Homemade Pistou Pasta

This Homemade Pistou Pasta recipe is made with fresh herbs, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. A little salt and pepper, for good measure, and you’ve got one deliciously simple-yet-fancy-tasting dinner recipe on your hands! {Vegan + Gluten-Free}

Gluten-free pasta + fresh herbs = LOOK AT US BEING SO FANCY!!!!!

Spiriteds, have you every made pistou sauce? Have you EVER EVEN HEARD of pistou sauce? If you haven’t heard of it before, you’re not alone. I hadn’t either until I watched one of Mary Berry’s cooking episodes. And if you haven’t made it before, then YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD. This is an ALL CAPS suggestion.

Omigosh, pistou sauce is utterly delicious, and it’s a simple way to jazz up a basic gluten-free pasta recipe. If you can get your hands on fresh herbs, olive oil, and garlic, then you are almost nearly entirely in business. Add lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper, and then you’re really set!

I was inspired to try my hand at making Homemade Pistou Pasta when I saw Mary Berry’s Pistou Linguine. Her recipe calls for cremé fraiche, mushrooms, parmesan, and butter. I wanted to keep our recipe dairy-free, and I didn’t have mushrooms on hand. So I explored pistou recipes to see whether there was more than one way to prepare the sauce. It turns out there are SEVERAL ways to prepare pistou, pronounced “pea stew.” I went the olive oil route, which turned out to be a toothsome decision! It’s rich and buttery, but without the butter and dairy. It’s date night in-quality, but without the large price tag a fancy dinner often necessitates. And it’s robust without the complicated ingredient list one might expect.

So grab a large pasta pot, your fresh herbs, some olive oil, and, of course, the garlic, and let’s do this!

Homemade Pistou Pasta is

• Gluten-free
• Vegan
• Quick and easy to make
• Make-ahead-friendly (you can prepare the sauce about a day in advance, if desired)

Pistou versus pesto

Part of my Homemade Pistou Pasta research included learning the difference between pistou and pesto. They sound similar, but they ARE different. According to Go! Pesto, in What is Pistou by Michael Hawkins, a quick answer to the differences between the two are pistou features more basil and garlic and omits nuts. 

According to the Food Network Kitchen article Pistou vs. Pesto: What’s the Difference?, these two sauces originate from different parts of Europe. Pistou hails from France whereas pesto originates in Italy. Both articles highlight that these sauces are often (and originally) made using a mortar and pestle, although cooks today often use blenders (as do I when I make this recipe). If you can get your culinary mitts on a mortar and pestle, I definitely think that would be an amazing (and more traditional) way to prepare the pistou sauce used in this gluten-free Homemade Pistou Pasta dish. 

Homemade Pistou Pasta ingredients

Although this is a super-easy recipe to prepare, I highly suggest working with fresh ingredients, including the herbs, garlic, and lemon. Not only do you need the bulk that fresh ingredients provide, but you’ll also want that earthy flavor.  

• Herbs: parsley, basil, and chives
• Garlic cloves, pressed
• Juice of one lemon
• Olive oil
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Gluten-free spaghetti

You can swap the spaghetti for another gluten-free pasta, if desired.

How to make Homemade Pistou Pasta

1. In a high speed blender, combine the olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, lemon juice, garlic cloves, parsley, basil, and chives. Blend until mixed but not completely puréed. Set aside.
2. In a large rondeau pot prepare gluten-free spaghetti according to package instructions. I like to add sea salt and olive oil to the water before I add the pasta. Once the spaghetti is cooked through, drain it, reserving about 1/2 cup pasta water, and set the spaghetti aside. Then add the pistou sauce to the rondeau pot and cook it on a MEDIUM to HIGH heat for about 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat and then add the spaghetti to the rondeau pot. Stir the spaghetti and pistou sauce together until the pasta is evenly coated. If too much liquid evaporates, add 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup pasta water to the rondeau pot. If more liquid is needed, then add the remaining pasta water. If it’s not needed, then discard.
3. Transfer the Homemade Pistou Pasta to a serving bowl or individual plates and ENJOY! Refrigerate leftovers and consume within 24 hours. 

Side note: For a thicker pistou sauce, (1) make it a day in advance and refrigerate until it is needed for the spaghetti or (2) reduce the amount of olive oil used. 

More delicious gluten-free spaghetti recipes!

If you love gluten-free pasta recipes that are easy to make and pack BIG FLAVOR, then you’re in the right spot. Here are additional ideas to tuck away in your recipe tin!

• Gluten-Free Lemon Garlic Pasta
• Garlic Cashew Pasta {GF}
• Gluten-Free Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

Spiriteds, stay well and stay wild. I’m glad you’re here! 🩷

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