A fresh, green and delicious Fennel Fronds Pesto made with fennel fronds, which you might otherwise throw away. Use with pasta or use it for bruschetta.
Love pesto? You might also like these recipes for a classic vegan basil pesto, green garlic pesto and carrot top pesto.
I've been making a Fennel Fronds Pesto for years because it seems a shame to me to throw away those gorgeous, feathery greens. When you grow up in middle class India, one of the things you learn early on is to stretch every resource there is until it squeals. And there really is no reason why anyone should throw fennel fronds away. They are delicious, with a fresh, licorice flavor that lends itself perfectly to fresh salads or pestos.
You can use this pesto for pasta, of course -- roast the fennel bulbs and toss them in too for a tasty and nutritious meal -- but you can also smear it on a piece of toast or top a tasty tofu or tempeh steak with it. Your imagination is the limit, and you really don't need to limit it when there's so much deliciousness on offer.
If you're worried that the pesto will taste too much of licorice, worry not. The flavor is mild, at best, and it is really quite delicious when combined with pasta. I use pumpkin seeds instead of nuts in the recipe, which makes this recipe even healthier. You can sub with pine nuts, the more traditional choice for pesto, or with walnuts.
I don't really miss cheese in my vegan pestos, but sometimes I add a dash of miso or nutritional yeast, both for their cheesy flavor and for the nutritional weight they bring. I added it here, but you could leave it out and it wouldn't hurt the flavor at all.
If you make this recipe or any other on the blog, be sure to let me know in the comments below. Or take a photo and tag me @HolyCowVegan on Instagram. I'd love to see!
More vegan pesto recipes
Recipe card
Fennel Fronds Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 packed cups chopped fennel fronds (from two bulbs)
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed and chopped)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup unsalted pumpkin seeds (you can use salted, but dial down the added salt in that case. You can also use nuts like walnuts, pecans, cashews or pine nuts)
- 4-8 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor except the olive oil. With the blade running, drizzle in the olive oil until you have a coarse paste. Check for salt and pepper and add more if needed.
Notes
Nutrition Information
To print recipe card without images, uncheck "instruction images" after clicking the "print recipe" button.
Susan Renee Hennings says
A cook after my own heart. A thrill to learn of making pesto from fronds. Wow! I use pumpkin seeds and miso in my basil pestos. I will be checking out your recipes and tips again.
Vaishali says
Hi Susan, so happy you enjoyed the pesto! Thanks for the kind words. 🙂
Anna says
I loved this recipe! Thanks for giving me a great idea of how to use my leftover fennel stalks/fronds in a delicious way.
Matt says
Can’t wait to try this! Do I just use the light feathery fronds or can I use the stalks as well?
Vaishali says
You can use the tender stalks!
Kimchi says
I love pickled fennel so I’m often left with a big bunch of the fronds! This solved my problem and used up the fronds nicely. It is a lovely accompaniment for grilled vegetables or grilled fennel for that matter!
Pam says
Excellent recipe.
Anonymous says
I added a little heavy cream (I know, not vegan). Really good recipe!
Tiffany says
I went to a farm near my house yesterday and I joked that the huge fronds on the fennel bulbs made me feel like a beauty queen walking away with a giant bouquet! So I found this recipe since I was so concerned about wasting them. We were thrilled! It feels like basil can be so much more "precious" and these fronds would have just been tossed! I added some basil and dill that were nearing their expiration and some parm (so not vegan). Thank you for the inspiration and the mindfulness to not waste anything!
Mary Nima says
Hi
I have just made this and will do pasta later. Can I freeze it too?
Vaishali says
Yes, sure you can freeze the pasta.
Lisa says
I just made the fennel pesto. It is so good. The taste is so different. I used my ninja blender to do so just add abt 3 tablespoon of the oil first so it starts to blend.
Kim Kilgore says
Thank you for great recipe!!! Just picked up my CSA box this morning from Eden’s Organic in Balch Spring TX and received the most beautiful fennel. I did not want to compost the frondes which were huge compared to the fennel bulb and found your recipe. I had a little more than 4 cups of frond so I got to keep some for seasoning other dishes this week. Delighted not to waste anything!!! Great fresh flavor!
Anonymous says
I made this to put on pasta and it turned out great. It tastes very fresh and doesn't need much oil.
Vaishali says
Awesome, so happy to hear. 🙂
Robin says
I have fennel growing wild in my yard and have made this to go on salmon, thenI roast it. It's delicious! I have yet to try it on pasta, so will give that a go!
Stacy says
Such a great use for the fronds. It's was a light and lovely flavor!
Ursula McLean says
Delicious! I had no pine nuts or other nuts so substituted 1/4 or so of almond butter for the nuts and the oil. Also used lemon zest pepper rather than simple pepper. Tried it first without the yeast, but then stirred in some yeast into part of the mix and found that even better. Thanks so much!
Vaishali says
So happy to hear!
Lucky D says
This is a lovely change to the traditional and so happy to not throw out this part of the plant. I live in Funchal which means Fennel (funcho) in Portuguese due to their wild growth here many centuries ago, yet the locals don't tend to eat them! Maybe I can change their minds. 🙂 Thanks for the great inspiration!!
Heather Miller says
What types of things would you eat this with? How would you use it?
Vaishali says
In pasta, on toast or bruschetta, stirred into a salad, with roasted veggies, even with rice...the possibilities are endless. 🙂
Zhenya says
It's so delicious, I didn't expect such a lovely and mild flavour! Thank you!
Hannah says
Wow, what a fantastic idea!
I get beautiful fennel fronds every week from my local organic market and was looking for something to do with them other than include them in soups and salads...
This hits the spot in every way! Just as good as basil pesto and vegan to boot. It's absolutely delicious. Didn't have miso so I added a dash of tamari sauce instead.
Thank you ??
Emily says
Ok this is SO good! Always felt bad about throwing away fennel heads, and I can't believe this option has been there all along. Due to lack of pumpkin seeds and only one fennel bulb, I halved the recipe and used pistachios and hemp hearts and it came out AWESOME. Thanks Vaishali!
Sudha says
Amazing recipe!! I loooved the taste of this pesto more than the basil pesto.
I used walnuts.
Thank you!
Vaishali says
Awesome!
David C. says
Thank you so much for this recipe-- i've made 3 batches of your fennel frond pesto and we're just in love with the recipe. We like it with pasta and we like it with fish too-- tonight I served it over pieces of seared tuna on a bed of sweet corn.
Terri says
Definitely going to try this, I hate throwing anything away! Do you think it would freeze ok? I suspect I might be the only one in our house who’ll eat it...
Billie says
Had some leftover fennel after making a cassoulet with the bulb, so glad I found this idea! I had an idea for a recipe with pesto this coming week. I substituted sunflower seeds as I'm allergic to nuts and had no pumpkin seeds at the time, and did add some fresh basil (the package I got delivered from Whole Foods was TINY, needed the rest for my whole dish) and parm. Very yummy!!
Katharine Whitmore says
I had a "make it it now or compost" moment with the fronds from one fennel , so I made a small batch, using walnuts, which is all I had on hand. Also added some Brewers Yeast, as suggested, as we are dairy free. It's wonderful! Thank you for your recipe!
Lori says
Great recipe!
Thank you.
Teresa Dickinson says
Did you toast or brown the pumpkin seeds or not
Vaishali says
No.
Judith Levine says
Magnificent!!! and delish!
Rebecca Nyberg says
Tonight was the second time I've made this, so I was a bit more adventurous. I added an extra garlic clove, plus some pine nuts and hemp seed for added creaminess (cheesiness). I eyeballed everything--no measuring--and it turned out great!
Daryl says
I can't have citrus, so I added a couple of table spoons of white wine vinegar, and I am allergic to yeast so didn't add any nutritional yeast, and it was still amazing! I stirred it into some seared Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi and it was probably the best think I've eaten in years. It took everything in me not to eat the whole pan! I'll definitely be making this again!
Leela O says
Daryl, I think that nutritional yeast is not the same as regular yeast and you might be able to have it.
I'm going to try this because a friend gave me some fronds and I need to do something with it.
Keira Lyons says
Hi Vaishali,
Thank you so much for this recipe, super delicious. I added an avocado to give it a creamy texture and was not disappointed!
Have a wonderful new year!
Vaishali says
So happy to hear! 🙂
Gail says
I love this! Much better than other fennel pesto I’ve made. So vibrant! Any reason why I couldn’t freeze small containers for the future? I’ve frozen other pestos before with a thin layer of olive oil on top to aid color retention.
Vaishali says
Hi Gail, you could absolutely freeze it! So happy you tried it. 🙂
Kor says
is there any recommended substitution for the pumpkin seeds? would walnuts work?
Vaishali says
Walnuts would be great. Or any nut.
Ruth says
Sorry to ask too but really just the fronds or the thin and or thick parts of the stems as well?
Vaishali Honawar says
You can use the entire stems, including the thick parts. Your pesto might be a little coarser, so if you want it to be finer, discard the stems and use the fronds only.
Sara says
Delicious! A perfect use for end-of-season fronds and stems. I don’t usually see black pepper as a pesto ingredient and started cautiously. It magically melded with the other flavors.
Julie Beecroft says
In this recipe do I use the bulb or just the leafy part? Julie
Vaishali Honawar says
Just the leafy part! You can roast the bulbs to toss into your pasta or save for another use.
Wendi Paster says
Thinly sliced raw fennel makes a great salad with thinly sliced celery, oil and lemon juice, maybe some chopped parsley or other leafy herb, salt, a little pepper ( I prefer white here), etc.