Super easy homemade pistachio paste. Sharing my proven tips to get a smooth texture and vibrant green color every time!
To make the most incredibly gorgeous pistachio paste, you only need ONE ingredient: pistachios!
Would you believe this beautiful nut butter has zero food coloring? True story!
And the color wasn’t even painted in Photoshop. I promise! It’s naturally this vibrant green! And oh my goodness, so deliciously pistachio-y!
WHAT KIND OF PISTACHIOS TO USE FOR PISTACHIO PASTE?
It all starts with the right kind of pistachios! If you want bright green pistachio paste, you need raw pistachios.
Raw pistachios = unsalted and not roasted.
You can buy either shelled or unshelled. But if you’re like me, you’d appreciate shelled raw pistachios. I bought a bag from Amazon, and I’m very much happy with this brand. (<- affiliate link)
Next, we need to get the skin off of those raw pistachios.
THE SECRET FOR VIBRANT GREEN PISTACHIO PASTE
Here’s the thing… You can skip this step and go right ahead with just raw shelled pistachios, or even with roasted shelled pistachios, but you won’t get that smooth vibrant green paste that you see above!
Look at this photo below…
Roasted shelled pistachios with skin-on yields brown paste, super unappealing, I might say. Frankly, it does taste good. But the beautiful green one is 100% better!
Keep on reading, and I’ll show you super easy trick to remove the skin real easy!
HOW TO REMOVE BROWN SKIN OFF OF PISTACHIOS:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- Remove from heat and add pistachios. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes.
- Drain and transfer the blanched pistachios onto a clean kitchen towel.
- Gently rub and skin will simply separate. You may need to help some stubborn ones.
You see, how the color just becomes so much more vibrant after blanching? And skin practically falls off on its own!
A plate of pure joy!
Now the easy part.
HOW TO MAKE PISTACHIO PASTE:
- Add the prepared pistachios into a food processor
- Process until nice and smooth, adding a little bit of water to get things going smoother.
It goes through stages: whole nuts -> crumbs -> powder -> paste. And the entire process takes less than 5 minutes!
Voila!
Cost effective, incredibly delicious, healthy homemade pistachio paste!
HOW TO USE PISTACHIO PASTE:
This flavorful pistachio butter can be used in so many delicious desserts, like my pistachio macarons, pistachio ice cream, pistachio buttercream, and so much more.
I can’t wait to make amazing desserts incorporating this tasty nut butter. What would you like to see first, pistachio cake or pistachio tart?
Pistachio paste also makes an awesome snack! Spread it on a toast, or cracker, or just grab a spoon and dig in.
HOW TO STORE HOMEMADE PISTACHIO PASTE:
Store pistachio paste in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
Homemade Pistachio Paste
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120g) raw shelled pistachios
Instructions
- To remove brown skin, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add pistachios and remove from heat. Let sit for 1-2 minutes and drain. Remove the blanched pistachios onto a clean kitchen towel. Rub it gently and peel off the brown skin.
- In a food processor, put cleaned pistachios and process for 2 minutes, until pastey.
- Add ¼ cup of water and continue to process for another minute, or until nice and smooth.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 weeks, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Facts:
This recipe was originally published on March 6, 2015.
Lynn @ Fresh April Flours says
I made this to put in a pistachio cheesecake in place of store-bought pistachio paste! I halved the recipe and it worked great. It isn’t QUITE as green as yours, but probably 90%, which is a-ok with me since it’s going inside the cheesecake filling. Will be linking to this post when the post is up on my site! Thanks, Shinee!
Shinee says
Thanks so much, Lynn! Glad it worked out for you. The color definitely depends on the pistachios. I’ve had less bright green ones as well in the past with different brands of pistachios.
Lynn @ Fresh April Flours says
As promised, I’m back with my pistachio cheesecake recipe– thanks again, Shinee! It was so good I made a batch for my pistachio-obsessed brother-in-law for Christmas!
Here’s my pistachio cheesecake: https://freshaprilflours.com/pistachio-cheesecake/
Shinee says
Wow, your cheesecake looks amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing your feedback, Lynn!
Hattie says
Hi, I saw another pistachio paste/butter recipe that said DO NOT add water and to add a little oil instead. I’m wondering which advice to follow as you both have the most clear recipe, can you clear up this confusion? Thank you
Shinee says
Hi, Hattie. I wonder what’s the reasoning for not adding water? I’ve always added water (very small amount!) to thin out the mixture, and I never had any problem. So I’d ask the author of other recipe why he/she doesn’t advise adding water.
Mak says
I followed this to make pistachio butter to then make ice cream and fill macarons. Great steps! It certainly was green! My husband thought it was guacamole.
While I love pistachios (hence making pistachio ice cream and macarons) I was a little disappointed at the taste/texture of the pistachio butter straight. Can’t fault the recipe for that since that is what pistachio butter tastes like I guess, worked great in the ice cream.
Shinee says
Haha I’m so happy your pistachio paste was so green that it passed as guacamole! 🙂 I bet it tasted too rich. Now, I’m craving pistachio ice cream. Thanks for your feedback, Mak!
Marissa says
Hi, I would like to make this with the roasted salted pistachios I have on hand, I’m wondering if blanching and peeling them is worthwhile, have you tried peeling roasted pistachios?
Shinee says
Nah, I wouldn’t bother peeling them. It’ll be brown even if you peel them.
Ishia Williams says
Hi, thanks for posting this recipe. I am making Paris Brest and I want to add this paste to my pastry cream. How much pistachios should I use if I am making about 3 cups of pastry cream?
Kehinde says
I tried your recipe and it all came out very good. Thank you for the important tips on how to peel the pistachios to get vibrant green color. It works very well.
Maya D says
I cannot find raw pistachios for the life of me. And I’m trying to make pistachio paste for coquito lol…. Can I use roasted unsalted ones instead?
Shinee says
Hi, Maya. Yes, you may use roasted pistachios for pistachio paste. But beware, it won’t be this bright green colored paste. I’ve included the picture of the pistachio paste made with roasted pistachios in the post above.
Rose says
Walmart on line . Amazon
Manny Manuel says
I been looking to make Pistachio “Coquito” (Puerto Rican holiday drink – Pistachio will give it a twist) and i want to do the paste from scratch not like recipes I seen from syrups and food coloring. THANK YOU. I will let you know how it comes out.
Shinee says
Yay, so glad you ran into my tutorial. Definitely let us know how it turns out. And pistachio coquito sounds amazing!
Melisa says
OMG that is funny because I was looking for pistachio paste for the same reason to make coquito cheers and Shinee thank you for posting the recipe
Shinee says
Haha what a coincidence! Hope you enjoyed your coquito. 🙂
Thanusha says
Hi.. thanks for the recipe. But I have roasted and salted pistachios can I use these nuts to make the paste or I have to use raw nuts?
Shinee says
Hi, Thanusha. Yes, you can make it with roasted and salted pistachios, but it’ll be brown color. I’ve included the comparion picture above. Please read the post for more details. Thanks!
Swedha says
It’s amazing!! Nice tips👌👌
Shinee says
Glad you found it helpful, Swedha! Thank you!!
francesca says
Instead of a little water is it ok to use a little pistachio oil, or will that alter the correct texture?
Shinee says
Hi, Francesca. Unfortunately, I’ve never tried adding pistachio oil instead of water and I have no idea how it’ll affect the texture.
debbie says
I decided to purchase the nuts still in their shell thinking it would be no big deal to remove the shells myself since I only needed one cup to make this recipe. Never has a one cup measuring utensil seemed so deep! It seemed to take forever, but really only 20 minutes. I knew it was worth it, though, to achieve the bright green color. I am using it to make a strawberry tart with a pistachio and almond cream filling for the 4th, today. I sooo appreciate your showing both the green and the brown results of preparing the pistachios – it really sealed the deal to go the extra mile. Thank You!!!!!
Shinee says
Haha, I know exactly what you mean, Debbie! Shelling pistachios seems to take way longer than if we would have been eating them. Your tart sounds fantastic! And I’m so glad my tip was helpful. Thank you for your feedback!
Tara Laver says
Mine keeps coming into a ball in the food processor and doesn’t look quite as smooth as the pic. But since it keeps coming into a ball I can’t process it further. Asses a little more water but hesitant to add too much.Â
Shinee says
Hi, Tara. Add water a little at a time, like a teaspoon at a time, until it loosens up a bit.
Trav45 says
That’s actually pistachio butter. Pistachio paste is a different thing, made with sugared/caramelized nuts.
Sarah Farr says
Hello! I’m excited to try these this weekend but I need to make more than 20. Is it okay if I just literally double the recipe?Â
Shinee says
Hi, Sarah. Are you making pistachio macarons? If so, I usually never double macaron recipe. But if you’re experienced and confident with folding technique, you sure can double it.
Sarah Farr says
Hello again. Yes, I was planning on making the pistachio macaron. I’m definitely neither experienced or confident with the folding technique so I will plan on making two batches just to be safe. Thanks for responding!Â
Sarah Farr says
I also just realized I was switching back and forth between the pistachio macaron recipe and the paste and accidentally posted my original question about macaron here. Sorry for any confusion!!
anna c says
hello! thank you for the great tip for getting a lovely green paste. Would it taste even better if the skinless pistachios are roasted before they are ground?
Shinee says
Hi, Anna. I haven’t tried that, because I’m afraid they’ll turn a little brown and we may lose that bright green color. You can give it a try though. If you do, please let me know how it turns out.
Jasmin R. says
I have been asking myself the exact same thing! Care to share your experience?
James says
Thank youÂ
James says
The 1 lb bag of pistachios, how many cups did that equate to?
Shinee says
Hi, James. So, if my math is right, you’ll get about 2.5 cups of pistachio paste from 1lb of shelled pistachios. Hope this helps.