Basil Sauce with Lemon and Garlic

Name: Basil Sauce with Lemon and Garlic
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 cup fresh basil leaves; 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil; 2 cloves garlic; 1 tbsp white wine vinegar; 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp pepper

Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

Lemony Garlic Basil Sauce is fresh and sweet with a hint of pepper. Drizzle on salads, sliced tomatoes, or spread over crusty bread.

Heirloom tomatoes topped with basil sauce.

The spring and summer months bring an array of fresh flavors to the Farmers Markets and for some your very own garden. If you’re like me you love enjoying basil all summer long. Basil can grow and grow! You may find yourself with a whole bunch of it wondering what you can make!

This sauce is super easy to whip up in less than 5 minutes using your food processor. I recommend using a food processor not a blender to make this recipe. When using a blender you often need to add additional liquid to properly combine the ingredients. In this case, that liquid would be more oil.

Jump to:

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
🌿 Ingredients and Notes
📋 Instructions for Basil Sauce
❓ Recipe FAQS
💭 Expert Tips
📖 Variations
❄️ How to Store and Keep
🥗 More Vegan Sauce Recipes!
Basil Sauce with Lemon and Garlic

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Fresh peppery basil
Tart Lemon
Flavor enhancing garlic
Great as a salad dressing
Drizzle on fresh or roasted vegetables
Top on your favorite pasta
Use as a pizza sauce
Dip with crusty bread
Drizzle on top of your own homemade bruschetta

🌿 Ingredients and Notes

Basil Sauce Ingredients: Olive oil, basil, garlic, lemon, white wine vinegar.

Fresh Basil: Basil has a lemon peppery flavor, adding lemon and fresh cracked pepper to this sauce enhances those natural flavors.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil:

White Wine Vinegar: The white wine vinegar adds a bit of extra acidity to the sauce, but if you’re not a fan you can skip this ingredient and just add the lemon which I recommend not leaving out.

Lemon Juice: Adds a touch of acidity and freshness. Use fresh-squeezed lemon juice.

Garlic, Salt, and Black Pepper: Minced garlic cloves, salt, and black pepper are all the seasoning you need.

📋 Instructions for Basil Sauce

Step 1: Clean and wash basil leaves. Remove any leaves that are brown or discolored. Remove stems.

Step 2: Add fresh basil, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, salt, and pepper to a food processor. Pulse until all ingredients are well combined. Transfer to a small airtight container. Keep in the refrigerator for up 2 days.

Heirloom tomatoes with basil sauce over top.

❓ Recipe FAQS

How do I use basil sauce?

There are numerous ways you can use this basil sauce.
*Use as a salad dressing
*Top on soup
*Drizzle on fresh or roasted vegetables
*A dip for crusty bread
*Toss with fresh sliced tomatoes to make a tomato salad
*Use as a dressing for a pasta salad

How is basil sauce made?

Basil Sauce is often made with fresh basil leaves, lemon, garlic, and olive oil. The difference between a basil sauce and a pesto sauce is that pesto is often made with parmesan cheese and pine nuts. My vegan version of pesto is made with cashews for extra creaminess. This sauce leaves out the cashews and adds the lemon and garlic to create more of a dressing or light sauce that can be used with salads, and fresh vegetables rather than as a pasta sauce.

What can I do with a bunch of basil?

Basil is one of those sweet and peppery herbs that becomes a highlight in summer dishes. You can make a pesto sauce, and tear it to the top on fresh salads. But what if you want something simple you can use as a sauce over fresh vegetables, or as a vegan salad dressing or a simple spread? This Basil Sauce with Lemon and Garlic is just the thing! It’s so easy to make with only a handful of ingredients. When you’ve got overflowing basil in your garden, pull out your food processor, and whip this up in minutes. My favorite way to enjoy it is drizzled over fresh heirloom tomato slices. It’s a little on the tart side, which I enjoy. It uses a small amount of olive oil, and it’s big on flavor.

💭 Expert Tips

Use fresh basil leaves, remove any leaves that are brown or discolored
Remove stems before blending in the food processor
Use fresh squeezed lemon juice. I use the juice of half a lemon
Mince the garlic before adding to the food processor so you don’t get any chunks of garlic

📖 Variations

No Olive Oil-Use vegetable stock or water.
No Lemon-Just add the white wine vinegar.
Don’t Like Vinegar-Just add the lemon juice.
Don’t have enough basil-Use another leafy green such as argula or spinach. The taste will be slightly different. Spinach has a mild flavor so that will tone down the flavor of the basil. Arugula is peppery so that will add more of a pepper flavor to the sauce.

❄️ How to Store and Keep

This sauce is best made and enjoyed fresh. Basil has a tendency to brown if it sits too long. I recommend making it and using it that day. However, if you have extra sauce store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

You can also add this sauce to an ice cube tray and freeze. Remove a cube, and defrost, when you’re ready to use. Frozen cubes will keep for up to 3 months.

Spoonful of basil sauce over small bowl.

🥗 More Vegan Sauce Recipes!

If you made this recipe, please comment below and leave a ⭐️ rating. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, for more family-friendly vegan recipes!