Don’t fear the stinger! Stinging nettles can be a bothersome plant that leaves behind itchy welts if you accidentally brush by them, but there’s a silver lining to this wild weed: it’s delicious, free food that you don’t have to slave over in a garden for months in order to harvest!
In the spring once the nettles start popping up, my favorite thing to do with stinging nettles is to make pesto. It’s easy to make, has bright and fresh flavors, and incredibly nutritious! Nettle pesto almost exactly like making basil pesto except you blanch the nettles first to deaden the stingers.
How to harvest and cook stinging nettles
It can feel intimidating making nettle pesto for the first time but it’s very simple! I’ll give you some fast information here to help give you confidence.
- When harvesting nettles wear long pants and long sleeves. Always wear gloves when handling nettles! I prefer gardening gloves over disposable as the stingers can make their way into thin material.
- Harvest young nettles. Don’t harvest nettles once the plant is past its prime and going to seed.
- Don’t eat the flowers!
- Harvest nettle leaves from the top 1/3 of the plant, similar to harvesting basil. Those will be the best tasting leaves! Don’t harvest all the way down the plant.
- Remove the stems.
- It may seem like a lot of nettle leaves that you’re using but blanching nettles will shrink the volume substantially (think cooked spinach).
- Blanch for 30 seconds, no more than 45. Once you dunk the nettle leaves in the pot of boiling water to blanch, use a wooden spoon to make sure all the leaves are fully submerged and then start your timer. The longer they are in the boiling water the more they will cook down and lose their flavor and nutrients!
- Once the nettles have blanched for 30-45 seconds, strain the water and quickly transfer leaves to an ice bath. After a few seconds, remove leaves from ice bath and gently squeeze the water out. Lay the leaves on a clean kitchen towel and sop up as much moisture as possible. This is important because if the leaves are too wet, the pesto will be watery!
How healthy are nettles?
Incredibly healthy! Nettles are rich in tons of nutrients including calcium, iron, zinc, selenium, magnesium, and vitamins K, C, D, and A. One cup of blanched nettles has 2.4 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber, and 42% of the recommended daily intake of calcium!1 Nettles have all the essential amino acids making it a complete protein. (Did you know that all plants are complete proteins, actually?)23
Many of the nutrients in stinging nettles act as antioxidants, helping to protect the body from free radical damage that causes premature aging, cancer, and other diseases. Stinging nettles have been shown to reduce blood pressure, reduce inflammation, aid with liver health, and help lower blood sugar. 4
One caveat: the health benefits from eating nettles come from the whole food, you won’t find the same benefits from taking a supplement!
Print
Stinging Nettle Pesto
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 large batch (1 ¼ c pesto) 1x
Description
Stinging Nettle Pesto is simple to make and a great way to transform bothersome nettles into delicious food!
Ingredients
- 4.80 oz Fresh nettle leaves, about 6 packed cups ((seems like a lot but it shrinks down!))
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
- 3/4 cup Walnuts
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 3–4 Tbsp Olive Oil
Instructions
- Harvest Harvest (young) nettles while wearing gloves by cutting stem about 1/4-1/3 of the way down the plant. (Don't harvest the lower leaves.) Remove and discard stems.
- Prep Have a large bowl of cold water with ice cubes ready for an ice bath.
- Boil Bring a large pot of water to a boil and (while still wearing gloves!) add nettle leaves, using a wooden spoon to make sure all leaves are fully submerged. Blanch for 30 seconds, strain, and transfer leaves to the ice bath for a few moments to cool. Scoop the leaves out (you can use your hands now), gently squeezing out water, then place onto a dry kitchen towel and pat dry.
- Process Add nettle leaves and the rest of the ingredients to the food processor except olive oil and process until finely chopped, stopping to scrape sides with a spatula. Once finely chopped, remove blade and stir in olive oil with a spatula. Taste pesto and add anything more you think it needs!
Notes
- Nettle Pesto can be used immediately as a sauce for a pasta dish, a spread, mixed with tofu scrambles to give it a mediterranean flare, as a vegan pizza base (with some more pesto dolloped on top!) just to name a few ideas!
- Pesto keeps in the fridge in a well-sealed container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 1-2 months.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Sauce
- Cuisine: American, Mediterranean, Vegan, Vegetarian
- https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169819/nutrients
- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/01.cir.0000018905.97677.1f
- https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-protein-combining-myth/#:~:text=The%20myth%20that%20plant%20proteins,scientific%20nutrition%20community%20decades%20ago.
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/stinging-nettle#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2
1 thought on “Stinging Nettle Pesto”