This creamy basil sauce is going on EV-ER-Y-THING in my life: sandwiches, eggs, grilled chicken and veggies, dipped with chips?! It’s so good, packed with green goodness, it’s beautifully summery, and I’m doing the most with it.
In This Post:
The main thing:
Other stuff:
How To Make This Basil Sauce
Step 1: Get All Your Ingredients Ready
You can use a blender, food processor, or a mini-chopper-type gadget. I love this mini-chopper (affiliate link). It’s not meant for sauces necessarily, but I use it all the time because it’s super compact.
Step 2: Blend Your Basil Sauce
That’s it! Just blend, taste, and adjust!
This sauce can be a bit chunky / textured, so keep it going until it has the consistency you want. I prefer something right before completely pureed – where it has just barely noticeable flecks of herbs, but it’s mostly smooth and creamy.
Step 3: Put It On All Your Yummy Things
Like so. (Here’s that recipe.)
Lindsay’s Notes
Ooh baby. Basil, chives, garlic, and a tiny hit of oregano all in a creamy, salty, bright green sauce – I love this so much.
The first time I made this, my toddler (who mostly just eats crackers) found a spatula and just sat at the counter licking the remnants of the sauce out of the blender with me. And I hear that from a lot of people – many kids seem to be very into this for unknown reasons. Sometimes it just hits right, ya know? A+ for that experience.
My favorite thing about this sauce, besides that it tastes like heaven, is that makes healthy-ish eating something I really, actually look forward to.
Baked salmon goes up about 100 notches in my book when smothered in this creamy green sauce. Same goes for shrimp, chicken, and a big fresh salad or lots of roasted veggies.
This will not be the last we see of this sauce, which is why I decided to give it its own post on POY. Welcome home, little basil sauce.
Things You Could Put It On
The possibilities! They are endless.
- Trader Joe’s Focaccia Turkey Sandwich – this would be perfect in place of the pesto mayo.
- The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich – okay as a sauce on this?! yes.
- Cashew Crunch Salad – as a dressing!
- Chopped Salad Pizza – I’m imagining this smothered all over it, and I like this idea so much that I’m going to make it for dinner tonight.
- Spaghetti with Crispy Zucchini – a little side bowl to dunk some of those crispy zucchini in.
- Lemon Herb Pasta Salad – I’ve seen a few of you doing pasta salad with this sauce on Instagram and it looks amazing.
- BLT Panzanella Salad – BLT flaves plus basil sauce is a match made in heaven.
Very Incredible Basil Sauce
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4–6 servings of sauce 1x
Description
Punchy, salty, bright green sauce packed with fresh basil, chives, garlic, and a bit of oregano. This sauce can be poured out just about anything!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil
- 1 small bunch of fresh chives (can sub green onions)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (optional, but very good)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 cup mayo (more as needed to keep it creamy)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1–2 tablespoons lemon juice
- pinch of salt, to taste (add this at the end, after you taste it so you can see if you actually want it or not – I always do, but I love salt!)
Instructions
- Place all your sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor. (I use this mini chopper for the vast majority of my sauces because it’s nice and compact!)
- Blend until you get your desired consistency – I usually go for an almost-completely-smooth texture that is flecked with small bits of herbs.
Notes
Taste and adjust! More lemon juice will wake it up, Parmesan adds more umami and saltiness, and if it gets too salty for you, add a bit more mayo to dilute the pungency a bit!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
Keywords: basil sauce, basil dressing
Frequently Asked Questions For Basil Sauce
I’ve seen some people on Instagram say they used Greek yogurt and liked it. I haven’t made it this way and I know I wouldn’t like it with Greek yogurt because it’s so tangy and has a different flavor. BUT, if you’re okay with it being a bit different than the original, I think Greek yogurt could work!
Vegan mayo has no eggs and tastes great! That’s what I’d use!
I usually keep it in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Yes! Use vegan mayo and vegan Parmesan! If you can’t find vegan Parmesan, just throw in a bit of extra salt to compensate for the change in flavor. And if you don’t want to use vegan mayo, try using an avocado like we did in this avocado mojo sauce.
I would not recommend freezing this.
