Creamy Cannellini Spinach Pasta
This healthy creamy pasta recipe is not only slimming, but it will amaze you with its luscious flavor!
I really like Vegan Macaroni and Cheese (it’s one of the top 10 in our house), but when I’m looking for something hearty and satisfying, I turn to this Creamy Cannellini and Spinach pasta.
Healthy Creamy Pasta
With this amazingly light, gluten-free whole grain pasta, the protein and slimming fiber in the beans, and the mega doses of vitamin K and vitamin A in the spinach, it’s an entire meal on a plate – all ready in less than 20 minutes.
Plus it’s not only gluten-free, but it’s also vegan, soy-free, and nut-free, so it’s sure to please everyone.
Three Simple Tips for Making Exceptionally Healthy Pasta
This healthy creamy pasta will amaze you. How can something this healthy and slimming taste this good?! And be this filling and satisfying?!
Here’s how this great-tasting pasta can actually be helpful for weight loss.
1. We start with a whole-grain pasta. Thankfully, that doesn’t necessarily mean cardboard-tasting pasta. We love Tinkyada pasta. It’s not heavy like other whole-grain pasta, it’s gluten-free, and it doesn’t turn mushy like other gluten-free pastas.
2. Then we top it with a healthy, fiber-filled sauce.
3. And finally, we sneak in some veggies.
This delicious pasta dish checks all the boxes!
Gluten-Free Pasta?
If you are trying to find a good gluten-free pasta brand, I gotcha covered.
We tested 21 varieties and rated them from the worst gluten-free pasta to the best gluten-free pasta. Check it out!
Enjoy!
Creamy Cannellini Spinach Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (one 15-ounce can) cooked cannellini beans - drained but not rinsed (Do not use the no-salt variety. )
- 3 1/2 teaspoons granulated onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 3 tablespoons roasted tahini
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 7 – 8 ounces uncooked Tinkyada spaghetti or fettuccine
- 1 1/4 cups pasta water from cooking pasta
- 1 small onion, diced small
- 1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 ounces (about 2 1/2 cups) frozen, chopped spinach
- 4 – 5 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- Place beans, seasonings, tahini, and lemon juice in blender. (A heavy-duty blender works best for this recipe; other blenders may not get the mixture smooth enough.) Set aside.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 1/4 cups of pasta water when draining pasta. (The pasta water will be added to the blender.)
- While pasta is cooking, sauté onions in oil over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add spinach, cover pan, and cook over medium heat until spinach is tender (about 4 minutes), stirring occasionally.
- Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside.
- When pasta is done, drain pasta reserving 1 1/4 cups of pasta water. Add pasta water to ingredients in blender and blend well until mixture is smooth. This may take several minutes if you don’t have a heavy-duty blender.
- Season to taste.
- Stir blender mixture into spinach mixture. Heat over low heat until hot. Serve over pasta.
Notes
>> One quick request: if you like this recipe, please leave a rating and a comment. Ratings help more people find these healthy recipes!
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I made this for lunch, and WOW! I was pleasantly surprised at how much I really liked it. Having pasta with a creamy bean topping was a nice break from tomato sauce. I used kale, since I didn’t have any spinach. It was delish! Thanks for the great recipe idea.
I’m glad you liked it. Good to know it works well with kale too.
Very delicious, definitely will make again.
Great to hear, Connie. Thank you so much for your comment and rating. 🙂
Can I leave the pasta water out or substitute it with something else?
I am using tap water to cook pasta. I would rather not drink it.
Thank you
I tested this with non-dairy milk, but I didn’t like the flavor the milk imparted. I also tested it with water, and it lacked flavor and body. But it “worked”. So you could try that. Or you could try vegetable broth. I didn’t test that, but I’m thinking it should work.