It's good for about a week refrigerated. Or you can freeze. Freezing in ice cube trays is very convenient. Once frozen, store in a ziploc bag and take out to use as needed. Good for 6-8 months.

Thanks; that makes sense to me. Yup, I've got the freezing part down pat. Was just wondering how long in the fridge. So what is it that would make it go bad?

The oil and pine nuts can go rancid, the basil can start to rot and the cheese can mold. Fresh ingredients like these do have a limited shelf life. But it usually oxidation and discoloration that signifies the end is near :-) It just doesn't look good or taste 'fresh'!

Alrighty! Thanks to you both for answering my questions.

I would toss it after three days of refrigeration. . If listeria is present it can multiply while refrigerated. Freezing gives you more time.

I echo the "freeze immediately after preparing" idea. If you wait until something is getting marginal, what you'll have when you defrost it will be food that's still marginal or spoiled. Leave out what you want to use immediately, freeze the rest, and toss it after a few days.

Two days max!

How long can you refrigerate homemade pesto?

Gardengal, can you say something about the credentials of that site? It is a dot com which means it is not a university or other educational institution.

I'm thinking I am going to change my answer to agree with Rhizo and Elmer, immediate freezing. Even one trip to the ER is thousands of dollars, (if you survive long enough to get there), why invite disaster?

That "site" is just a Google listing of various sites that suggest 5-7 days (to as much as 3 weeks!) is a perfectly reasonable time to store pesto on the frig. You can decide on the credentials yourself but if multiple cooking or food storage sites say the exact same thing, chances are pretty darn good that is valid information.

Freezing immediately is completely unnecessary and not doing so for a few days is not going to land you in the ER!! If your basil is clean, there is nothing in the pesto ingredients that would generate listeria. But if you do not have any immediate uses for the pesto after preparation, I would also freeze.

This is not unlike a conversation not too long ago about dates on food packages.

Preferences vary from person to person but for those who prefer eating the freshest food possible, as I do. I'm not sure what's accomplished by noting or otherwise considering the "not good after" guidance that can be found.

Unless the topic is food products (cheese, wine, etc) that need to be aged in their processing, flavor and nutrition for most other things are at a peak when food is fresh and decline with time. If you prepare more than you plan to use in a few days, why not freeze it immediately? Better yet, don't prepare more than you can use. Maybe something that's been sitting there for 5 days won't cause indigestion but hey, it's been sitting there for 5 days. It won't taste as good as it did 5 days ago. Let's toss it and make some fresh.

I wouldn't worry about the safety of homemade pesto at all if it was still bright green and smelled fresh. With the salt in the cheese (and maybe added salt) and lemon juice, there isn't much worry (for me) about spoilage. Pine nuts aren't going to go rancid in the refer very quickly, parmesan is a hard cheese that doesn't spoil easily and olive oil won't spoil. The only thing that would spoil would be the basil and only if air can get to it - the lemon juice and salt will help preserve. I put my homemade pesto in jelly jars and cover with olive oil to keep the air off (I freeze most of it immediately, but keep a jar or two to use fresh). I have a jar now that's 2 weeks old and I used some last night. I just replaced the olive oil on top when I scooped out what pesto I needed.

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/pesto.html

Speaking of pesto...

If you like cilantro you'll probably love Zhoug sauce. It has a nice little kick.

https://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/zhoug-sauce

But how long can you keep it? lol! That looks great - I've made cilantro pesto before, but haven't added anything to give it a kick. I'll look for it. What's your favorite use?

I have not looked for a couple of years but once upon a time in the old dark ages almost any veggie could be used to make a pesto. Pesto after all only means sauce. First time I saw it at a restaurant they had two kinds, green bean and regular. Since then I have also seen carrot and winter squash.

What's your favorite use?

On angel hair pasta with Pecorino Romano. I've had it in scrambled eggs and am thinking about adding to tuna salad with mayo.

Thanks, CindyMac. The one I make is used as a layer in a black bean layerd dip, so I'll have to try it on pasta.

Maifleur, recently in a restaurant I had carrot top pesto (served on roasted carrots)...I've never thought carrot tops were worth eating, but it was great!

If prepared right carrot tops can be very nice. Generally must be fine ground or pounded except for the stems. The stems depending on how old they are can be steamed or quickly sautéed and used as a veggie. I seldom eat at the type of restaurant I used to go to but in reviews many of the things served would have been desperation meals in the various depressions and wars this country has had. If you can get your hands on some of the pamphlets putout in England during both wars have interesting things to do will all kinds of things that people do not think of eating.

Central Market (owned by HEB, a Texas chain) makes a pesto with cilantro and finely chopped pecans. Very good.