Bring your pasta to life with this beautiful creamy beet pasta sauce that is almost too pretty to eat! Made with just a few simple ingredients like beets and coconut milk (no cashews!) – you can whip it up just a few minutes when you buy pre-cooked beets. This pretty pink pasta is perfect for any weeknight, but also special enough to serving to your honey on Valentine’s Day.
Brighten up pasta night by switching up your routine with this beautiful creamy beet pasta sauce. You only need a couple of simple ingredients to recreate it. Not only is it easy enough for a weeknight dinner, you could also serve this pretty pink pasta sauce for Valentine’s Day. (Speaking of Valentine’s – this chocolate tofu mousse would make the perfect dessert!)
More delicious vegan pasta recipes you might want to check out: vegan baked ziti, vegan stuffed shells, vegan spinach lasagna, and vegan pesto pasta.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- A simple 5 ingredient sauce that you can whip up in just minutes with pre-cooked beets from the store.
- Add some variety and vibrant color to your pasta night by using this creamy beet sauce instead of tomato sauce – you’ll love it!
- This recipe is vegan, dairy free, nut free, and can easily be made gluten free as well.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Pasta: I used rigatoni, but you could use a variety of different pasta shapes like: macaroni, penne, orecchiette, or fusilli. This beet pasta sauce recipe is sure to work with your favorite pasta shape! Make this recipe gluten free by using a gluten-free pasta.
- Red Beets: You’ll need one large beet or two small beets for this sauce. The more beets you add to the sauce, the darker and richer the color. For the best results and color, use red beets. Although, golden beets would also give this pasta sauce a beautiful orange color as well.
- Coconut Milk: Full fat canned coconut milk adds tons of creaminess without a lot of fuss. You can’t taste any coconut in the finished dish – do don’t worry!
- Lemon Juice: Brightens up the flavors in this easy pasta sauce and complements the earthy flavors and natural sweetness of the beets as well. Fresh squeezed lemon juice is best for this recipe.
- Nutritional Yeast: Adds some “cheesy” flavor without any cheese. I sometimes like to grate some vegan parmesan (like this cheese from VioLife is my favorite) into the sauce as well for extra cheesy flavor. Ran out of nutritional yeast? Here are 9 nutritional yeast substitutes you can use instead.
Beet Pasta Garnish Suggestions
- Vegan Cheese: Add some more cheesy flavor with some shaved vegan parmesan cheese, vegan feta, or a few dollops of vegan ricotta.
- Chopped Nuts: add a little bit of crunch with some chopped pistachios or walnuts.
- Fresh Herbs: add a pop of contrasting color with some chopped fresh parsley or fresh basil.
- Lemon Zest: Add a bit of lemony zing to the finished dish with a little bit of lemon zest.
Step by Step
Step One: Scrub your fresh beets and loosely wrap in aluminum foil. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until fork tender. Once cooled enough to handle, peel the skin off the roasted beet.
Step Two: Puree the beets, coconut milk, nutritional yeast, garlic clove, and lemon in a blender or food processor until smooth. Cook your pasta according to package directions, reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta water when draining.
Step Three: Transfer beet sauce to a saucepan and gently heat over medium heat until bubbling.
Step Four: Stir in the cooked pasta and 4-5 tablespoons of the pasta water. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Expert Tips
- Save time with pre-cooked beets: Use pre-cooked beets from the grocery store to make this pasta and sauce in less than 20 minutes. I really like the ones from Love Beet – you can usually find them in the refrigerator in the produce section with the salads.
- Save that pasta water: Before you drain your pasta, make sure to save about 1/2 cup to add to your pasta and sauce in the next step. The starches in the pasta cooking water helps the sauce cling to the noodles better.
- Make ahead: You can make this beet pasta sauce up to 3 days in advance. Just store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
What to Serve with Beet Pasta
Here are a few different options for dishes to serve with this pretty beet pasta sauce:
- Plant based sausage: we often serve pasta dishes with some vegan sausage like the ones from Field Roast – so simple!
- Plant based meatballs: cook up some frozen bean meatballs from the store OR make either these delicious vegetarian white bean meatballs or these vegan lentil walnut meatballs.
- White beans or chickpeas: top this pasta with some canned beans for more protein and fiber.
- Salad: Pasta and salad are such a classic combo. Here are a few delicious side salads from the blog that would be great: vegan kale Caesar salad, Italian chopped salad, or white bean pesto salad.
Recipe FAQs
Since beets are the star of the show in this beet pasta sauce, it is definitely the perfect recipe for the beet lover in your life. The sauce comes out with a sweet and earthy flavor with notes of lemon – so delicious!
Yes – beets are loaded with nutrients so adding them to pasta is a great idea. For example, beets are particularly rich in folate which plays a critical role in growth and development. They also contain pigments called betalins which have anti-inflammatory properties.
If you don’t have coconut milk, you could use cashew cream, a vegan heavy cream, or plain & unsweetened plant milk like soy milk instead.
More Vegan Beet Recipes You’ll Love
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Creamy Beet Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large beet or 2 small beets
- 1 cup full fat canned coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 dash sea salt
- 1 dash black pepper
- 16 oz rigatoni pasta
Instructions
- Scrub your fresh beets and loosely wrap in aluminum foil. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until fork tender. Once cooled enough to handle, peel the skin off the roasted beet.
- Puree the beets, coconut milk, nutritional yeast, garlic clove, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until smooth.
- Cook your pasta according to package directions, reserving about 1/3 cup of the pasta water when draining.
- Transfer beet sauce to a saucepan and gently heat over medium heat until bubbling.
- Stir in the cooked pasta and 4-5 tablespoons of the pasta water. Taste and season with salt and black pepper. Garnish as desired with parsley, cheese, and lemon zest.
Notes
- Garnish suggestions for serving: shaved vegan parmesan, chopped fresh parsley or basil, chopped pistachios or walnuts, or a few dollops of vegan ricotta cheese.
- Make ahead: Sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve with the cooked pasta.
- Suggested Sides: serve with a vegan protein like sausage or homemade meatballs (see links in recipe post) or a side salad.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
YUM! These donuts are almost too pretty to eat 🙂 Lemon and coconut is such a bright flavor combo and I looove that sprinkle of toasted coconut. Wish I could grab one from the screen!!