pesto

American  

[pes-toh] / ˈpɛs toʊ /

noun

Italian Cooking.

pestos plural

1. a sauce typically made with basil, pine nuts, olive oil, and grated Parmesan blended together and served hot or cold over pasta, fish, or meat.

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pesto British  

/ ˈpɛstəʊ /

noun

1. a sauce for pasta, consisting of basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, oil, and Parmesan cheese, all crushed together

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pestos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pesto

First recorded in 1935–40; from Upper Italian (compare Genoese dialect pésto “pesto”), Italian; noun derivative of pestare “to pound, crush”; see piste

Explanation

That bright green sauce on your pasta? It's probably pesto, a delicious combination of garlic, basil, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and pine nuts. The traditional version of pesto, invented in Genoa, Italy, is salty and garlicky, and it's made by crushing all the ingredients by hand using a mortar and pestle. The word pesto itself comes from this technique — its root is the Italian pestare, "to pound or crush." If you want to be absolutely sure you're getting this original, authentic version in an Italian restaurant, you can specify pesto alla genovese, or "Genoese pesto," when you order.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pesto pestos

Emma Robins, from Reading, says broccoli hidden in pesto pasta is a favourite for her three-year-old son Alfred, as well as veg pulsed into pasta sauces.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Now it’s expanding to New York, answering the pleas of Manhattanites who have been clamoring for its chicken Caesar wraps and gluten-free pesto pasta.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

There's even a focaccia cake with roasted tomato, pesto and feta icing – a savoury offering Sunga is delighted to see.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026

Sichynsky suggested making cabbage parm, winter minestrone with cabbage pesto and tofu and cabbage stir-fry with basil, just to name a few recipes.

From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2026

At the moment when life as he had known it changed forever, Alex Morales was behind the counter at Joey’s Pizza, slicing a spinach pesto pie into eight roughly equal pieces.

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer

So do pestos and moles — the latter a velvety blend of chilies, nuts, chocolate, and spices, essential to many Mexican dishes.

From Salon ● May 16, 2025

In addition to drinkables, Cunningham makes pestos of basil or arugula, as well as herb blends that she freezes into ice cubes and adds to dishes all year.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2022

Salads, pestos, dishes incorporating fresh tomatoes and cooked clams.

From New York Times ● May 21, 2020

They also put their sprouts in pestos and vinaigrettes, for which the Jacksons say they sourced the other ingredients as locally as possible.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 6, 2019

Pound in shallots or fennel seed or chiles at will, as you might when DIYing herby salsas and pestos.

From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2018