This basil oil recipe is made with fresh basil, garlic and olive oil. I am completely addicted to this basil sauce, my favorite way to use it is to drizzle it on top of a caprese salad. It also makes a wonderful dipping sauce for bread. This basil oil was inspired by the pesto that my mom used to make when I was kid. At that time, it was very hard to find parmesan or pine nuts in the south of Ecuador, so I grew up eating this more liquid version of pesto.
There are so many ways to use this sauce: in salads, as a dip, on top of grilled meat or fish, drizzle it over soups for a burst of flavor, add it grilled cheese sandwiches or pizza, mix it with rice for a delicious basil garlic rice, drizzle it over roasted vegetables, etc.
Basil oil sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups of packed basil leaves
- ½-1 cup cup of olive oil adjust based on the thickness level you prefer
- 1-2 garlic cloves add more if you are a garlic lover
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the basil, olive oil, garlic, and salt in a blender or mini-food processor, mix until you have smooth sauce. Taste and add additional salt if needed. You can also adjust the amount of olive oil if you want a more liquid sauce.
- The basil oil can be used immediately or refrigerated until ready to use. For freshest flavor, use the basil garlic oil within 24-48 hours.
You can adjust the thickness level of the basil oil based on your preference, for a thicker sauce you can use about ½ cup of olive oil and for a more liquid basil oil use 1 cup of olive oil. I usually use 1-2 garlic cloves if I’m making this sauce for guests, but if it’s just the family, since we’re all garlic lovers, I will double the amount of garlic.
Step by step preparation photos for basil garlic sauce
We made a batch yesterday after I harvested more basil than I knew what to do with Lol. Had your recipe bookmarked for future use and whipped a batch before char grilling steaks. Used it for (oven toasted) bread dipping rather than making garlic bread. It’s delish! Thanks for posting this!
This kind of reminds me of Lebanese Toum, if you blend it like a mayonaise.
Hi Layla! Esta receta es deliciosa! Gracias por compartirla! Saludos desde Nicaragua! Por cierto, Ecuador es lindooo!!!
Laylilta,
Thank you for the recipe! Tasted g.reat! and so easy to prepare.
Vicky
Wow, thank you so much for posting this! I was looking for a Caprese salad recipe with Pesto sauce, since I have an “allergy” to green leafy things (haha!), but I’m not a big fan of the nuts and cheese in the pesto. I don’t have a blender right now (I just moved) so I’ll get a small one tomorrow just for this!
Thank you again!
This looks wonderful. Can you freeze this and if so how long will it keep. Would be wonderful to have all year long.
Thank you
Julie
Hi Julie – Yes, you can freeze it, for best flavor use within 3 months.