The Nut-Free Pesto Changing the Sauce Game, Meet Besto
- Ava Vitiello
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
When Kaureen Randhawa was growing up with a severe nut allergy, pesto was always off the table. That was until her mom started making her own version, minus the nuts. Years later, that simple swap would inspire Besto, a clean, nut-free, seed-oil-free pesto that is changing the way we think about classic sauces. Made with real ingredients in an allergen-friendly facility, Besto is on a mission to make eating more inclusive and intentional. Proving that some of the best ideas start with the things we can’t have.
When Kaureen Randhawa moved into her 506-square-foot New York City apartment, she wasn’t planning to launch a food brand. She was working in corporate finance by day, and still making a nut-free version of pesto based on the recipe her mother had been making for her since childhood to accommodate a lifelong allergy. That homemade sauce would eventually evolve into Besto, the first-ever nut-free pesto made with clean, functional ingredients and a mission to make eating more inclusive, nutritious, and enjoyable.
Randhawa grew up in Tampa, Florida, with a severe nut allergy that shaped her relationship with food early on. “My mom started making a traditional Italian pesto without pine nuts so I could enjoy it too.” It became a family staple and something she craved when she left home to attend the University of Florida.
While in college, she began experimenting with health-focused ingredients like apple cider vinegar and spirulina. One semester, when she ran out of her mom’s homemade pesto she had been mailing her, she decided to make it herself, but with a few adjustments. She swapped part of the olive oil for apple cider vinegar (“for the gut health and a little tang,” she says) and mixed spinach with basil to increase nutrients and balance flavor.
“It tasted like pesto but lighter, cleaner, and way more versatile,” she recalls. “I’d put it on salmon, vegetables, leftovers, late-night pasta, basically anything I had in the fridge, and it instantly made it better.”
After college, Randhawa worked in finance roles at Charles Schwab and Estée Lauder, moving first to Austin, then to New York. “Austin was light years ahead of the seed-oil-free movement,” she says. “There were all these food trucks advertising ‘no seed oils,’ and I realized most store-bought pestos were made with canola or soybean oil, basically this industrial sludge, even the premium ones.”
Back in New York, she continued to make the sauce for friends until one conversation shifted everything. A friend’s fiancé, who worked in food distribution, tried a jar she’d left behind after a pizza night and called to tell her she needed to turn it into a product. “That was my lightbulb moment,” she says. “There was clearly a gap in the market, and I needed to hear that.”
With encouragement from her best friend, who runs a marketing agency, Randhawa designed a logo on Canva and created an Instagram account to gauge interest. The response was immediate. “I was getting DMs from moms across the country asking how to order it,” she says. “I started hand-making jars after work and meeting people in Madison Square Park to sell them.”
By late 2024, Randhawa had outgrown her blender and began searching for a co-packer to help her scale production safely. She set a goal: launch online by December 2024. That December 1st, Besto went live with a direct-to-consumer website and quickly landed its first retail partner, Pop Up Grocer. Less than a year later, Besto is now sold in more than 50 stores across 16 states and used in restaurant kitchens nationwide.
The path from adapting her mom’s recipe to a commercial, shelf-stable product wasn’t straightforward. Randhawa spent months fine-tuning ratios and testing pH levels to maintain freshness naturally without preservatives or heat processing. “A lot of store-bought pestos are dark brown and shelf-stable for years,” she says.
“I was like: Why would I do something that isn’t resonating? I wanted something fresh and bright, made the right way.”
To achieve a 90-day refrigerated shelf life, she experimented with the acidity levels of apple cider vinegar, labeling jars with different versions and conducting blind taste tests with friends. The final recipe struck the perfect balance between flavor and preservation, while keeping the natural vibrant green color intact.
The result is a pesto made with just nine ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, basil, Parmigiano Reggiano, spinach, garlic, salt, black pepper, and crushed red chili flakes. It’s nut-free, seed oil–free, gluten-free, and packaged in sustainable glass jars.
Beyond flavor, Randhawa emphasizes function. The addition of apple cider vinegar gives Besto a lighter consistency and broader culinary range. “It’s not just for pasta,” she says. “People use it as a salad dressing, a marinade, or a spread. It’s a condiment that actually works across meals.”
For Randhawa, the goal has always been bigger than pesto. “As someone with a nut allergy, it’s hard to find products I can trust without reading every label,” she says. “I wanted to create something that people can grab without thinking twice.”
She’s already looking ahead. Requests for vegan and dairy-free versions are on the horizon, and she envisions expanding into other nut-free sauces or snackable formats. “I see Besto as a platform for clean, inclusive foods,” she says. “The allergy-friendly space is growing, but it still lacks products that feel aspirational and genuinely delicious.”
Almost a year into the business, Randhawa reflects on her mission. “I’m still learning as I go,” she says. “But Besto started from something personal, and the fact that it now sits on shelves for others to enjoy feels full circle.”
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Kaureen's SecondsPls Pick
"I’ve traveled to a handful of cities, but I can never forget one experience: I was 16 and went on a high school trip to Paris, France. We went to this local restaurant, and they had a one-page paper menu with only about twelve things you could order. I ordered this pea and salmon risotto with parmesan. It was so good that I took my friends back there the next day because I wanted to try something else on the menu. I got the ratatouille, and then went back a third day. That Paris trip changed me in terms of their food palate and fresh ingredients. As Americans, we're so used to different standards, so I really learned the delicacy and detail of food. Each ingredient is so minimal because it’s so fresh and cooked to perfection. It's just a different league in France."
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