Every spring one of the first herb seeds I sow are basil seeds. I liberally scatter them in several places in the garden. I do this for one reason…pesto! We love pesto so very much and I refuse to pay $5 for a small jar of basil pesto. So each summer you’ll find me making and freezing pesto for the year.

When I first started making pesto I followed the “rules” and made it in a blender (and even used pine nuts) and then transferred it to ice cube trays for freezing. When they were frozen I’d pop them out and put them in a ziplock bag. When we wanted pesto, we’d put a few cubes in a mason jar and let them thaw out. It’s a fine system.
But I’ve come up with something better – something that will help me more accurately predict how much pesto we need each year. By the way, I use these worksheets to plan and keep track of what we’ve preserved. You can get a copy emailed to you by filling out the form below.
I not only freeze pesto in canning jars but I make it right in the jar. Here’s how…
- Fill the 4 oz canning jar about half way with basil
- Add some oil oil about 1/2 way over the basil
- Put in about 6 pecans (we grow these so I use them instead of pine nuts)
- And about 4 garlic cloves.
- 1/4 tsp lemon juice
In the photo I already have Parmesan in the jar but I’ve found it’s better if I stir it in after I’ve blended the other ingredients together.

Here’s the genius part that I learned from a friend, the bottom of an Oster blender will fit a regular mouth mason jar. So, just put the bottom assembly of the blender on the jar – the blades, the gasket, and the band.
We even make a quick little video for you. My son shot the video for me with instructions to hide the background mess. Since this was an impromptu video session and I knew if I took the time to style the background the video wouldn’t get done. All that to say…welcome to my home.

…and put the jar on the blender. Grind it and pulse it until it looks right. Take the jar off the blender, flip it right side up and take the blender part of. Scrape the basil pesto off the blades and put it back into the jar. Then stir in the Parmesan.

Put lids on the jars – I like to either old lids or my reuseable lids – and put in the freezer. Yes, i’ts perfectly fine to freeze in glass jars. We need about 45 jars to make it through the year.
If you need a more exact basil pesto sauce recipe I have you covered.
We use almost a jar a week. We have homemade pizza night once a week and that uses about half of our jars. The other half is used on sandwiches, pizza wraps, summer pesto pasta, mixed with home canned tomatoes for spaghetti sauce, and on crackers or straight out of the jar.
Tips for Freezing Pesto
- Keep the pesto covered. Basil oxidizes pretty easily – just like apples and bananas – so limiting exposure to air is necessary if you don’t want brown pesto. The best way to ensure air stays away from the basil is to put a thin layer of oil over the top. Once the pesto is frozen it will be fine, but when it’s thawed you’ll want to make sure to keep a layer of oil on it.
- Freeze pesto in portions you will use. I’ve found that the 8 oz canning jar is the perfect size for our family. We use about half a jar on our pizza each week and put whatever is left in the refrigerator to use throughout the week or the next week for pizza night. But that may not be a good size for you. Maybe you need to use the 4 oz mini canning jars or ice cube trays.
- Don’t be afraid to freeze pesto in jars. Be sure to leave bit of head space and the jar won’t break. There isn’t much water content in pesto and so it won’t expand much.
- Pesto thaws pretty fast. The best way to thaw pesto is to put the jar in the refrigerator and let it thaw slowly. However, I have been known to put a jar of frozen pesto in the microwave on the defrost setting for about 30 seconds. You just have to be really careful not to melt the cheese, so check it every 10 seconds.
- When stored properly, frozen basil can be stores for up to a year. We’ve never had a problem with freezer burn in our jars of frozen pesto. Just make sure the lids are on tight and it will be fine.

Canning Pesto
I love canning and love having shelf stable foods in my pantry. But canning pesto is not recommended. The garlic, oil, and Parmesan in the recipe can create an environment for botulism to thrive in, even when pressure canned. I’m sure people do it, but it’s not worth the risk for me.
The National Center for Home Food Preservationsays,“Pesto is an uncooked seasoning mixture of herbs, usually including fresh basil, and some oil. It may be frozen for long-term storage; there are no home canning recommendations.”
What is Pesto?
Traditionally pesto is a basil herb paste with garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, and Parmesan. But recently pesto has come to mean any herb paste and, goodness, are there some great combinations. I’ve included a list below of other pesto combinations that sound super wonderful and can be made and frozen right in the jar.
Spring Pesto with Chickweed and Gren Garlic
What are your favorite pesto recipe to freeze?
I’m a little jealous of your ability to grow so many different things, like pecans, lol! My mother-in-law is growing basil to make pesto so I’ll pass this on to her. I might have to grow more basil next year as we end up eating all of ours fresh! This would be so yummy to have handy in the freezer though.
Well, to have full disclosure we had 2 mature pecan trees on our property when we moved here. I use them to replace any kind of nuts in recipes. No one even notices. Last year I let my basil go to seed and collected the seeds. I’ve had volunteer basil pop up all over the garden this year. I’m so excited to have so much.
Hi!
You say 4 oz canning jar in the recipient, but then in the video, you say 8 oz jar. Which is it? Please and thank you!
Both. It doesn’t matter what size jar it’s frozen in, just be sure to freeze it in a size your family can eat within a week once it’s thawed.
Oooh I love this! Fingers crossed my blender fits jars. Otherwise it’ll just be the blend, bag ‘n freeze for me! We love pesto on our Friday night pizzas- sundried tomato pesto is a new favorite!
oh, I hope it fits! I would love your sundried tomato pesto recipe, it’s sounds yummy.
There’s always a caution about storing homemade garlic in oil in the fridge. Think I would soak those garlic cloves in vinegar for a while before using them this way. Otherwise, way to go.
Yes, according to the National Center for Home Preservation pesto should not be stored in the refrigerator for more than 3 days. Which is why we freeze it. You can read more here, http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/pesto.html Thanks for the reminder!
What is the caution about storing garlic and oil? You have my curiosity up.
Hi Janet. There is a slight risk that the garlic could be carrying a strain of botulism. Since we’re not cooking it and it’s would be stored in an anaerobic environment the botulism would be able to grow. The National Center for Home Preservation recommends that pesto not be stored in the refrigerator for more than three days, http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/pesto.html because of this.
@Angi Schneider,
OMG, I should be dead! I keep pesto in the fridge for weeks! Been doing this for years! Also been giving it to friends and family. Are we all really that lucky?
You can certainly do whatever you want, I’m just sharing best practices.
Thanks so much for your well-informed reply. This is good to know.
What a fabulous method to do this! I’ve got lots of basil right now, but I’ll have to ice cube mine. No blender here. Thanks for sharing this fantastic idea!
I love the way you make it in the jars
Thanks, it has really proven to be convenient.
My jars always break in the freezer. What a waste of time and energy, so I just stopped. What is your secret and what is your breakage rate?
Hi Caro, I rarely break a glass jar in the freezer. I don’t have a good number but it’s just been a handful in 20+ years. Here are some tips. 1. Use jars without a shoulder if possible. So wide mouth jars, the tall pickle jars, and the regular mouth jelly jar above are great for freezing in. 2. Leave plenty of head space, especially if the contents have alot of water such as broth. If the jar has a shoulder DON’T put the contents above the shoulder, stop filling before you get to the curve. 3. Make sure the contents are completely cooled before you freeze them. I put the jar in the refrigerator overnight and then into the freezer the next day. 4. Don’t screw the lid on all the say until the contents are frozen. When I put the jars in the freezer the lids are just resting on the jar and after they’re frozen I screw the lids on all the way.
Hope this helps!
@Angi Schneider,
Thanks, trying my first batch this weekend!!!
Well call me amazed. My blender blade fits my jars too. I never would have thought of this. Guess I’m making pesto this week. Note to self: frost on Wednesday, bring the potted basil into the sunroom for the night. Thanks for the tip!
You’re so welcome. Glad your blender blades fit! And goodness, I can’t believe you’re already getting frost!
What size jars? Is that jelly, pint or quart?
You can use whatever size jars you want but I use 8oz jelly jars.
I just Finished making pesto. I only got Five jars. I will make more. What a clever way to mix the ingredients. We used a sheep’s milk cheese due to allergies. It is so delicious with my raviolis! Thanks.
That does sound delicous!
I so appreciate your helpful tips on freezing pesto in jars, and especially on how to avoid breakage This has been my challenge.
. In ice cube trays they say it’s good only 3 months, and that’s not long enough! I have a bumper crop this year so inspired by this post , I will be putting as much as I can. Into freezer to enjoy all winter! Thanks Angi!
Hi Beth, I’m so glad you’re inspired by the suggestions. I agree, 3 months is not long enough! We use pesto in some way most days and not having it would really put a kink in our meals.
@Beth, I’m still using my frozen cubes from last season. Still good.
So helpful and inspiring! Thank you 👍🏼
You’re welcome!
So I’m confused.. do you put all ingredients in the jar whole and freeze, or do you blend them first? I can’t tell for sure in your description.
You can do it either way, but I prefer to blend them first. I blend them right in the jar with an old Oster blender so I put the ingredients in the jar, blend, put the lid on, and then freeze.
how much parm?
A couple of tablespoons is good.
A couple years ago we had a HUGE overabundance of parsley – so I thought why not PARSLEY PESTO? it was amazing!! clean and fresh tasting. it wasnt basil pesto but it was very tasty!
oh, I bet that was tasty!!! I think parsley is truly one of the most underused herbs in the sense that people mainly just use it as a garnish. Good job thinking outside the box!
I am loving that you use pecans instead of pine nuts in your pesto, as both my father and father-in-law have pecan trees in their yards and always send me and/or my husband home with tons of pecans! Another use for all those pecans along with the abundance of basil I now have!
What a wonderful blessing!
I am so excited to find this recipe! Thank you!
You’re welcome