Pasta may be a compromise meal for dyed in wool traditional foods eaters, but for many families it’s a stock dinner every week. This recipe takes spaghetti night and upgrades it a level to include nutrient-dense legumes and offers a fabulous homemade sauce –option for those who make their own pasta.
The Everything Beans Book will have twenty pages of beany information, including all you could possibly want to know about legume nutrition, how to cook dry beans, and lots of time-saving tips for managing beans weekly in your kitchen. It also offers 30 bean recipes, for the bean lovers of the world and the bean haters (like this one).
Simple symbols tell you at a glance how much work the recipe will take, whether it’s kid-friendly or not, and whether it’s super cheap or a bit more pricey. This sample recipe has a work intensity of 1 out of 3 (easy and quick!), the highest kid-friendly rating, and a mid-range cost because of the cheese. Honestly, we’re talking beans here, so even a “3 of 3” rating for cost will still be far less expensive than serving a roast chicken or a lasagna.
Recipe: Pasta with White (Bean) Sauce
Here’s your sneak preview of The Everything Beans Book as it will look in a few weeks when it launches. You can download and print this recipe for free right HERE.
PS – “White beans” can be great northern or cannelini. I use the former because they’re less expensive.
Katie Kimball, CSME is a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks. She is passionate about researching natural remedies and making healthy cooking easier for busy families. She’s been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine as well as contributing regularly on the FOX Network. 
A mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is a Certified Stress Mastery Educator and member of the American Institute of Stress.
Hélène says
also I find navy pea beans softer than cannelinni or great northern. navy peas are what baked beans are made of.
i also dont like kidneys and always use pintos. guess Im a picky bean eater lol
Hélène says
this is perfect to put over veggies without rice, noodles, etc. the beans can be the carbs in the meal, no grains needed. awsum idea to add beans to flavored-up cheese sauce and stickblend it!
JMO says
Does it have to be whole milk? I only have unsweetened almond milk in the house usually and would like to avoid buying excess milk for one recipe. Sounds tasty though.
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
JMO,
I’ve heard almond milk can be tricky for white sauces, and coconut milk is the preferred dairy free option – but I’ve never tried it. Any dairy milk would work fine,..
🙂 Katie
Andrea says
No one noticed the beans! Yipee!
The beans cooked quietly in the crockpot in the corner all day long. At dinner time, I cooked the noodles, put the sauce together, and slipped the mashed beans in when no one was looking.
When my son asked what the beans in the crockpot were for, I explained I was planning to freeze those extra beans for another meal. This simple answer calmed his fear that beans may be on the night’s dinner menu.
The onions and any un-mashed bean skins seemed similar enough to not bother anyone in the finished dish.
Everyone put a selection of extra seasonings and/or salt on his/her own portions, telling me the sauce was a little too bland. I did use fewer onions & peppers than originially called for, but I’ll add some other spices to the sauce next time, too.
We topped the dish with some sliced & cooked chicken.
Great recipe, Katie! Thank you!
Sara says
I made this tonight and it was a hit! I chopped onions and peppers in my mini-chopper before putting in the pot and then put the beans in the chopper as well. They ended up very creamy. I will definately be making this again. I used 1 cup milk and half a cup broth since I had some freshly made broth in the fridge. Will probably use less cheese next time to cut calories and cost.
Cat says
Ack! Sorry, it was my computer. I figured it out!!! Thanks!!!
Cat says
I’m a bean hater, but challenged to try! I just found your website and stumbled across this post, but I’m not seeing the link to the recipe. Am I missing something?
andrea says
I will have to try this. I have six kids—one is a vegetarian, one is not but loves beans, and the other four hate anything resembling a bean. This looks like a good compromise. I will just tell them it is cream sauce!!
Katie says
Andrea,
Good luck with the peanut gallery – hope it gets good reviews! 😉 Katie
Stephanie F. says
Hi! This recipes looked so good and that I went out to buy all the ingredients, but ended up stumped! Unless I missed you describing in more detail somewhere else, what exactly type of bean is a “white bean?” I stared at all the beans in my co-op’s canned and bulk section and nothing was labeled just white bean. Help!
Katie says
Stephanie,
Yikes, great question! I usually use great northern beans because they’re less expensive than cannelini, but either would work. I’ll be updating that ingredient list for the “real” book, thanks to you! When it comes out, dash me an email and I’ll be sure to send you a copy for free – I’m so grateful you caught that omission! 🙂 Katie
Angi says
Tried it, didn’t get rave reviews from the boys at the table but there are few items that do! I’m going to keep throwing beans in here and there. After all who’s doing all the prep work anyway??!! 🙂
Thanks for the preview!
Julie says
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one not getting rave reviews. My husband liked it, but not my girls. Perhaps I didn’t do the best job of pureeing the beans, and I should have added more cheese (used parmesan, but didn’t have 1 1/2 cups). Love the idea of the recipe though!!
My-Home-Remedies.com says
Thanks so much for this recipe! It looks amazing,,I can’t wait to try. I’m part Italian, so despite my traditional foods leaning, I just can’t give up pasta..so I’m always looking for way to justify our consumption of it. Making a bean based sauce sounds perfect!
nopinkhere says
I LOVE your healthy snack ebook and have enjoyed the camping one too. I’m really looking forward to the bean one!
Therese says
Thank you for the recipe, and I will look forward to your bean e-book!
A question: Do you have information on how much protein in beans? I need protein at each meal, and would love to have some meatless alternatives.
Thank you.
Katie says
Therese,
You bet! Here’s a nutritional profile, including protein: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/04/05/food-for-thought-nutritional-benefits-of-beans-and-legumes/
Beans should help the protein requirements a lot! 🙂 Katie
Kate E. says
I appreciate that you have an option for those of us who don’t like beans, but still want to incorporate them into our diet. (I’m working on my bean aversion and I’ve made great strides! Its a texture issue–I don’t like biting into them.) The recipe looks yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Katie says
Kate,
That was totally my problem until I was in college…I don’t know what finally tipped the scales, but now they don’t bother me (most of the time). Good luck! 🙂 Katie
Co says
Thanks! I, too, was hoping ypu would share this recipe. I think for my family I willleave out the peppers.
KristinaD says
This is the recipe I was hoping you would share! Thanks!!
Bethany W says
Any wisdom on how to make healthy noodles?
Katie says
Bethany,
Someday I’ll be awesome and make sourdough pasta like Wardeh at GNOWFGLINS. That’s the best “healthy grains” around! For now, I use whole wheat pasta. 🙂 Katie
Heather says
Any suggestions for a hubby who is in pain after eating beans? I was thinking about trying to sprout the beans before we cook them. Would it be possible to use your ebook & still do this? By the way, we LOVE the snack ebook! Looking forward to this bean book too!
Katie says
Heather, The book will include directions for sprouting as well, and any bean recipe can easily use sprouted beans. It definitely changes something, so hopefully it’s the right “something” to ease the pain! 🙂 Katie
Cristina W. says
Truthfully I’m not a huge bean lover, I just can’t stand the texture. So I’m always looking for ways to incorporate beans, because I know they’re so darn healthy (and economical)! This recipe looks great, and I can’t wait for The Everything Bean Book!
Carlyn says
I really appreciate your blog. Thanks!
[email protected] says
From this bean-haters house, thanks! I’m going to give it a try next week! I’ll let you know what we think!