5 Easy Mouth-Watering Bean Pasta Recipes

No surprises here: bean pasta is pasta made from beans. The beans are ground down to make flour, and that flour is then used to make pasta. You can use bean pasta in the same way you would use wheat pasta, though you can expect the flavor and texture to be slightly different. The taste difference is very subtle as beans have a super mild flavor to begin with.

Bean pasta is a great way to cram extra nutrients into your meal as it’s high in plant-based protein and fiber. Like any pasta, bean pasta is a great option for a quick and easy weeknight dinner, or some meal prepping for easy work lunches.

As with any pasta, it’s all about what you do with it! Bean pasta can be enjoyed hot or cold, and with all kinds of sauces. As Federico Fellini once famously said, “Life is a combination of magic and pasta”. It’s rare to meet someone who doesn’t love pasta, right?

Read on for some of our top bean pasta recipes!

5 Awesome Bean Pasta Recipes

1. Vegan Mac and Cheese

Mac and cheese is such a simple and comforting meal. Our Vegan Mac and Cheese recipe takes only 30 minutes and is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Choose bean pasta instead of wheat pasta to inject some extra nutrients into this delicious vegan take on a classic mac and cheese.

All you’ll need is bean pasta, potatoes, carrots, olive oil, unsweetened plant milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. The creamy vegan cheese sauce is created by blending the cooked carrots and potatoes with the other ingredients (not the bean pasta!) until smooth.

Nutritional yeast gives it a rich and cheesy flavor, carrots bring some sweetness, and potatoes and vegan milk provide that luxurious creaminess. And unlike animal-based mac and cheese, this is low in fat and high in nutrients! No wonder it’s one of our favorite bean pasta recipes.

2. Bean Pasta with Pesto

Now for one of our easiest bean pasta recipes! It’s super easy to make vegan pesto, and our recipe for Green Goddess Pesto does not compromise on taste. Pesto is not only amazingly flavorsome, but it looks gorgeous too. And contrary to what you might believe, pesto does NOT need cheese to deliver that fresh and savory flavor! Our recipe replaces parmesan cheese with vegan cheese. Try Follow Your Heart’s Parmesan Cheese for that perfectly savory touch of parmesan.

Pesto is crammed full of herbs, and our recipe uses a fragrant combination of basil, dill, cilantro, parsley, and chives. Add in some lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, walnuts, and vegan cheese, and you’ve got yourself an amazing paste to mix into some delicious bean pasta.

Pesto is not only for pasta though! You can spread vegan pesto on bread or crackers, drizzle it onto pizza, use it as a dip, or turn it into a salad dressing.

3. Hearty Minestrone Soup

This is a bean pasta recipe for a rainy day because sometimes a warming bowl of soup is just what the doctor ordered. We love the Italian classic that is minestrone soup, and you can easily switch wheat pasta shapes for bean pasta. Try our recipe for Hearty Minestrone Soup with some edamame pasta shapes.

Minestrone is one of those awesome soups that you can adapt to suit whatever vegetables and ingredients you have in the house. Minestrone purists out there might not agree, but we think it works well with all kinds of vegetables, pasta, and beans!

Our recipe calls for onions, eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, carrots, and potatoes, but you can easily skip some of those if you don’t have them readily available at home. Likewise, you could try adding other veggies such as kale or cabbage instead. It’s a one-pot meal, and it’s crammed full of vitamins and plant-based goodness.

Instead of finishing with parmesan cheese, try sprinkling some nutritional yeast over your steaming hot bowl of vegan minestrone soup. Bon appetit!

4. Quick and Easy Pasta Salad

Pasta salads are great for taking to work or school, or as a side dish for a BBQ. Bean pasta is a great choice for pasta salads and adds some extra color and protein. Try our Quick And Easy Pasta Salad Recipe and switch the wheat pasta for your favorite bean pasta.

Pasta salad is a great meal-prep idea and will keep in the fridge for several days. Our pasta salad recipe is totally versatile and you can adapt it to suit your own taste, or whatever ingredients you have at home. We use asparagus, carrots, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, and parsley, but other veggies will work just as well. Why not try some roasted zucchini or diced cucumber. Sliced olives also work wonderfully in this recipe, as do crumbles of vegan feta cheese.

Our pasta salad is dressed in a simple combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, dried basil, salt, and pepper, but you could also try one of our tasty pre-mixed dressings. We love this range from Plant Perfect, which includes tantalizing flavors such as Chipotle Ranch and Cilantro Lime.

5. Baked Plant-Based Mac and Cheese

Yup, another mac and cheese recipe but bear with us! This one is baked and uses coconut milk in the sauce. Switch the recommended chickpea pasta for bean pasta and follow our recipe for Baked Mac and Cheese as it is. The sauce is incredibly flavorsome thanks to a mouthwatering combo of onion, garlic, smoked paprika, dijon mustard, vegetable broth, and coconut milk.

When the sauce is made and the pasta is cooked, combine the two in an ovenproof dish. Top with breadcrumbs and, if you like, some vegan cheese shreds, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. This is a great recipe for a winter’s evening!

Beans, beans are good for your heart, but the more you eat, the more you…!

Well, we all know that saying! Not only are beans delicious, but they are also great for your heart. Bean pasta can basically be used in the exact same way as regular wheat pasta. Bean pasta comes in loads of awesome varieties that boast different colors. A green edamame pasta looks just beautiful with fresh pesto! If you’re yet to try bean pasta, we suggest you grab a few varieties and see which one you like the best.

Pasta is such a popular food across the world, but if it’s on your regular meal rotation, it can get a bit boring! Bean pasta is here to make sure you never get bored of eating pasta. It’s also here to help you if you need to get some extra plant-based protein into your (or your kids!) diet.

Buon cibo, buon vino, buoni amici! We’ll leave you to figure that one out yourself…

Let us know if you make any of these bean pasta recipes, or if you have a favorite of your own. Tag us on Instagram @goplantx.