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So if you remember from the other day I scored BIG time 5 pounds of gorgeous basil for a few bucks. Now that I had all of that I was in major Pesto making mode. Do you have any idea how much pesto 5 pounds of basil makes??? A LOT.. no really.. A LOT! Now if I had my bistro right now it would be perfect however in a 2-person home, um yeah… I’m going to have enough pesto til 2018 I think! LOL Now the thing with Pesto it doesn’t have a long shelf life. In the fridge we’re talking 2-3 days; MAYBE 4 but that’s pushing it. And since I’m lucky I can fit 4 grapes in my fridge due to the massive amounts of stuff in there (trust me, no one would EVER starve in my house I think!) I had to do something with the basil. There was no way I was letting that glorious green goodness go bad. No way, no how. I pulled out my trusty dusty mini muffin pans, lined them with the plastic wrap and made Pesto Cubes. Sure you can use an ice cube tray but does anyone have those anymore? I don’t as my fridge makes ice but if you have that, use them! Just line them with plastic wrap as it makes it SO MUCH EASIER to get the Pesto-sicles out!
Pretty cool, huh? No muss, no fuss and NO CLEAN UP (well okay, of the pans at least!
PrintPesto out the wazoo! Preserving your pesto…
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Ingredients
- Homemade Pesto
- Pans or ice cube trays
- Plastic Wrap
- Plastic Freezer Bag
Instructions
- Line mini muffin tins with plastic wrap.
- Portion out the pesto into the lined tin cups.
- Cover with a piece of parchment paper and pop into the freezer for a good hour or until they are frozen solid.
- Remove the tin from the freezer and pop them into a freezer safe bag.
- Put the bag back in the freezer and whenever you need fresh pesto, pop out a few of the Pesto Cups and you’re good to go!
I just harvested a good bunch of basil from my herb pots and made pesto. So glad I checked here to see what to do with it so I didn’t waste it. Couldn’t have been easier and now I have pesto at the ready anytime I want it. Thanks!!
Where exactly do you get that much basil at this time of year? I know you mentioned a restaurant supply house, but please share! 🙂 I make as much pesto as possible in the summer and have been freezing it for a few years now, but sometimes I peter out when the tomatoes need taken care of in late summer and now I’m short on pesto. And my family seems to want to put it on everything, especially now that we are on a spaghetti squash kick. LOL
Hi Lisa!
I live around Pittsburgh and went to Restaurant Depot there. I love that place! You have to have a business to enter though. If you don’t have one or live near there, you could contact your local pizza shop and see if they can order you fresh basil through one of their suppliers. I’m sure they would be willing to help out.
Funny you mention spaghetti squash! I JUST posted a recipe for Pesto Crab Pepper Spaghetti Squash! http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/2013/01/11/pesto-crab-pepper-spaghetti-squash/ Actually I have a bowl of it sitting in front of me while I type 🙂
Best Kitchen Wishes!
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