Tomato Pasta with Beans and Greens

This pasta with beans and greens is a hearty and uncomplicated one-pot meal. Bookmark it for your weeknight rotation!

I’m willing to bet that canned beans, tomatoes, and pasta are three items nearly all of us stock regularly in our pantries. These affordable and long-lasting ingredients are super versatile and ideal for throwing together quick, Italian-ish dinners.

This tomato pasta with beans, greens, and shiitakes relies on the holy trinity of the pantry kingdom to make a cozy weeknight pasta that can feed an army (or at least 6 hungry people). While the pasta water comes to a boil, you make the hearty skillet sauce with sautéed onions and mushrooms, plus canned beans, tomatoes, and kale. Then you stir hot al dente pasta through the sauce and dinner is ready.

Ingredient Notes + Substitutions

• Onion + Garlic: Create a sweet, earthy foundation for the sauce
• Shiitake Mushrooms: Add a deliciously savory, “meaty” depth to this vegan pasta.
• Canned White Beans: I like the texture of cannellini, but you can go with great northern, navy, or butter beans. Alternatively, use 1 1/2 cups home-cooked beans.
• Kale: You can go with either lacinato or curly kale here – or spinach.
• Whole Peeled Tomatoes: I like the texture of these chunky tomatoes here, but you can sub ‘em with crushed tomatoes.
• Nutritional Yeast: Adds a nutty, “cheesy” note to this vegan dish.
• Pasta: I like short pastas for this sauce, like cavatelli, orecchiette, shells, etc.

Pasta with Beans Step-by-Step

Sauté the Vegetables: While you wait for the pasta water to boil, combine the onions and mushrooms in a skillet, and cook until they’re starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Then stir in the garlic, chili flakes, and dried herbs, and cook for 30 seconds more.

Simmer the Sauce: To the skillet, add the beans, kale, and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

Combine with Cooked Pasta: Generously salt the boiling water and cook the pasta until it is just shy of al dente (still has a tiny bite in the center); the pasta will absorb some of the sauce later, so don’t overcook it. Reserve some of the starchy water before draining the pasta. Lastly, return the drained pasta to the pot and add the sauce, nutritional yeast, and some of the reserved water. (Make sure the pasta is still hot when you add the sauce.) Season to taste and serve immediately.

More like this white bean pasta…

• Vegan Cauliflower Pasta with Breadcrumbs
• White Bean Purée
• Tomato Chickpea Soup
• Lobio (Georgian Bean Stew)

If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! Give it a rating below and leave a comment, and don’t forget to tag your creation with @thenewbaguette on Instagram.

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