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Description
  Delicious pesto for a fraction of the calories! Yes it's possible; this pesto is oil free, but still made with pine nuts, basil, garlic, and grated cheese. It's a great sauce, spread, or salad dressing, and full of the same nutty, cheese, and lemon flavor that you love. Each serving is about 2 tbsp or 29 g
 Check out some of my other pesto recipes, with varying amounts of oil, different kinds of nuts, vegan versions, and high protein versions:
- Creamy Pesto Hummus
- Avocado Pesto - Vegan and Oil Free
- Lightened Extra Virgin Olive Oil Pesto
- Creamy Pesto Dip

Time
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 8 minutes

 Cost
Total Cost: $4.15
Cost per Serving: $0.59
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (30 g) Pine nuts ($1.85)
- 2 cup (40 g) Basil, fresh ($1.39)
- 3 tbsp (45 g) Minced garlic ($0.27)
- 1/4 cup (30 g) Grated parmesan cheese ($0.39)
- 1/2 tsp (2 g) Garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp (2 g) Onion powder ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp (1 g) Black pepper, ground ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp (3 g) Salt ($0.00)
- 3 tbsp (45 g) Lemon juice ($0.14)

Instructions
1.  In a small pan over medium heat, toast your nuts until fragrant and lightly browned

2.  Add all ingredients (except lemon juice) to a food processor, and blend until chopped and combined. Slowly add the lemon, and blend until creamy

3.  Store in the fridge, or you can freeze any extra (pesto freezes well)


4.  If basil is too expensive, either fresh or frozen spinach will work as well!

5.  To make it nut free, replace the nuts (either pine nuts or walnuts) with seeds, like pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds

6.  For a vegan version, use nutritional yeast in place of grated cheese

Nutrition Facts
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Servings: 7
Calories: 57
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Total Fat: 4.3g (6 %)
 Saturated Fat: 1.1g (5 %)
 Trans Fat: 0g
 Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.5g
 Monounsaturated Fat: 0.8g
Cholesterol: 2mg (1 %)
Sodium: 237mg (10 %)
Total Carbohydrate: 2.8g (1 %)
 Dietary Fiber: 0.4g (1 %)
 Sugar: 0.3g
Protein: 2.6g (5 %)
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Vitamin B12: 0mcg (0 %)
Vitamin D: 0mcg (0 %)
Potassium: 56mg (1 %)
Calcium: 56mg (4 %)
Magnesium: 16mg (4 %)
Iron: 0.5mg (3 %)
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 Glycemic Index: 29.2
Glycemic Load: 0.9
Alternative Recipe Link (Whisk / Samsung Food)
https://s.samsungfood.com/hTg26