Easy Garlic Scape Pesto Recipe (Video)
This easy garlic scape pesto recipe is one of our favorite things to make every summer when the garlic scapes are ready to harvest in the garden. The mild garlic flavor of the scapes combines with parmesan, nuts and olive oil to make an incredible pesto. We like to eat it on pasta, pizza and as a dip for chips and crackers. So healthy and refreshing and a great way to get lots of raw garlic in your diet.

What are garlic scapes?
Garlic scapes are the flower bud portion of hard neck garlic. Garlic is typically planted in the fall similar to a flower bulb like a tulip, and is one of the first things growing in the early spring garden. As it grows, it gets bigger and produces more leaves and in early summer puts out this curly shoot from the middle of the plant called a garlic scape. When the scape is still nice and tender, you can harvest it by snapping it off where it joins the plant. If left to grow, these scapes will turn into a flower for the garlic plant to help it reproduce. Since we are most interested in harvesting a nice garlic bulb with good sized cloves, we always make sure to pick off all the garlic scapes soon after they appear. This encourages it to put all of the plant’s energy into growing a large bulb. If you do not harvest the garlic scapes, the bulb will be small and not as useful for cooking or re-planting.

How To Use Garlic Scapes
I love garlic scapes so much, that if all I got out of growing garlic were the scapes, then I would be happy! They have a milder garlic flavor and are amazing roasted or sauteed, in pesto, pickled, dried into garlic powder, made into compound butter or used in cooking in place of regular garlic. When I harvest garlic scapes, I’m usually running low on my stored garlic from the previous years garden, and ready for something fresh. I use them in place of garlic until we harvest our garlic bulbs about 3-4 weeks after harvesting the scapes, usually in early July. Garlic scapes can be stored in a grocery bag in the refrigerator for at least 4 weeks. This is helpful because you don’t have to process right away after harvesting them.
Tips:
- Blend garlic scapes in food processor before adding the rest of the pesto ingredients to help get them chopped up well.
- Add basil or other greens if you have it available.
- Be sure not to add the oil until all the other ingredients are added. Then slowly drizzle it in while the food processor is running. This helps to thicken the pesto as the oil emulsifies with the other ingredients.
- Garlic scape pesto can be preserved by freezing it in a small glass jar or ice cube trays for use in the winter time.
- You can eat the entire garlic scape, but if the thin end of the garlic scape seems a little tough, you can remove the woody ends by just pulling them off.
- To make vegan garlic scape pesto, just use a non-dairy cheese in this delicious pesto.
- Garlic scape pesto will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator and is actually better cold.
- If you don’t have access to any garlic scapes, plan to plant some hardneck garlic in the late fall, and you’ll reap a bountiful harvest next year. You can also make our favorite basil pesto which is made with regular garlic cloves.

How To Enjoy Garlic Scape Pesto
On crackers or with chips as a dip
As a sauce on fresh sourdough pasta. It’s best if the pesto is stirred into warm pasta, because it really soaks into the noodles. This is good leftover as well.
On toast.
As a sauce on pizza with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes.
On scrambled eggs or in omelettes.
As a sandwich spread with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.
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Ingredients
Fresh Garlic scapes – the flower bud of the garlic plant. If you aren’t growing your own garlic, you can sometimes purchase garlic scapes at farmers market.
Basil leaves – optional. Basil gives it such a great flavor and adds so much depth to this amazing dip, so definitely add it if you can.
Parmesan Cheese – I like to use my aged grated asiago cheese because it’s something I have produced on my own homestead and don’t have to buy at the store.
Nuts – You can use almost any kind of nuts that you’d like. Walnuts, cashews, pine nuts, or sunflower seeds will all work. You can roast them if you’d like, or use them raw. I like to source my nuts in bulk from Azure Standard and then store them in my freezer. They keep a long time and are a lot cheaper to purchase this way.
Salt – Redmond real salt is always the best, but use what you have.
Oil – I like to use extra virgin olive oil because it gives this pesto such great flavor.
Tools You May Need:
Food processor – you can also make this in a blender, but it tends to chop it up too finely
Airtight container for storing in refrigerator
How To Make Delicious Garlic Scape Pesto
Add scapes to the bowl of a food processor with a chopper blade. Process until scapes are 1” long pieces or smaller.

Add basil, cheese, nuts, and salt.

Process until fairly fine.
Slowly drizzle olive oil into the food processor while it is running. Process until pesto is smooth and the consistency that you like.
Remove from the food processor using a rubber spatula.

Pesto can be served immediately, or placed in an airtight container to keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
I hope you enjoy this delicious recipe as much as we do. If you do, please let us know in the comments below and give the recipe a 5 star rating. Thanks for following along as we teach you how to grow a simple, sustainable life.
Easy Garlic Scape Pesto

This easy garlic scape pesto recipe is one of our favorite things to make every summer when the garlic scapes are ready to harvest in the garden. The mild garlic flavor of the scapes combines with parmesan, nuts and olive oil to make an incredible pesto. We like to eat it on pasta, pizza and as a dip for chips and crackers. So healthy and refreshing and a great way to get lots of raw garlic in your diet.
Ingredients
- 4 cups garlic scapes, approximately
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- 2 cups parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup nuts
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 cuips olive oil
Instructions
Add scapes to the bowl of a food processor with a chopper blade. Process until scapes are 1” long pieces or smaller.
Add basil, cheese, nuts, and salt.
Process until fairly fine.
Slowly drizzle olive oil into the food processor while it is running. Process until pesto is smooth and the consistency that you like.
Remove from the food processor using a rubber spatula.
Pesto can be served immediately, or placed in an airtight container to keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
I hope you enjoy this delicious recipe as much as we do. If you do, please let us know in the comments below and give the recipe a 5 star rating. Thanks for following along as we teach you how to grow a simple, sustainable life.