What can I make with tons of parsley? Pesto of course! 

The Basics

I used to think of parsley as that typically ignored garnish on dinner plates that never tasted particularly delicious. This belief persisted until I started growing my own parsley. Initially, I decided to grow parsley in my herb garden because I love it in soups—but now it has become one of my favorite herbs to grow!

Subscribers, remember that you can always access my FREE herb growing guide for basic tips, inspiration, and how to choose what herbs to grow (find the guide in my Garden Resources Library).

Here in Southern California, parsley is cool season, hardy annual that tastes the best when grown through Winter and Spring. I personally like to start my seeds at the end of September/October and in February or March. Don’t forget to check out my Zone 10 Seed Starting Schedule (available to subscribers) for reminders and details.

Flat Leaf Parsley vs. Curly?

Parsley foliage has two main forms: flat, wide leaves or curly leaves. My personal favorite parsley for culinary purposes is flat-leaf Italian parsley. If you are doubtful about parsley pesto, let me tell you that the result is completely based on the quality of the parsley you are using. If your parsley doesn’t smell sweet and fragrant as you waggle the bunch in front of your nose, it’s probably not the kind of quality parsley you want to be making pesto with.

Want to know more hardy annual herbs to grow? Check out: Cool Season Annual Herbs for Southern California

Ingredients:

This recipe is basically the same as my Classic Basil Pesto, but with some additional changes— such as more lemon! Parsley and lemon go so well together.

2 cups fresh parsley leaves (see preparation notes below)

4oz parmesan cheese, freshly grated

4 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (want more ways to use & preserve citrus? Click HERE).

1/2 cup + 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Preparation & Method

Wash your parsley and remove thick, woody stems. Have you ever used a salad spinner? It’s one of my MUST have kitchen tools for any gardener. We have this one, but any salad spinner will make quick work of washing and drying your harvests.

Some stems are fine, but the thicker stalks really create a fibrous product, so I just compost those. In our home, nothing truly “goes to waste” because we put inedible or past-due vegetables in our compost bin. You can read more in Compost Tumbling Basics.

Freezing for storage

If we have a lot of parsley, I will often make multiple batches of pesto and freeze for later. There are different ways to freeze pesto. You can transfer portions to freezer safe bags and press flat for freezing. There also some mason jars that are safe for freezing when packed appropriately (for example, some mason jars have a “freeze line” printed on the jar like these). 

My favorite way to freeze my pesto is in muffin tins (just until frozen) and then transferred to a large, freezer safe bag for future use. Sometimes it can be difficult to wrestle the pesto out of the muffin tins, but usually I let them sit a bit and then use a butter knife to coax them out. I find that one “pesto puck” can make a two-person serving of pasta. They defrost easily if left to thaw at room temperature just a short time before adding to pasta.

Delicious Ways to Use Your Pesto!

Stir into pasta. Learn to make your own homemade pasta HERE.

Roast up some vegetables and serve the pesto as a dipping sauce or condiment!

It’s great with fire grilled artichokes too!

It’s delicious served with steak (almost like a chimichurri because both typically are parsley-forward).

Smother on toasted bread or grilled cheese.