As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see my Privacy Policy for more details.
Creamy Lemon Pasta – A delicious pasta dish with a garlicky lemon dairy free white bean sauce served alongside roasted asparagus. It comes together easily – perfect for a weeknight dinner.
One of my favorite springtime veggies is asparagus. I could eat the whole bunch myself! I’m an oddball who actually likes the stalks better than the soft tops. It works out pretty well for me considering my son will only eat the tops! Although I could make an entire meal out of Roasted Asparagus alone, I think my family appreciates that I paired it with this Creamy Lemon Pasta.
White Bean Sauce
This velvety sauce is thick and creamy and full of lemon and garlic flavors. It’s also soy free, nut free, and can be made oil-free if you wish. It only takes 7 ingredients, all of which you likely already have in your pantry/fridge, and less than 10 minutes to make.
White beans are high in protein, fiber, potassium, folate, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, calcium and iron. Cannellini beans, in particular, get super creamy when blended.
Healthy Asparagus
Asparagus is incredibly high in Vitamin K and folate. It also boasts B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, potassium, zinc, iron, protein, and calcium, among others. So, basically, you want to eat up because this Lemon Pasta with Asparagus is one healthy dish!
A Family Favorite
All 3 kids devoured this dinner, but I think my hubby liked it the most! We didn’t have much leftover, but what we did have didn’t last long!
Asparagus and lemon are a match made in heaven, so this dish is pretty much perfection! 🙂 Try it for yourself and leave a comment below letting me know what you think.
Creamy Lemon Pasta w/ Roasted Asparagus
I hope you love this Creamy Lemon Pasta as much as we do. If you try it, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback. You can also find me on social media. Be sure to tag @veggie_inspired and #veggieinspired so I’m sure to see it. Enjoy!
Creamy Lemon Pasta with Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients
For the Asparagus:
- 1 bunch fresh asparagus
- 1 tsp olive oil
- salt/pepper (to taste)
For the Pasta:
- 1 lb ziti (or pasta of choice) (use gluten free noodles if desired)
- 2 tsp olive oil (or 1 tbsp vegetable broth)
- 1/4 of a white onion (diced)
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 15 oz canned cannellini beans (rinsed and drained) (or 1 1/5 cups cooked dry beans)
- 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth (plus extra to thin, if needed)
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- fresh parsley (to garnish)
- zest of 1 lemon (to garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Trim off the woody bottoms of the asparagus. Toss the asparagus with oil, salt and pepper.
- Roast for 10-12 minutes until tender and starting to brown.
- Meanwhile, cook the ziti according to package directions
- While the ziti is cooking and the asparagus is roasting, make the sauce.
- In a small skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the diced onion and minced garlic in 2 tsp of olive oil until softened, about 4-5 minutes.
- Combine the beans, onion/garlic mixture, vegetable broth, lemon juice, and salt in a high speed blender and purée until smooth. Add a little more broth (or some of the pasta water) to thin if needed.
- To serve, combine the ziti and sauce and serve the asparagus either on the side or mixed in with the noodles.
- Garnish with extra lemon zest and parsley.
Notes
Nutrition
*Recipe and content updated April 2018. Original posted April 2015.
More Delicious Pasta Recipes to Love:
Mediterranean Pasta w/ Artichokes & Roasted Red Peppers
Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
Fregola Pasta w/ Cherry Tomatoes & Basil
Bart says
Soo good!
I added broccoli to mine and added some mustard powder and nutmeg to the sauce to spice it up a little!
It’s nice and creamy.Such a good idea for a pasta sauce!
Jenn Sebestyen says
Sounds delicious! Happy to hear you loved it!
Patty says
This was really really good! I try to follow recipes without altering the first time (other than always using much more garlic LOL), but we were almost out of garlic so I made the sauce exactly as written. I was afraid it would be a little bland for our taste, but it absolutely wasn’t. It’s not often I find a recipe I’m not thinking of tweaks for when we eat it the first time! We’ll be adding this to our regular rotation for sure!
Second time I made it, I had some mushrooms and a leek to use up so sautéed them and put them on top with the asparagus. I’ve never used cannellini beans before and can see a lot of versatility with this sauce!
Jenn Sebestyen says
I’m so happy you love it, Patty! Mushrooms would be an amazing addition…I’ll have to try that next time, too! Definitely a versatile sauce. Thank you so much for your lovely comment!
Eliza says
Made this yesterday for my Son and Wife they both thought I went to some cooking course, I’m quite impressed with the taste and result! Hahaha. Thanks for sharing such wonderful recipe!
Jenna-lea Kelland says
This was yum! We had it for dinner tonight and it was great. I’ve just recently gone dairy free so it was nice to have a creamy pasta-my favorite. I couldn’t find fresh asparagus so I fried zucchini on a griddle pan. My fussy 3 year old even ate it, and I never successfully get beans into him but he was oblivious. 😉 I just struggled to get my sauce as smooth as in your photos, but it still tasted good. Thanks for sharing.
Jenn S. says
I’m so glad you and your family loved it, Jenna-lea! What kind of blender do you have? That could make the difference between a somewhat smooth sauce and a silky smooth sauce. If you don’t have a high-speed blender, add a bit more liquid and blend longer. That should do it!
Jenna-lea Kelland says
Thanks I’ll try that. I don’t have a high speed blender, will just go for longer next time. Thanks.
Jenn S. says
Enjoy!
Kirsten says
This was great! I made it tonight and added some frozen peas mixed in at the very end.
Jenn S. says
LOVE the idea of adding green peas! Thanks, Kristen. So happy to hear you loved it!
Judy Stone says
Yum! Friday night dinner after the gym–this is fabulous. And since I just worked out I don’t mind a bit having a second serving! Thanks Jenn!
Jenn S. says
Oh, that’s great to hear, Judy! Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it.
Seren says
The health benefits of asparagus are world known. I too particularly like to eat stalks. Wonderful recipe!
Jenn S. says
Thanks, Seren! Glad to hear you enjoy the stalks too!