This creamy vegan beet pasta is a delicious plant-based dinner and a great way to get your kids to eat more veggies! Think vegan mac and cheese, with roasted beets for an extra serving of vegetables and color. Only 8 ingredients, easy to make and weeknight friendly.
After sharing our favorite easy vegan mac and cheese recipe a few weeks ago, we thought it would be fun to make a version with some hidden veggies. Roasted beets are the perfect choice – they add such a fun, vibrant color and a slightly earthy flavor that's not overwhelming.
Unlike our classic vegan mac and cheese recipe, this beet pasta is made with a creamy cashew-based sauce.
Beets can be a bit scary for the vegetable challenged among us, but you'd never even know they're a main component in this creamy, cheesy pasta sauce!
This recipe is kid-friendly and surprisingly easy to make, coming together in about 35 minutes, not including soaking the cashews (even faster if you pre-roast the beets). It's also completely vegan and gluten free friendly!
Lots of fresh beets? Here are a few more ways to use them up:
Ingredients
- Macaroni: or another pasta of choice, like penne or fusilli. We used gluten free, but any kind will do! Reserve some of the pasta water for the sauce.
- Beets: one large or two small beets will be enough for this pasta. For a shortcut, use pre-cooked beets from our friends over at Love Beets! You can find at many grocery stores – just be sure to use the plain cooked beets in this recipe.
- Cashews: always use raw, unsalted cashews to make a creamy sauce.
- Nutritional yeast: adds a cheesy flavor.
- Lemon juice
- Salt & pepper
- Olive oil
Instructions
Soak the cashews. You're probably asking yourself, "do I really have to soak the cashews?". Yes. It's essential to making the sauce super creamy (especially if you don't have a high power blender). Soak 'em for 2 hours at room temperature, or if you're super short on time, 30 minutes in hot water will do.
Roast the beets. Wash, peel and dice the beets. Don't want to stain your hands? We suggest wearing kitchen-safe gloves! Toss the beets in some olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 400˚F until fork tender (about 35 mins).
Cook the pasta. While the beets are roasting, salt your pasta water generously (at least 1 teaspoon of salt) and cook until al dente. Reserve the pasta water – you'll use up to ¼ cup in the sauce.
Make the sauce. When your beets are done roasting, add them to a blender with everything except the olive oil and pasta water. Pulse for a few seconds, then slowly stream in the olive oil while blending until smooth and creamy. Add the pasta water until you reach desired consistency.
Assembly. Coat your pasta in plenty of sauce, stir well and enjoy hot!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
To reheat, we suggest heating in a saucepan and adding a few tablespoons of water or nondairy milk to loosen up the sauce. This pasta doesn't always reheat well in the microwave as it tends to dry out.
More weeknight vegan pasta recipes
- One Pot Pasta with Mushrooms and Tomatoes
- Easy Pasta Primavera
- Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
- Easy Pesto Pasta with White Beans
- Mushroom Alfredo
If you make this vegan creamy beet pasta, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.
Print📖 Recipe
Creamy Beet Pasta
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This creamy vegan beet pasta is a delicious plant-based dinner and a great way to get your kids to eat more veggies! Think vegan mac and cheese, with roasted beets for an extra serving of vegetables and color. Only 8 ingredients, easy to make and weeknight friendly.
Ingredients
- 12 oz macaroni (or other pasta of choice), cooked according to package directions (reserve pasta water)
- 1 cup raw, unsalted cashews, soaked in room temp water for 2 hours
- 1 large (or two small) beet(s), peeled and diced (should be 1 cup)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
- ¾-1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3-4 tablespoon reserved pasta water for consistency
Instructions
- Soak cashews in room temperature water for 2 hours. Drain and rinse. (If you're short on time, 30 minutes in hot water will do.)
- Preheat oven to 400˚F.
- Wash, peel and roughly dice beet. Toss beets in about 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a sheet pan and roast for about 35 minutes, until slightly caramelized and fork tender. Set aside and let cool.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water.
- Add cashews, beets, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend for about 20 seconds until it forms a paste, then slowly drizzle in olive oil and blend until smooth and creamy. Add 3-4 tablespoon of pasta water to thin out the sauce.
- Pour sauce over cooked pasta and stir well to coat. Enjoy warm.
Notes
Use gluten free pasta if desired.
Forgot to reserve the pasta water? No problem – regular water (or even nondairy milk) will do.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bowl
- Calories: 438
- Sugar: 4.3 g
- Sodium: 318.2 mg
- Fat: 20.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 52.8 g
- Fiber: 3.4 g
- Protein: 12 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Allie says
I've never enjoyed the taste of beets, however I am trying to taste the rainbow and eat more veggies this year. I decided to give this recipe and it did not disappoint. I did find it difficult to blend, even in my vitamix, but once it came together the pasta was both beautiful and delicious! I froze extra of the sauce and hoping it will thaw nicely.
JC says
What can I use in place of the oil in the recipe?
Lexi says
You can substitute with more pasta water or some vegetable broth
Jenny says
I’d rather not use nuts, so is there something I could substitute them with?
Looks delicious btw! I love beets!
Lexi says
Hi Jenny! There isn't really a great 1:1 substitute, but you could definitely make a more basic cheese sauce and blend it with the beets! It would definitely work with this base recipe: https://www.crowdedkitchen.com/vegan-mac-and-cheese/
I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Adi says
I use silky tofu sometimes instead of cashew
Michelle says
Is there a substitute for the nutritional yeast or could I leave it out as we are pretty sure one of our family members can't have it. Could I use a vegan cheese in place of it and if so when would I add that in? Thank you so much! We love your recipes! 🙂
Lexi says
Yes, you could definitely use vegan parmesan instead of nutritional yeast! You can either add it in at the same time as you would the yeast, or stir it into the pasta at the end.
Nicole says
Could never get it to be quite so aesthetic as the photos by totally creamy and delicious. I used whole wheat penne and canned beets as that’s what I had on hand!