of dried red pepper flakes and a shred or two of additional fresh basil for serving
Instructions
- Place all of the lovely ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend a few seconds at a time, checking periodically until the no-cook sauce has accomplished the consistency you prefer.
- Season with salt to taste and finish it off with a squeeze of lemon juice, if you like. We like our no-cook sauce just a little chunky so we can run into bites of sun-dried tomato. If you want your sauce to be completely smooth, blend until you get there!
- Serve this sauce with absolutely everything that cries for a splash of the red stuff. We love it topped with a cheesy sprinkling of our Plant-Based Pine Nut Parmesan!
Notes
- While we prefer the taste of fire-roasted canned tomatoes to that of regular canned tomatoes for use in this recipe, any variety of canned tomato will work well in this dish. The fire roasted variety, however, adds a subtle little note that we've come to appreciate, so when you have the chance, give some a try.
- The nutritional info for this recipe reflects the use of lite coconut milk and does not account for the optional Plant-Based Pine Nut Parmesan topping. The complete nutritional info for the topping is available at the bottom of that recipe post. The use of regular coconut milk will change the number of calories and levels of fats.
Nutrition
% DV
- Total Fat 1.3 g 2 %
- Saturated Fat 0.8 g 4 %
- Cholesterol 1.2 mg 0 %
- Sodium 165.1 mg 7 %
- Carbohydrates 11.8 g 4 %
- Fiber 2.5 g 10 %
- Sugar 6.5 g ---
- Protein 2.9 g 6 %
- Vitamin A 19 %
- Vitamin C 25 %
- Iron 11 %
- Calcium 5 %
5-Minute Tomato Basil Pesto Sauce
BY VEEG.CO
Ingredients
- one 14.5 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
- 1/2 cup of lite coconut milk, another plant-based milk or vegetable broth - We sometimes use this concentrate to make veggie stock though we do usually opt to use lite coconut milk when making this pesto sauce.
- 3 oz or about 1 cup of dry-packed (not in oil) sun-dried tomatoes - We like buying these organic sun-dried tomatoes in bulk to save money, and they're nice to have on hand!
- about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of fresh basil leaves - Go big on the basil. The more basil, the more beautifully herby the flavor!
- 2 to 3 tbsp of fresh oregano leaves or about 1 tsp of dried oregano - Again, go big when using fresh herbs!
- about six cloves of fresh garlic, peeled - If the sound of six cloves sounds too much or too few, adjust to suit your preference.
- 1/2 to 1 cup of vegetable broth - If you're cooking pasta, you can opt to use reserved pasta cooking water. Use as much or as little as you like. More liquid means a thinner pesto, less means thicker.
- a dash of pink Himalayan sea salt, or another salt, to taste
- an optional finishing squeeze of fresh lemon juice, about a teaspoon worth - We opt, yes!
- an optional shake of dried red pepper flakes and a shred or two of additional fresh basil for serving
Instructions
- Place all of the lovely ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend a few seconds at a time, checking periodically until the no-cook sauce has accomplished the consistency you prefer.
- Season with salt to taste and finish it off with a squeeze of lemon juice, if you like. We like our no-cook sauce just a little chunky so we can run into bites of sun-dried tomato. If you want your sauce to be completely smooth, blend until you get there!
- Serve this sauce with absolutely everything that cries for a splash of the red stuff. We love it topped with a cheesy sprinkling of our Plant-Based Pine Nut Parmesan!
Notes
- While we prefer the taste of fire-roasted canned tomatoes to that of regular canned tomatoes for use in this recipe, any variety of canned tomato will work well in this dish. The fire roasted variety, however, adds a subtle little note that we've come to appreciate, so when you have the chance, give some a try.
- The nutritional info for this recipe reflects the use of lite coconut milk and does not account for the optional Plant-Based Pine Nut Parmesan topping. The complete nutritional info for the topping is available at the bottom of that recipe post. The use of regular coconut milk will change the number of calories and levels of fats.
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Comments
Oh my goodness this sauce is to dye for!!! Well not quite but wow is it good! If anyone is considering making this or wondering if it’s going to be good wonder no more! JUST MAKE IT! Thank you for an amazing recipe that I will keep in my rotation forever! LOVE your website! Your recipes are nothing short of amazing!!!
Bonnie, your generous, encouraging review of our favorite time-saving tomato basil sauce makes us want to get in the kitchen and make something even more incredible – thank you!
How long can you store it in refrigerator/ pantry or freezer?
Thanks for asking, Connie. Though we typically gobble this up right away, my experience with leftovers, in general, suggests that it would stay fresh when refrigerated in a tightly sealed container for at least a few solid days. Any longer might be chancy, given the breaking down of the wonderful tasting fresh herbs.
As for freezing, I haven’t tried freezing this sauce, but I think it’s possible, and of course, freezing would help it last much longer than refrigeration alone. Thanks again for asking and for your interest in this recipe.
Thank you for this super quick and easy sauce. I featured it today on my fb site “Super Quick Plant-Based Recipes” https://www.facebook.com/SuperQuickPBRecipes/.
I think my gang will love it AND your site!
Thanks for the mention, Shanasy. Sharing recipes makes the plant-based vegan world go ’round and helps awareness about this compassionate, healthier, lifestyle grow, too!
Well your weren’t wrong about it possibly becoming our new go to pasta sauce. The flavours in this sauce are simply delicious. I followed the recommended amounts in the recipe and it was perfect for us. I put the cold sauce on cold spiralized zucchini along with the pine nut Parmesan and some quartered button mushrooms I had cooked up earlier. I look forward to making it again and again.
Thank you for sharing your success with this savory no-cook sauce, Ronnie, oh, and the pine nut parm recipe, too!
Just as you mentioned, this recipe is one that we return to time and time again… and next time we make it, we’ll go with raw veggie noodles – your combo sounds divine!
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