You guys, I can’t stop with cold pasta dishes this summer! It’s all I want to eat! I had a half bunch of kale leftover from another recipe this week, so I decided to make some kale pesto pasta. At 99 cents a bunch, kale makes for a far less expensive pesto than fresh basil, and it has a wonderfully earthy flavor (although if you’re not a fan of kale’s flavor to begin with, you probably won’t be a fan of this either). Plenty of fresh lemon juice, garlic, and a sprinkle of lemon zest at the end make this pasta the perfectly vibrant and fresh dish for summer.
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
Keep it Simple or Dress it Up
As is my style, I’ve offered the most basic version below. If you have room in your budget and want to take it further, try adding things like sliced grilled chicken, halved grape tomatoes, or even some briny chopped artichoke hearts. It’s good enough on its own that I devoured a bowl right after taking the photos, but with a few add-ins it can go from a refreshing summer side to a full-on meal.
And if you’re not a fan of kale, or can’t get kale for a reasonable price, my Parsley Pesto Pasta is another great budget-friendly option.
Kale Pesto Pasta
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta ($1.49)
- 4 cups kale, chopped, loosely packed ($0.50)
- 1/3 cup olive oil, or as needed ($0.82)
- 1 large lemon (1/4 c juice, 1 Tbsp zest) ($0.75)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts ($0.57)
- 1/3 cup Parmesan, grated ($0.55)
- 1/2 tsp salt, or as needed ($0.03)
- Freshly cracked pepper to taste ($0.05)
- 4 oz. mozzarella (optional) ($2.00)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add the pasta and continue to boil until the pasta is tender. Drain in a colander and let cool.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the pesto. Pull the kale leaves from the woody stems, and roughly chop into thin strips. Place the kale in a colander and rinse with cool water. Let the excess water drain away.
- Add the chopped and washed kale to a food processor along with the olive oil, 1/4 cup juice from the lemon, garlic, walnuts, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Purée the mixture until smooth and bright green. Add more oil if needed to allow the mixture to become a thick, smooth sauce. Taste the pesto and adjust the salt, pepper, or lemon juice to your liking. Set the pesto aside.
- Once the pasta is drained and cooled to the point where it is no longer steaming, transfer it to a large bowl. Add about half of the pesto and stir until the pasta is coated.
- Dice the mozzarella into small cubes, then add it to the pasta along with about 1 Tbsp of the zest from the lemon. Stir to combine with the pesto pasta. Add more pesto until everything is coated in a thick layer. Top with more freshly cracked pepper and serve, or refrigerate until ready to eat.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
How to Make Kale Pesto Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add 1 lb. pasta. Continue to boil until the pasta is tender, then drain in a colander until mostly cooled (cool enough that it is no longer steaming, and it will not melt cheese).
While the Pasta is cooking, prepare the kale pesto. Pull the kale leaves from the woody stems, then chop them into thin strips. I used a half bunch, which was about four cups once chopped (loosely packed). Rinse the kale well in a colander with cool water, and let the excess water drain away. Combine the chopped kale with 1 clove garlic, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, 1/3 cup grated Parmesan, 1/3 cup olive oil, about 1/4 cup juice from the lemon, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper.
Process the ingredients until they form a relatively smooth paste. Add more oil, if needed, to make it smooth. Taste the pesto and adjust the lemon, salt, or pepper to your liking.
Once the pasta is mostly cooled, add about half of the kale pesto and stir until the pasta is well coated.
Dice 4 oz. mozzarella and add it to the kale pesto pasta along with about 1 Tbsp zest from the lemon. Stir to combine. Add more kale pesto until everything is coated in a thick layer.
Top with a little more freshly cracked pepper, if desired. DIG IN! Or refrigerate it for later. ;)
I love kale, but I don’t always like to CHEW kale, so this Kale Pesto Pasta is perfect. 😂
A very delicious pasta. I don’t have parmesan, but use feta. I followed exact measurement. It turns really good and not grassy.
The pesto recipe is spot on, wouldn’t change a thing. I only had 3/4 lb rotini, and I added a can of chickpeas for protein. That ended up making 4 entree sized portions. I saved some pasta water and am glad I did, otherwise it would be a little dry.
This was so good! I substituted the kale for spinach since I wasn’t sure if I would like the taste or not and I could hardly tell the difference between it and real basil pesto. I’m definitely going to be making this again, I was so excited to eat this!
This was an excellent, quick, healthy recipe. I cooked a little broccoli as well in the pasta water and chopped it up and stirred it into the pasta when I added the pesto and a bit of the pasta water. You may want to cut down on the lemon juice because you can always add more later but for me; definitely increase the fresh garlic and of course, also use freshly grated parmesan cheese.
I know the nuts are an important part of pesto but is there any substitution for the walnuts? I have a nut allergy, but I’ve heard of using sunflower seeds – do you think this could work?
I think sunflower seeds would probably work well! I haven’t tried it, but I would imagine that it would taste good.
Do you think this would work with spinach? My middle daughter enjoys loves pesto, and I make it all summer/fall with garden basil. However, grocery store basil is pricey, and she finds greens to be bitter. I am thinking spinach will be milder then kale, and help me use up excess spinach(frequently buy large tubs).
I’ve never tried making pesto with spinach, but it’s similar in texture to basil, so I bet it would work! :) You might even be able to find some spinach specific pesto recipes on the web.
I don’t have a lemon, can I replace with lemon juice and if so, how much?
No, unfortunately for this recipe you really need both the juice and the zest. The zest adds a LOT of lemony flavor without making the pesto too sour.
Fantastic . Used what i had in my cabinet. Sunflower seeds instead of walnuts, nutritional yeast for cheese…So delicious and simple!. Topped it with sauted mushrooms. Perfect.
I made this today and my husband loved it! I used chunks of pre-cooked tofu cutlet instead of mozzarella and also added sliced grape tomatoes. Thank you!
I make this in my pressure cooker (cooking right now :-) and it is one of my absolute favorite dishes. I adapted it from the recipe on hippressurecooking.com for spinach pesto pasta. I use toasted pine nuts and like to add a little cilantro if I have it.
I’ve also made it vegan as someone else pointed out using nutritional yeast, sometime half cheese, half yeast. It comes out good regardless. I’ve also used raw peanuts in a pinch. Never tried walnuts, will have to try that next.
Super easy, quick and delicious!
I’m not sure but on the app does it break down the nutrition and Calories
I make a pesto similar to this with spinach. I also add in whatever herbs I may have left over, parsley, cilantro, etc. It’s great with whole wheat pasta and peas.
7/19/17…Hello & WOW! This is SO YUMMY! ( & addicting). I halved the recipe because my hubby isn’t a “pasta salad guy. I used 2C of kale; & had pre-made pesto(1/2 C); 2C pasta(dry) & used fresh parm cheese(out of mozzarella.) It’s wonderful, thanks for posting; off to finish my bowl of delish!
(F.Y.I: I kept 1/3 C of pasta water & stirred in pasta after draining…worked great & didn’t stick together in pot)
So good! I added too much lemon :( but looked up a fix.
So tip to everyone, if you add too much lemon to a recipe, just add some baking soda (starting with less than 1/4 tsp) and this will take down some of the acidity.
You can make this vegan! Add more nuts (I had almonds and cashews in addition to the walnuts) and some nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor. I added more garlic and some basil I had around, too. So delish and easy! I had extra pesto that I’m going to use as a dip for crackers.
As a fan of pesto and kale, this is fantastic. Very easy to make, and cheap to make as well! I did add around a tsp of salt, I think in the future I would leave it at half a tsp(as the recipe says). I also added an extra clove of garlic. Delicious! Will be making it again
I’m not leaving a rating on this yet because I played a little loose with measuring and that might be all that was wrong, but for some reason this sauce ended up being super lemony for us. Like, too lemony. I’ll measure more carefully next time and let you know how it goes!
We just finished supper, this kale pesto recipe was a hit! We did add some leftover grilled chicken thighs which were sliced thin, and two diced, seeded, roma tomatoes on top for a splash of color. Thumbs up all around! Thanks for your recipes, my kids love them, and love to follow them!
This is my favorite way to use up leftover greens. Kale is good, I really like using swiss chard, and using spinach probably gets the closest to the taste of actual pesto. I’ve also used the stems of broccoli, brussel sprouts, and radish tops — all good. I make some whenever I have greens that are looking a little past their prime, then freeze it as the foundation for a quick meal later.
I have an abundance of Kale in my garden that is about to go to seed. Do you think that this pesto sauce would freeze well?
Yes, I do think that it would probably freeze well. :)
This recipe looks awesome! I love the unique take on pesto and the simplicity of the recipe overall. Thanks!