Chive and Parsley Pesto ~ a spring green pesto sauce that goes rogue without a trace of basil. Don’t save it just for pasta, use it on fish, chicken, sandwiches, burgers, or slather it on fresh baked bread.
Just in case you were ever curious about what this food blogger loves to eat most on a busy night, this is a great example. My favorite quick evening meals are simple, and usually meatless, like this vibrant chive and parsley pesto tossed with pasta. Pesto lovers will love this fresh take on the classic basil pesto.
Homemade pesto is one of my favorite sauces, so it takes a lot for me to want to fool with it in any way. Basil is a powerful and unique flavor and has become synonymous with pesto, so it’s hard to think about replacing it, but trust me, work through your hesitation and you’ll be rewarded. Even perfect foods can be changed up with good results, and this easy herb sauce is proof. The light oniony flavor of chives is brightened and lightened with fresh parsley and it’s every bit as good as a traditional pesto sauce.
I’ve added toasted walnuts, a little lemon juice, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and plenty of grassy extra virgin olive oil to make this delicious spring sauce. Just a few seconds of whizzing in a food processor does the job.
TIP: I always always always taste my pesto at least once or twice before I commit it to my pasta. It might need salt, or another squeeze of lemon, and the only way to know is to taste.
The sauce stays nice and bright green, which is important to me. I want to see that vibrant spring green, not just taste it!
TIP: make extra when you find fresh chives, and then freeze the sauce for later. Spoon it into an ice cube tray, freeze, then pop out the cubes and store them in a zip lock freezer bag.
How to grow your own chives ~
Chives are super easy to grow, so definitely give them a try. With their mild onion flavor they’re one of the more versatile herbs in the kitchen.
- Chives are perennials, meaning they’ll come back year after year.
- Chives are cold tolerant, and you can grow them in zones 3-10. When I lived in New Hampshire my chives lived through the snowstorms and came right back each spring.
- Plant chives in early spring. They need good sun and lots of water.
- Chives grow great in large pots, mine were in a half barrel by my back door and it was such a luxury to go out and snip them whenever a dish needed a little something extra.
- The plant produces pretty edible flowers in May and June.
How can I preserve chives?
- The best way to preserve fresh chives is to freeze them.
- Wash and let them dry completely. Chop or snip them into small pieces.
- Put the chopped chives on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes.
- Load them into zip lock freezer bag, remove any excess air, and zip closed.
- Use them from frozen, don’t thaw.
Chive and Parsley Pesto
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 packed cup of fresh parsley leaves, small stems are ok, but remove larger ones
- 2 packed cups fresh chives, rough chopped
- 1 clove peeled garlic
- juice of 1 lemon, 2-3 Tbsp
- a handful of walnuts, toast them in a 350F oven for 10 minutes for more flavor
- 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup olive oil, more if needed
- 1/2 tsp salt
pasta
- 1 lb spaghetti
Instructions
- Put the pesto ingredients in a food processor and pulse until broken down. Scrape down the sides of the container, then process until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the container again as necessary. Process in the olive oil until the pesto loosens into a sauce consistency. Taste and adjust any of the ingredients to your liking.
- Meanwhile cook the pasta in plenty of salted water just until al dente. Toss with a generous amount of pesto, and serve immediately.
Video
Nutrition
Thanks for pinning!
I’ve made this recipe for a couple of years. I love chives on my baked potatoes. I freeze the pesto in tablespoon ice trays and just pop a couple out and thaw for my potato. Great year round and so easy to make. For potatoes, I cut the lemon juice down to 1 Tbsp and use only half the olive oil.
Great idea to use it on baked potatoes!
Hi, Sue! I love cilantro more than parsley. Would cilantro work also in replacing parsley for this recipe?
Great question! I don’t think I’ve ever teamed up cilantro and chives, so I can’t be sure, but I don’t see why not. I like the idea of a cilantro pesto, you’ve inspired me!
Omg! This pesto is sooooo good! For all the various greens I have made pesto with, I never would have thought to use chives, but it is out-of-this-world fabuloso delicious!
The flavour of this pesto is amazing, I am so happy to have found a recipe that uses fresh chives and parsley from my garden. How long does it stay good for after making?
I think I will try this now to go with my bread. We have chives growing and I have a big thing of parsley in the fridge, so this sounds really tasty.
Hi Sue, this looks like a great recipe. I currently have some frozen chives and was wondering if those will work for this recipe? Not sure if they have to be fresh.
I honestly don’t know, sorry Liam. I would think they’d have to be fresh, but I haven’t experimented with frozen. Let me know if you give them a try.
Can you use pinse nuts instead of walnuts?
Sure, that would be fine, love pine nuts 🙂
Thanks, My favourite pesto happens to become chives. I have a balcony on north with only early and late afternoon sun. I can tell you chives grow great in a shady environment. I even forget them to take inside during winter and also a frosty winter will not do them in. The produce simple but most beautiful flowers which my wild bees just seem to love.
I adore the flowers, we have some right now and I’m getting inspired to use them in a recipe.
I have just pulled some “volunteer” chives (bulb, root and all ) out of my garden. Will the bulb of the chive plant be too strong to use in pesto?
I haven’t tried, but personally I would just use the greens.
FYI: I tried to PIN your recipe with the RED Pinintrest button near “Thanks for pinning!” but got an error.
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I was able to post it with the Pinterest button below your name.
A am so anxious to try the recipe! All your recipes look so simple and very delicious!
Thanks Shari ~ I just went to test it and the pin button works for me, but so many little glitches can screw up these things, it’s frustrating. Here’s a link to the pin if it helps..https://www.pinterest.com/pin/48343395986855514/