Basil Sauce with Lemon and Garlic

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

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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!

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 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.

Why You’ll Love this Basil Sauce…

• 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 You’ll Need

Here’s a list of the ingredients you’ll need to collect to make this sauce. Measurements are below in the printable recipe card for your convenience.

• Fresh basil leaves
• Extra virgin olive oil
• White wine vinegar (optional)
• Lemon
• Garlic
• Salt
• Pepper

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.

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

Tools You’ll Need

• Food Processor
• Garlic Press

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.

Adding additional oil adds extra calories and fat. It becomes a bit too heavy. Using the food processor combines the ingredients without the need for extra oil.

How to Make Basil Sauce – Step by Step

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 air tight container. Keep in the refrigerator for up 2 days.

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. 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.

How do I use basil sauce?

There are numerous ways you can use this basil sauce.

• Use as a salad dressing
• 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

Top Tips for Making the Perfect Sauce

• 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 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 in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Check out these other recipes using basil!

• Vegan Pesto Pasta
• Italian Tomato Salad
• Vegan Tomato Soup

If you’ve tried this Basil Sauce, please rate the recipe and let me know how it turned out. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for more plant-based family recipes your whole family will enjoy!