My Sun Dried Tomato Pesto always comes in handy when I want big flavor and fast. It’s bold, packed with savory, sweet, and tangy tomato flavors from sun dried tomatoes.
This pesto adds a rich, rustic touch to pasta, sandwiches, protein, or even bread (try my sun dried tomato pesto dinner rolls!), and you can make it in just 10 minutes!
A few years ago, I developed this focaccia sandwich recipe with turkey and mozzarella, and served it with an incredible sun dried tomato pesto. The pesto was so good I just had to share the recipe!
Sundried tomatoes are naturally bold – sweet, tangy, and savory – because the drying process concentrates their flavors. This also gives them a nice chewy, dried-fruit-like texture, which makes them ideal to create the perfect texture.
Keep a batch of this delicious sun dried tomato pesto on hand to instantly elevate your meals. It’s amazing tossed into a chicken pesto pasta or with this chicken margherita!
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Why I Love This Recipe
- Rich flavor. Sun dried tomatoes naturally pack in concentrated savory, sweet, and tangy flavors.
- Quick, simple, and easy. Ready in 10 minutes. Just toss it in the food processor and pulse.
- Easy to store. Keep your sun dried tomato pesto fresh in the fridge for days, or frozen for even longer.
- Customizable. Swap the walnuts for pine nuts, or the Parmesan for pecorino!
Ingredient Notes
You only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe. Below, I included a few notes from recipe testing that I hope you find helpful.
- Sun dried tomatoes: Use the ones that come in jars, packed in oil. These will give you the ideal texture and consistency. You’ll need to drain the oil, but you can also add it to the pesto for extra flavor!
- Fresh basil: Wash, dry, and pack it into the measuring cup to ensure you’re using enough.
- Parmesan cheese: Freshly grated cheese from a block, rather than pre-shredded, adds to the flavor. Pecorino romano is a great alternative.
- Walnuts: Gives the pesto body and a nutty flavor.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Brings the pesto together. The better the quality, the better.
- Red wine vinegar: The acidity balances flavors. Just a little splash.
- Fresh garlic: Because a garlicky pesto is amazing!
- Granulated sugar: Cuts through the acidity of the tomato for balance.
- Ground black pepper: For seasoning. No salt is needed as the cheese is salty enough.
- Red pepper flakes: Totally optional.
Ingredient quantities are listed in the recipe card down below, as always.
How To Make Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
It really takes just 10 minutes from beginning to end. Let’s make it!
Step 1: Combine all of the pesto ingredients in a food processor. Pulse continuously until a thick pesto forms.
Step 2: Add more olive oil (or use the flavorful oil from the sun-dried tomato jar) until it reaches your desired consistency. And that’s it! It’s ready to be used immediately, or stored in the fridge for use throughout the week.
Tips for Success
- Adjust consistency: After you’re done pulsing the ingredients in your food processor, you’ll likely need to adjust the consistency by adding more oil.
- Use good quality extra virgin olive oil. I prefer the robust olive oil to pack in more intense flavors.
- Use a food processor, not a blender, for best results.
- For this recipe, I’d recommend using sun dried tomatoes packed in oil. If you can’t find it, you can also use dried ones that come in bulk or in boxes.
- Walnuts are my favorite for pesto, but you can also try pine nuts, cashews or almonds.
Storage and Freezing
Storage: The sun dried tomato pesto can be stored for up to 5 days in the fridge. Store in an airtight container. A mason jar would be perfect.
Freezing: Transfer the entire batch in a freezer-safe container or divide it up into smaller portions using Souper Cubes. Thaw in the fridge overnight and use as a spread, or reheat from frozen if using it to toss with pasta, for example.
Recipe FAQs
While nuts are certainly a signature ingredient in most pesto recipes, you can make it without. It’ll be a thinner consistency, but still very flavorful!
I’d recommend using a food processor – it will make a thicker, more rustic-looking pesto. You can also use a blender, but only pulse a few times to blend to preserve its consistency.
Absolutely! The amount I use in the recipe is just for a slight kick, it’s not super spicy. But you can certainly adjust the amount or omit them altogether.
How To Serve
Sandwich spread: Try it on my Turkey Mozzarella Focaccia Sandwich or Grilled Vegetable Sandwich.
Pasta! Elevate this creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta with the sun dried tomato pesto.
Chicken: Perfect for this Chicken Margherita! Swap the basil pesto for sun dried tomato pesto.
Bread: Try my Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Dinner Rolls, or use it as a spread with your favorite bread.
More Sauces and Spreads
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Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil - they come in jars
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves - packed
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese - or pecorino romano
- ¼ cup walnuts - or pine nuts
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil - use good quality oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 3 medium cloves fresh garlic - plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- Ground black pepper to taste
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes - optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse continuously for a few seconds until a relatively thick pesto forms.
- Adjust consistency: If you'd like, add more olive oil (or the oil from the sundried tomatoes jar) until desired consistency.
- Transfer to a bowl to serve, or into a mason jar to store. Use immediately for about 1 week in the refrigerator, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Use jarred sun dried tomatoes packed olive oil for best texture and flavor. You can add some of the oil from the jar to the pesto for even better flavor.
- Adjust the consistency at the end.
- Use freshly grated or shredded cheese. Avoid using pre-shredded bagged parmesan, as it contains extra ingredients that can make the pesto feel gritty.
- Food processor works best to get the right texture. If using a blender, only blend a few times, don’t overmix.
- Storage: Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 week.
- Freezing: Freeze in small portions .Thaw overnight in the fridge or stir directly into hot pasta from frozen.
- Walnuts: Cashews, pine nuts, almonds
- Parmesan cheese: Pecorino romano.
S Pitman says
Sounds really good. Can I assume the sun dried tomatoes are not in oil?
Amy McCord says
Absolutely awesome! We make our own oven, slow-roasted tomatoes with basil and evoo. Had an overabundance of them so decided to make this. Just the right ratio of cheese, tomatoes and basil. Freakin’ Fantastic. My head is already reeling with the recipes I can make with this. I might even dab a little behind my ears, it’s that good! Thank you for the recipe!
Tania says
Hi Amy! Thank you for your kind words. So glad you liked this recipe 🙂