Roasted red pepper pesto is a bold and smoky pasta sauce that packs a punch to anything you serve it with. Spoon it over ricotta and crostini for a summery appetizer, use it as a dipping sauce, toss it in pasta for a zesty, nutrient-packed comfort meal, or use it to garnish baked, white fish (and don’t forget the capers!) for a healthy meal. It’s an amazing recipe your family will surely love.

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Pesto is one of those sauces that feels like it should be complicated. But as with many European recipes, it really all boils down to letting the flavors of a handful of quality ingredients shine through.

Of course, even though this pesto is a simple recipe, is also the perfect vehicle for creativity. Let your pantry guide you on this one and swap pine nuts for almonds, walnuts, macadamia or even cashew nuts. Get rid of a handful of parsley or cilantro. Heck, roast a couple of tomatoes that are begging to be eaten right alongside the peppers – although the sauce will be a little thinner. Or use a jar or two of roasted red peppers.

Ingredients for Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

Red bell peppers: The star of the show, red peppers are packed with nutrients like vitamin C, B6 and and A and may help heart health, eyesight and bone health.
Pine nuts: A classic in pesto, these buttery nuts will make your red pepper pesto nice and creamy. If you don’t like pine nuts, use walnuts, almonds or cashews to make this sauce.
Parmesan cheese: Use a freshly, finely grated parmesan cheese here so that it melts into the sauce.
Fresh basil: Because basil. Use it in the sauce and then use a little bit more to garnish whatever you use this pesto sauce for. It’s bright and fresh and goes so well with all of the Mediterranean flavors at play in this recipe.
Fresh garlic: Because we use raw garlic in this recipe, I’ve limited this to two cloves. More than that at I found it to be almost too pronounced. If you love, love, love garlic, proceed with reckless abandon. 😉
Lemon juice: Brighten everything up. I’ll often add another spritz of fresh lemon juice to whatever I’m serving. If you don’t have fresh lemon juice, you can substitute with a little white wine vinegar.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Smoked paprika: Just in case you didn’t have time to grill your own peppers to roast them, you can still add a bit of smokiness to the pesto and I love it. It you aren’t a fan or don’t have any on hand, you can replace with regular paprika or just omit.
Red pepper flakes: I like to imagine this as a fiery, bold recipe. Add red pepper flakes based on taste. We add ½ teaspoon to this recipe, but you could tone it down to ¼ teaspoon or even omit.

a spoonful of red pesto sauce so you can see the texture it should be; the jar is in the background with a few basil leaves

How to Make This Red Pepper Pesto Recipe

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Cut red peppers in half and place on a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil. Roast for 20-25 minutes. If after 25 minutes the peppers haven’t started to blister and blacken, place under the broiler for a couple of minutes (check in at the 2 minute mark).
Remove from oven and place pepper halves into a ziploc bag for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
Peel skin off of roast peppers.
Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts. (Be careful, pine nuts are easy to burn. Use a spatula to stir and don’t turn your back on the pan.)
Add all of the ingredients except the extra-virgin olive oil to a food processor. Blend until everything comes together.
Slowly add in olive oil. If the sauce seems too thick or dry, you can add in a little more olive oil. Taste and adjust with more salt as needed.
Store in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to three months for future use. (See notes on freezing below.)

A Simple Red Pepper Pesto Pasta Recipe for an Easy Meal

Like I said at the start of this post, you can use red pepper pesto for so many things, but this is absolutely delicious served exactly the way you may have imagined it from the beginning… tossed in a bowl of piping hot pasta.

To make pasta with this red pepper version of pesto, you’ll need 1 pound of pasta, which will feed 4 as a main dish or up to 6 as a side, and all of the pesto from this recipe.

Make the pasta al dente, according to the directions on the package. After you drain the spaghetti (or whatever other pasta you decide to use), toss in this beautiful roasted red pepper sauce. Serve with freshly grated parmesan and a few torn basil leaves or some fresh parsley and voila!

If you have a couple of extra mouths to feed, it’s easy to stretch this sauce. Before you drain the spaghetti, reserve up to 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Then, after you drain the pasta, add it and the pesto back to the pot you cooked the spaghetti in. Cooking over low heat, start by adding the ½ cup of pasta water to the pot and tossing to coat. More liquid= more servings. But the starches in the pasta should also help thicken the sauce so that more liquid doesn’t equal runny mess.

If you are eating this as a main meal, you can also add cooked, sliced chicken breast, some Italian sausage or a handful of spinach to it or serve it with a hunk of crusty bread.

a plate of pesto pasta with basil garnish and parmesan cheese

Can You Freeze Your Homemade Pesto?

Yes, you can! In fact, freezing pesto is a great way to ensure you can enjoy a pesto fix long after summer has given way to sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes. And it’s a great option for nights you need a fast weeknight dinner. You can use frozen pesto in place of fresh pesto for anything from a sandwich spread to an appetizer to meat or pasta.

To freeze pesto, you can put it in an airtight container or a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, you can place it in your fridge overnight, defrost in the microwave or, if using a freezer bag, submerge it in a bowl of hot water.

📖 Recipe

Red Pepper Pesto

Print Recipe

Servings

Ingredients

3 red bell peppers roasted
2 fresh garlic cloves peeled but still whole
½ cup pine nuts
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh basil leaves firmly packed
2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or to taste
Salt/pepper to taste ¾ teaspoon is what I used

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Cut red peppers in half and place on a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil. Roast for 20-25 minutes. If after 25 minutes the peppers haven’t started to blister and blacken, place under the broiler for a couple of minutes (check in at the 2 minute mark).
Remove from oven and place pepper halves into a ziploc bag for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
Peel skin off of roast peppers.
Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts. (Be careful, pine nuts are easy to burn. Use a spatula to stir and don’t turn your back on the pan.)
Add all of the ingredients except the olive oil to a food processor. Blend until everything comes together.
Slowly add in olive oil. If the sauce seems too thick or dry, you can add in a little more olive oil. Taste and adjust with more salt as needed.
Store in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to three months for future use. (See notes on freezing below.)