Foraging is one of the most rewarding things that you can do, especially when you find a huge patch of a highly nutritious plant such as chickweed. While it’s always fun to find and identify a wild edible plant here and there, it can be a rare occasion to be able to harvest enough to actually make something substantial with. This is part of why I love chickweed so much, it grows without abandon! It only took a few hefty handfuls to make this delicious superfood chickweed pesto.
Chickweed Pesto Recipe
This recipe is very similar to regular pesto, but it uses chickweed instead of basil. Learn more about foraging for chickweed here.
If you happen to have some fresh basil out in your herb garden, feel free to add in a bit of that as well. You can also use a mix of wild greens in addition to chickweed if you have access to them, such as purple dead nettle, violet leaves, henbit, or lamb’s quarters.
Dandelion leaves also work nicely, and if you have a lot of them you can make this dandelion pesto recipe! Bolted arugula pesto is also tasty!
I used walnuts when I made this recipe and it was delicious, but cashews are another favorite of mine when making pesto. Or you can keep it traditional and use pine nuts.
Chickweed is a nutritious plant that is high in vitamin C, vitamin B complex, iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc. It truly is a superfood! Read more about the benefits and nutrition of chickweed here.
This chickweed pesto is so good! It is very bright and green tasting, just like spring. It’s perfect over pasta or on pizza, and it freezes well too for later use.
If you have a patch of chickweed in your yard, or know a place to forage for some, then you need to make this pesto! It’s easy, comes together very quickly, and is the perfect way to get some nutritious wild greens into your diet. Yummy!
Happy chickweed foraging and pesto making!
Chickweed Pesto
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup walnuts, cashews, or pine nuts
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups chickweed loosely packed
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. (A blender can be used instead, but the chickweed should be finely chopped first)
- If it's too thick, slowly drizzle in a bit more olive oil.
gwen martin says
This goes really well as a dipping sauce for wild garlic gnudi.
Marilyn Pollard says
All this self-isolating is sending me into survival mode! This is a wonderful recipe to have at a time like this. I just put the rough-chopped garlic and everything except the chickweed into my old faithful Cuisinart food processor, packed the well-washed chickweed over, keeping most of the stems which are tender as it hasn’t flowered yet, gave it a few pulses, and voila! Truly delicious! I stirred about half of it into 1/2-lb. linguine, cooked, kept a little of the pasta water, and it was a hearty, satisfying dish serving 2-3, at least as good as any pesto I’ve had. I’m looking forward to using the rest on some homemade pizza. I always get the Parmesan rinds, very cheap, plenty of cheese left on these for grating. Thank you!
Stacey Jones says
Chickweed takes over my garden spaces every spring. I’ve been looking for a way to use this plant for something edible or useful, so thank you for the pesto recipe! Is there a particular way you clean chickweed once you harvest it? Our chickweed lays low to the ground and with all the nooks and crannies of the leaves I want to make sure it has not picked up bugs or dirt. Will rinsing it harm the nutrient value of the chickweed?
FrannyandDanny says
This is awesome. I am trying to learn all about the weeds in our state (Tasmania) in order to do some eating..love your site.
Donna says
As soon as the snow melts and the chickweed pops up I WILL make this pesto……I too love chickweed in all of its nutritious glory!