Stinging Nettle Pesto

Don’t fear the stinger! Stinging nettles can be a bothersome plant that leave behind painful 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. Stinging Nettle Pesto is easy to make, has bright and fresh flavors, and incredibly nutritious! Nettle pesto is almost exactly like making basil pesto except you blanch the nettles first to deaden the stingers.

My favorite way to utilize this delicious pesto is using it in my Stinging Nettle Pesto Pasta with Veggies!

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!
• If the leaves are too wet, the pesto will be watery! 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 (you can use your hands, the stingers will be deadened). Use a salad spinner to remove excess water, then wrap the leaves in a clean kitchen towel to sop up as much moisture as possible.

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 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Stinging Nettle Pesto

Stinging Nettle Pesto is simple to make and a great way to transform bothersome nettles into delicious food!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time1 minute min

Total Time31 minutes mins

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: American, Mediterranean, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: Nettle Pesto, pesto

Servings: 1 large batch (1 ¼ cup pesto)

Equipment

• 1 Large pot
• 1 Food processor

Ingredients

• 4.80 oz Fresh nettle leaves about 6 packed cups (seems like a lot but it shrinks down)
• ½ tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
• ¾ cup Walnuts
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 2 tsp Lemon Juice
• 3-4 Tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions

• 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.
• Have a large colander in the sink and large bowl of cold water with ice cubes prepped for an ice bath.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While wearing gloves, add nettle leaves to boiling water, using a wooden spoon to make sure leaves are fully submerged. Blanch for 30 seconds, no more than 45, strain water using the colander, then transfer leaves to the ice bath for a few moments. Using your hands, gently squeeze water out, then transfer to a salad spinner to help remove moisture. Then wrap leaves in a clean kitchen towel and pat dry. This is important as too much water in the leaves will result in a watery pesto!!
• Place 3/4 cup walnuts, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, and 3 cloves of garlic in a food processor. Process until walnuts are broken down into a finer meal. Then add nettle leaves and 2 tsp lemon juice, pulsing until desired paste-like texture is formed. Remove the lid and the blade and using a rubber spatula, stir in olive oil 1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency. Taste pesto and add anything more you think it needs.

Notes

• Nettle Pesto can be used immediately for a pasta dish, mixed with tofu scrambles for  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.

1. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169819/nutrients
2. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/01.cir.0000018905.97677.1f
3. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-protein-combining-myth/#:~:text=The%20myth%20that%20plant%20proteins,scientific%20nutrition%20community%20decades%20ago.
4. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/stinging-nettle#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2