Sunflower seed pesto with pasta makes a light and delicious summer dinner! This easy gluten free pasta salad is full of flavor from this tasty nut free pesto. You won’t miss the nuts or dairy with all the bright flavors from fresh basil, garlic, and lemon juice.
Do you miss pesto? If you have food allergies, it might be a food that you haven’t tried in a while.
There’s good news – you can make a super flavorful pesto sauce without all the allergens.
There are lots of options for making dairy free, nut free, allergy friendly pesto. In this recipe, seeds take the place of nuts, and some nutritional yeast adds that cheesy flavor. If you don’t love sunflower seeds, this can also be made with pumpkin seeds.
The result is a light and delicious sunflower seed pesto that’s perfect for serving over pasta, fish, or chicken.
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Top Tip
Make sure that you don’t overcook the pasta – gluten free pasta tends to get very mushy very quickly, and then it’s just a big mess.
Ingredient Notes
- Pasta – Some gluten free brands to check out would be Ancient Harvest, Jovial, and Cybele’s. You can use a different shape if you like as well. I used gluten free rotini here, but we’ve also made this with macaroni and other shapes of pasta, too.
- Sunflower Seeds – You can find sunflower seeds that are processed in an allergen free facility online at Gerbs Allergy Friendly Foods. They have all kinds of seeds, dried fruits, and other products that are free from cross contamination.
- Lemon Juice – Lemon juice gives this dish a nice, bright flavor. You could use vinegar instead for that acidity, but I prefer lemon juice.
Substitutions
If you don’t like or can’t have peas, you can add tomatoes, zucchini, or just enjoy the sunflower seed pesto and pasta plain!
This dish would also be nice with some added chicken for protein.
Make Ahead Instructions
If you wan to make this ahead of time, I recommend keeping the sauce separate. Once a pasta salad sits in the refrigerator overnight, the pasta tends to absorb the flavor, and it can get a little tasteless. Make your pasta, make the sauce, and refrigerate them separately. When you are ready to serve them, toss together and enjoy.
Serving Suggestions
This sunflower seed pesto goes well with:
- zoodles
- chicken or fish
- roasted vegetables
- crackers or sandwiches
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Recipe
Pasta with Sunflower Seed Pesto and Peas.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 cups fresh basil
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas thawed and drained
- 12 ounces gluten free pasta cooked according to package directions
Instructions
- Place all ingredients except for the peas and pasta in a food processor. Pulse until well blended, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Put the cooked pasta, peas, and pasta in a large bowl. Toss well to coat.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in July 2015. It has been updated.
Katie
Delicious recipe!
Sarah @Whole and Heavenly Oven
It’s super-hot here too so i have no intention of turning on the oven anytime soon! My whole family loooves pesto pasta and I’m always looking for new ways to make it, so this dish is right up my alley!
chefsavvy
Wow this sounds fantastic. Love the idea of making pesto with sunflower seeds!
Sam @ PancakeWarriors
I just made Dave some peas last night, and I have to admit I was eating them by the spoonful. They are so yummy!! And yay for allergy free pesto – woohoo!
A Toast to the Good Life
What a great idea! I LOVE pesto and am always looking for new ways to create it/doctor it up. I love your use of sunflower seeds.
We are also experiencing a heat wave in Chicago! This is a great recipe for this kind of weather. :) Thanks for sharing!
Julia
Ohhhh girl, I hear ya – it’s supposed to be 99 degrees here today and I have zero desire to turn on the oven. I’ve been loving homemade pesto lately, and have been meaning to make a vegan version using my stash of nutritional yeast for a while. I’ll definitely be trying this out soon! Stay cool ;)
athleticavocado
sunflower seed pesto sounds delicious!! I need to make this ASAP! Pinned :)
whiskandshout
Love this nut free pesto! Delicious :)