Do you like pistachios? If you don’t, I’m afraid we can’t be friends.
I’m such a sucker for everything pistachio-flavoured: cookies, coffee, butter, you name it. And since I’m so crazy about them, I wanted to make my own pistachio paste (or butter) so I can use it in different recipes.
I never thought it would be so easy to make nut butter, but you only need two things: the nuts and a decent food processor.
To make pistachio paste at home, you’ll need:
- 120 grams of unsalted pistachios (I was left with 120 grams from a bag of 250g, after removing the shells)
- a decent food processor (mine is really small – it has 350 W, but a powerful one will definitely be better)
I prefer unsalted pistachios because I use this paste for baking. But if you’d prefer the paste salty, use salted pistachios, or add a pinch of salt.
How to make pistachio paste
Start by removing the shells of the pistachios and any extra dries skin that peels of easily.
If you can buy them without shells, the better. Anyway, keep in mind that they might be more expensive like this, and pistachios are quite pricy nuts.
Add the nuts (120 grams) in the food processor and start blending.https://www.nutfruit.org/consumers/about-nuts/pistachio
Quick tip: try to use a small container for blending (if you don’t have too many pistachios) in this way, the paste will form faster. In my case, my container was about 3/4 full.
The steps to this pistachio paste are quite easy:
- blend for 2 minutes
- scrape the walls of the food processor
- repeat
Below you can see the many stages of the paste.
Butter or Paste
At a certain point, the pistachio mixture will become really thick and will stay like that for a few minutes. It might look like it won’t turn into a paste, but give it other 2-3 minutes, and it will look like above.
If you’d like it to have more of a butter consistency (picture 3 above), you can stop there. But I wanted it runnier – so it will be easier to incorporate in cakes (yes, pistachio recipes are on their way!).
How to Use It
Honestly, your imagination is the limit when it comes to how to use this pistachio paste.
Right now I’m testing a flavoured latte recipe and a muffins recipe. But it would work wonderfully in icecream, pancakes, sponge cakes and pretty much every batter that has liquid in it.
If you don’t want to use it as a baking component, you can drizzle it on ice cream and cakes. It is quite thick, so you’ll probably have to dilute it with a tiny bit of water (but just a tiny bit).
How to Store It
You can store the pistachio paste like any regular nut butter.
It’s very high in fat, so it will last quite a lot of time. I never got to test how long it actually lasts (because I ate it), but it will be good for 3-4 months at least.
Since this is homemade and it didn’t go though a canning process, I recommend keeping it in the fridge the whole time, in an air-tight jar.
When you want to use it, take it out of the fridge and let it get to room temperature. In this way, it will soften and it will be easier to work with.
22 comments
this seems to be only pureed pistachios, or did I miss something?
Nope, you didn’t! To me, mashed is a different process, where the food is soft enough that it will crumble under some pressure. The pistachios need powerful blending (and any other nuts).
You don’t really how simple it is to make nut butter/paste until someone shows you. Also this basic recipe can be upgraded to things like salty pistachio or you can add some white chocolate ganache in it and blend.
Hi,
What about storage, where and how long can it be stored?
Thanks
Hi Evan,
Nut butters or paste usually last for a long time, because their high fat compounds. I never stored the pistachio paste long enough to go bad, but it lasts for 3-4 months for sure.
Store it in a jar, in the fridge.
When you want to use it, let it get to room temperature, because it hardens (similar to nut butters).
Hope it helps and thanks for the question! I’ll update the info in the article as well.
This looks delicious! Your food photography is a-mazing, too! So bright and crisp. Now I’m hungry! 😉
Thank you, Christie! So happy you like the photos! <3
Ooo! This looks so tasty, Cristina! I’ll have to try this! I love all of your photos, too!
Thank you, Sarah! It means a lot to me that you like the photos!
Oh wow, this pistacho paste looks so delicious! The best about this is how easy it looks to make.
We don’t eat a lot of pistachios but I bet this would be good!
Ohh this looks so good!! I am definitely making this, thank you for sharing!
All of a sudden my morning peanut butter and almond butter seem really boring. I love this idea and can’t wait to see what pistachio recipes you come up with! Yum.
My sister loves pistachios! I will pass this on to her!
I LOVE pistachio! Ive never had pistachio paste. I can’t wait to try it!
I love pistachios – I never thought to make pistachio paste! It looks really good and I’m amazed at how easy it seems.
I love pistachios and this sounds so delicious!! Will have to try making this pistachio paste!
Kileen
cute & little
I’ve notice that pistachios have seemed to be popping up everywhere lately! I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever tried them, but I am intrigued. I’ve seen lots of cookies with them, so that might be my first step, as I’m a huge cookie lover!
They are really good – you have to try them!
Ooh this sounds delish. I love the latte idea you mentioned. I’d wanna try this in so many ways.
I’m still testing the latte recipe, but I’m excited about it too!
Pistachios are so delicious! I never thought to make a pistachio paste, I’m excited to see what recipes you share!
I love pistachios, but my husband doesn’t so we don’t buy them often. This recipe is so easy though and now I want to try!