This pistachio paste recipe is a great ingredient for baking and making tasty desserts. No need to search for expensive store-bought pastes with unnecessary additives in it.
With homemade, you can choose what goes in and make the perfect pistachio paste at home with less sugar.
What is Pistachio Paste? Can I Make it at Home?
Pistachio paste is used as the basis for many pistachio dessert recipes, ice cream, filling macarons and all sorts of French baking. The recipe is basically pistachios ground to create a paste with a little water.
Forget about the hassles of searching for store-bought sweet pastes that are often expensive and filled with unnecessary additives like artificial colouring, excessive sugar and synthetic aromas. You can make your very own pistachio paste at home, so you can take control of your ingredients.
The result is it's not as sweet as commercial pastes, meaning that you can actually taste the flavours of pistachio without any artificial after-tastes. What's more, pistachios are actually good for you - check out some of their health benefits.
How to Use Pistachio Paste
Pistachio paste is so versatile and adds that delicious nutty touch to your baking, ice cream and dessert recipes. Here are the many uses we have for it:
- Add to this pistachio and strawberry panna cotta.
- In cakes: add to this rhubarb cake, to gluten free brownies and French financiers.
- For making pistachio pastry cream, perfect in this strawberry and pistachio tart.
- In pistachio ice cream - I only use a teaspoon if it's bought paste, but with homemade, add a tablespoon, as it's so pure.
- Filling macarons: add to this raspberry macaron filling with white chocolate and raspberry ganache.
- Add to a French baked custard, such as this cherry clafoutis.
- Add to a Latte or a teaspoon in French hot chocolate.
How to Make Pistachio Paste - Simple Recipe
To make pistachio paste, I use only 4 ingredients plus water in this recipe: good quality pistachios, ground almonds (almond flour), a little sugar and vanilla powder or extract.
The reason I add some ground almonds, is that pistachios are so expensive! This addition doesn't lessen the flavour at all. Add about 2 tablespoons of water to create a natural paste.
How to Store
Store in a sterilised, sealed jam jar in the fridge.
This pistachio paste can last up to a month if stored in the fridge. Otherwise it freezes for up to 3 months.
Pistachio Paste Recipe
Equipment
- food processor or grinder
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5oz) unsalted pistachios
- 30 g (1oz/2 tbsp) ground almonds
- 30 g (1oz/2 tbsp) sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla powder or extract
- 3 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Whizz the pistachios together in a grinder with the almond flour, sugar and vanilla powder or extract until ground finely.
- Add the water and whizz again briefly to turn the mixture into a paste.
David Scott Allen
I love recipes like this, Jill, the teach people how to make things that they would normally spend a lot of money buying. This is a wonderful recipe, and I intend to make it soon.
Jill Colonna
Thanks David. Not only is it expensive but all too often, there are a lot of extra strong ingredients that give a synthetic aroma taste. Here's to homemade!