This creamy, dairy free, lemon asparagus pasta is a quick and easy high protein dinner that the whole family will love. It’s vegan, gluten free, and only takes 20 minutes to make. Top if off with cashew parmesan and you have the best vegan pasta ever. Trust me!
I’ve always had a thing for smooth and creamy pasta sauce. To this day I still put store bought pasta sauces in the blender to make them creamy. Is that weird?? Probably, but honestly it makes it SO much better!
This lemon asparagus pasta is one of my favorite vegan pasta sauces. It’s definitely up there on my list with my roasted red pepper pasta, mushroom broccoli rigatoni, and tomato basil cream sauce. I honestly don’t think I could ever pick a favorite. They’re like my babies you know?!
Key Ingredients
There are several ways to make a creamy vegan pasta sauce. I often use cashews like in my vegan fettuccine alfredo sauce but since many people have issues digesting cashews, I wanted a sauce without them!
For this recipe, we’ll be using a few key ingredients to yield a very creamy consistency.
- White beans→ Beans are a great way to make something creamy without adding dairy. Plus, they add a lot of protein, fiber, and other nutrients to the sauce without you even realizing.
- Olive oil → A little bit of olive oil makes *most* recipes better. In this white bean pasta, the olive oil helps make the sauce rich and creamy without a touch of dairy. It also adds a great flavor a lots of healthy fats.
- Almond milk→ You can use any non-dairy milk in this recipe to help the sauce blend and help it get an extra creamy consistency.
How to make this recipe
First, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions.
While the pasta is cooking, add the chopped onion and minced garlic to a pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil.
Saute for 5-10 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
Add to a food processor with the drained and rinsed beans and all remaining ingredients.
Process until completely smooth. This may take a good 1-2 minutes to make sure the beans are completely processed.
To the same pan you cooked the onion in, add the chopped asparagus with a touch of olive oil if needed and saute for 5-10 minutes.
Add the asparagus to the cooked pasta and pour the sauce on top.
Mix together and top with red pepper flakes and extra salt or pepper if desired.
A few notes
- You can use any small white bean in this recipe such as cannellini, navy beans (which are not in fact navy), great northern beans etc. but I would not recommend using chickpeas or butter beans. I personally used navy beans and it worked really well.
- I used brown rice pasta to keep it gluten free, but any pasta will work. Chickpea or other legume based pasta will up the protein content even more!
- In place of nutritional yeast, you can use homemade cashew parmesan for extra flavor.
- Once prepared, this pasta will store in the fridge for 5 days. To reheat, add to a pan with a splash of almond milk and heat until warm and creamy.
- To add flavor to the pasta, be sure to salt the pasta water really well. This infuses a lot of flavor into the pasta and aids in the cooking process.
You’ll also love…
- Vegan Vodka Sauce
- 20 minute hemp & lemon pesto pasta
- Asparagus pasta salad with creamy lemon dressing
Lastly, if you want more recipes straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to my email list. As always, tag me on instagram if you make this recipe so I can see your creation. Leave a comment and rating below and let us know how the pasta turns out!
Lemon Asparagus Pasta with White Bean Sauce
Ingredients
- 16 ounces pasta of choice
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 2 cups cooked white beans
- 1/4 cup plain non dairy milk
- 3 tbsp + 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small white onion (about 1 cup chopped)
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast or homemade cashew parmesan
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Black pepper to taste
- Optional: 1 tsp lemon zest
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions.
- Mince the garlic, chop the onion, and add both to a pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil.
- Saute for 5-10 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
- Drain and rinse the white beans and add to a food processor.
- Transfer the onion and garlic to the food processor along with all remaining ingredients and process until completely smooth. You may need to let it run for a good 1-2 minutes to make sure it is completely smooth and no bean pieces remain.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
- To the same pan that you cooked the garlic and onion in, add the chopped asparagus and saute for 5-10 minutes or until it is your desired doneness. I like asparagus crunchy, so I only cook it for about 5 minutes.
- Add the asparagus to the cooked pasta and pour the sauce on top. Stir together until well incorporated.
- Top with red pepper flakes and more nutritional yeast or cashew parm if desired.
Cindy
OMG this is soooooo good! I doubled the amount of nutritional yeast (you know, Dutch people like cheese) and left out the lemon juice, and all of a sudden I ended up with such a delicious creamy cheese sauce! It’s definitely my new favorite recipe 🙂
Claire Cary
Thank you Cindy!! More nutritional yeast is always a good idea 🙂
Paige
I have made this twice and love it. I used green beans once because I didn’t have asparagus and it was just as delicious! A hit with picky eaters.
Claire Cary
YUM!! Sounds perfect 🙂