A garlic free, low FODMAP pesto made with chives and basil for the perfect IBS friendly sauce. Vegan & Paleo
If you would have told me a year ago that I’d ever think of making a garlic free pesto I would have declared blasphemy and told you that you’re out of your mind. I looove garlic. I come from a garlic loving family. Pesto and garlic go hand in hand – you can’t have one without the other. It’s like taking the tomatoes out of a marinara sauce – oh wait, I did that too! Apparently all bets are off with me and my food preparation.
And yet, as is often the case, here I am eating my own words to share with you this garlic free, low FODMAP pesto. As much as I love my garlic, I can honestly say that I don’t miss a single thing in this sauce. In place of where I would normally use garlic, I swapped it out for chives to get that sharp, onion-y taste. Not only is this garlic free, but I also subbed the traditional parmesan with nutritional yeast to get that cheesy taste. If dairy isn’t an issue for you then feel free to use the real stuff.
As much as I love garlic, I’ve grown to view it in a different light this past year. When you’re forced to cook without something that is relied upon so heavily, you find ways to do without. Sometimes experimentation works, and sometimes it doesn’t. As frustrating as I found it to cook without it, I know cooking this way has made me a better cook in the long run. There’s actually a really interesting article about an Italian born chef who moved to Toronto to start his own restaurant. During the first 12 months of his restaurant, his staff were forbidden to use any garlic of any kind. The second year, they were allowed to use garlic infused oil. Finally after 2 years, his chef’s were allowed to cook with garlic after they had “learned how to use garlic in the right way”.
Full disclosure, we’ve actually started introducing garlic and a few other high FODMAP foods back into Mike’s diet these past couple of weeks. Since he started following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (basically no starches and grains) he’s been tolerating foods that were previously off limits sooo much better. Avocados, full fat coconut milk, dates and blackberries are back on the table. Even eggs were an issue for a while, but he’s having those again now much to my excitement. However, we don’t want to push the boat too far out from shore so we’re really just dipping our feet in the water at the moment. Even though he has been able to eat small bits of garlic without issue, I’m still preparing him mostly FODMAP free foods. It’s been a lot of trial and error, but I feel like we’re making progress with his diet.
Finally.
You can also easily substitute the extra virgin olive oil in this recipe for a garlic infused olive oil – just make sure that it is one that doesn’t have bits of garlic floating around to keep it low FODMAP.
Low FODMAP Pesto
A garlic free, low FODMAP pesto made with chives and basil for the perfect IBS friendly sauce. Vegan & Paleo
Ingredients
- 1 cup | 48 grams chopped chives
- 1/2 cup | 24 grams fresh basil
- 1/2 cup | 120 ml extra virgin olive oil*
- 1/2 cup | 35 grams pine nuts
- 1/4 cup | 25 grams nutritional yeast or grated parmesan
- a squeeze of lemon juice
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Add all of your ingredients to a blender or food processor and process until you get your desired, pesto consistency. Season with salt and serve.
Notes
*you can also use garlic infused extra virgin olive oil
Louise says
I love this recipe
Sarah Nevins says
Thanks Louise – so glad you’ve enjoyed it 🙂
Susan Flannery says
Most people who have garlic intolerance have it with all items in the allium family which includes garlic, onions, leeks AND chives. I was sad that this is one more recipe for pesto that I will need to pass.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Susan! Sorry to hear that you’re sensitive to chives as well! According to Monash University (the researchers who developed and continue to set guidelines for the low FODMAP diet) chives are considered low fodmap/safe for a low fodmap diet.
Gut issues can be tricky in that way since we all have different intolerances. When my husband was going through the low FODMAP diet to sort out his gut problems he couldn’t have any tomatoes at all even though they are fodmap friendly.
Diane says
I made this with garlic infused oil and nutritional yeast. I had it with pasta. It was absolutely delicious!
Sarah Nevins says
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Diane! 🙂
Dhwani says
Never had tasted or made pesto, glad I followed this recipe! So damn GOOD 🙂
Thanks a ton 😀
How much of this can I have in one serving ????
Sarah Nevins says
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know what you thought! Serving size is two tablespoons
Becca says
I made this pesto sauce today and loved it! It was a great substitute for pesto with garlic and also was better for my GERD. I served it over Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi. I will definitely be using this again!
Sarah Nevins says
So happy to hear you enjoyed the pesto! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know what you thought!
sococo says
Just wanted to thank you—I love garlic and garlicky foods but my family can’t eat ‘em. This pesto was DELICIOUS, and the recipe was so easy! I added a very small dash of mellow balsamic vinegar, and used walnuts to keep things cheap—and despite the improvisations of my low-cost and very average cooking, the sauce still came out so so well. Thanks again. It’s, like, empowering when a recipe is simple enough for me to understand, yet fabulous. Like a Lichtenstein!
Sarah Nevins says
That makes me so happy to hear – I’m so glad you enjoy it! Those improvisations sound lovely by the way!
Jade says
I made this pesto sauce today!
I omitted the chives and substituted pine nuts for macadamia nuts and olive oil for avocado oil for I am sensitive to all three ingredients.
Strangely, I never make any sauces while back in the United States.
My family and I shopped at ten different places for only 9 ounces of fresh basil leaves, 9 fluid ounces of avocado oil, one can of macadamia nuts, and several yellow lemons, for here in Asia, it is very difficult to get these!
Living with mixed irritable bowel syndrome and numerous food- beverage allergies results in me unable to integrate with local culture and enjoy their foods when I do travel, therefore forcing me to, in a way, live in a bubble!
…
Living abroad really makes me appreciate the things I take for granted back home.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Jade! That sounds tough! I kind of know what you mean about living with food intolerances/allergies in foreign countries. Travelling with my husband can be tricky when most food is off the table (no pun intended). It really does make you appreciated what you have! I hope you enjoyed the pesto!