Fresh basil oil is the Italian-inspired condiment you didn’t know you needed! This beautiful vibrant green dipping oil is lightly spiced with red pepper flakes, garlic, and a hint of sweetness. It’s perfect for entertaining as a simple appetizer served with some crusty sourdough. It can also be used in salad dressings, as a marinade, or even a decorative drizzle over a savory breakfast or a main meal, like risotto. Hello restaurant-level plating presentation! Store in the fridge for up to one week.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Versatile: The only limit for basil oil is your imagination! But seriously, this beautiful green oil can be used as a marinade, salad dressing, dipping oil, or simply a garnish.
- Easy to make: Basil oil looks like it belongs in a fancy restaurant, but it’s actually very easy to make at home. The recipe takes just over an hour from start to finish, but it is mostly hands-off.
- Restaurant-level taste and appearance: Basil oil is unique and takes homemade cooking to the next level. Foodies will love the sleek, savory and slightly spicy taste and beautiful pop of green it adds to a plate.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Unsurprisingly, you’re going to need a big bunch of basil for this recipe. The other ingredients are pretty common though, so providing basil is in season, you should be good to go!
The recipe card at the bottom of this post lists the exact quantities, but here’s a handy shopping list:
- Fresh basil leaves
- Olive oil
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Garlic
- Salt
Instructions
Here’s a step-by-step guide with photos on making Basil Oil. Check the recipe card at the bottom for detailed times, temperatures, and quantities.
Step One: Prepare an ice bath.
Step Two: Boil water in a medium to large pot.
Step Three: Add salt to the boiling water, then add basil and cook briefly until bright green.
Step Four: Immediately dunk the basil into the ice bath, then gently squeeze off excess water and leave it to drain on kitchen towel.
Step Five: Peel and roughly chop the garlic.
Step Six: Place basil, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and olive oil in a blender.
Step Seven: Blend until basil is smooth.
Step Eight: Let the mixture sit for one hour before using. Store in a sealed glass container in the fridge.
Substitutions & Variations
Need some ingredient alternatives? Here are some substitutions I can suggest:
- If basil is out of season, or you want to get creative, try swapping basil for chives or parsley for a completely different flavor profile.
- Omit chili flakes for a milder version of the dipping oil.
- For a hint of citrus, try adding lemon or lime zest to the recipe.
Equipment
You’ll need a blender for this recipe. I love my NutriBullet as an affordable and powerful small blender. Note – a food processor won’t work, as the blades are designed to chop, not blend, and the oil won’t be smooth.
Storage
Store basil oil in a sealed jar in the refrigerator and it will last up to 1 week. Alternatively, freeze the basil oil for longer storage. To freeze, pour a thin layer of lemon juice or olive oil over it to maintain its vibrant green color. To use frozen basil oil, thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for a few hours.
Expert Tips
Blanching the basil by plunging it in iced water is a technique that stops the basil cooking and preserves its bright green color, ensuring vibrant and flavorful basil oil. Remember to drain and gently squeeze the blanched basil leaves to remove excess water before blending with other ingredients.
FAQ
Basil oil can last up to 1 week when stored in a sealed jar in the refrigerator, or it can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Basil oil is versatile and can be used as a dressing for salads, a drizzle over proteins, a dip for bread, or as part of a marinade for added flavor.
Serving Suggestions and More Recipes
Looking for more condiments and dressing ideas? Some of my other favorites include Homemade Chilli Jam, Chilli Oil, and Garlic Confit.
If you’re looking for meals to serve basil oil with, try out my Beginners Sourdough, Spinach and Tofu Galette, or a Chickpea, Roast Pumpkin & Walnut Salad.
If you enjoy this basil oil, I would be super grateful if you could leave a star rating and review. Also, feel free to tag me on Instagram @glowdiaries___ and I will reshare your posts to my stories – I love to see what you’re making 🙂
Basil Oil
Ingredients
- 1 cup Packed fresh basil leaves* (25g)
- ½ cup Olive oil (120ml)
- ½ tsp Crushed red pepper flakes (1g)
- 2 cloves Garlic (10g)
- 1 tsp Salt (6g) divided
Instructions
- Bring about 1 – 1 ½ quarts/liters water to a boil in a medium to large pot. Prepare a medium bowl with ice and cold water.
- Once the water is boiling, add ½ tsp/3g salt and stir to dissolve. Add the basil and boil for 10 seconds until bright green.
- Immediately drain and plunge basil into ice bath to stop cooking.
- Remove from the water and gently squeeze to remove most of the water. Drain on paper towels and press further until as much of the water is removed as possible. Remove leaves from the stems if still attached (see note).
- Peel and roughly chop the garlic.
- Add the basil leaves to a blender (it can be helpful to chop up the leaves into smaller pieces for less powerful blenders). Add the chopped garlic, crushed red pepper, ½ tsp/3g salt, and oil.
- Blend on medium speed until basil is starting to break up. Increase speed until basil is mostly pulverized.
- Allow to sit for 1 hour before serving for flavours to develop.
- Store in a sealed glass container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before using.
- Excellent in salad dressings, as a drizzle on proteins, on bread, or as part of a marinade.
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