Quick & Easy Creamy Beet Pasta (2024)

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by Taesha Butler on Mar 20, 2023 (updated Mar 21, 2024)

Made with just 8 ingredients, this gorgeous Creamy Beet Pasta is a delicious and out-of-the-box way to add veggies to the table. The stunning and delicious pink sauce is made with blended cooked beets, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, and garlic. Toss it with your favorite pasta, as this veggie-loaded recipe is done as soon as your noodles are cooked and is perfect for those busy weeknight dinners.

Pasta is one of my favorite savory vessels for veggies. Easy, comforting, and budget-friendly!

My green and has been quite the hit in many of your homes and I thought it might be fun to turn up the beet on pasta for this go.

This stunning and EASY pasta gets its gorgeous color from cooked beets. But don’t worry about that earthy flavor that so many associate when it comes to beets. We’ve blended the beets with cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic, and seasonings to create this creamy, dreamy, balanced sauce that ticks all the boxes. Cook your beets ahead of time (I share several ways how) or use precooked beets from the store, and this naturally vegetarian (when you use vegetarian parm) pasta recipe comes together as quickly as you can boil your favorite pasta…so done in under 15 minutes! Easily gluten free when you use your gluten free pasta and making 6 servings, you can bump up the protein in this pasta recipe by adding in cooked chicken or shrimp or make it with chickpea or lentil pasta.

Here is what you need!

• Beets. Of course! And you either love ’em or avoid the heck out of them. Chances are, if you are looking at this recipe, you either love them or are curious enough to give them a go. Beets are known for being earthy in flavor, but because I use COOKED beets in this beet pasta recipe, the earthy flavor is greatly reduced. So, from one beet-iffy eater….be brave!
• Parmesan cheese. I prefer freshly grated. And have some extra on hand for garnishing!
• Pasta. You can use whatever pasta you like best. Shape. Texture. You do you. Gluten free pasta is also works beautifully in this recipe. Just cook the pasta according to the directions on the package before tossing it with this sauce.
• Cottage cheese. This gives the sauce the lovely creamy texture that is just magic. When you blend the cottage cheese, the texture that puts most people off becomes smooth and delightful. And the saltiness of the cottage cheese balances out the beet flavor so well.
• Garlic. Always. I just think garlic makes everything better.
• Olive oil.
• Salt + pepper.
• Chopped parsley. This is an optional garnish, but that pretty green against the pink sauce makes for an eye catching dinner!

How to cook beets for this pasta

Cooking your beets for this pasta recipe is going to help cut the earthy flavor that many people find off putting about beets. Plus, it will enhance and bring out this beautiful root veggie’s natural sweetness. Here are several ways you can cook your beets before blending into the sauce for this dish.

• Roast (my suggested method). Especially if you want the vibrant, rich color you see here. I also feel like roasting gives beets the best flavor. The other methods will work fine, but the color may be more muted.
• Boiling
• Instant Pot
• Steaming

Time saving hack! Many grocery stores have pre-cooked beets in their fridge or freezer section. You can grab some of those to use in this Beet Pasta recipe to make life and this recipe a little easier. But as mentioned above, your pasta sauce might be a softer pink color than mine.

Best kind of pasta to use for this recipe

I liked this beet pasta dish best with small pasta shapes like bowtie, elbow, shell, orecchiett, or cascatelli. However, this pasta will work with pretty much any pasta you prefer, including gluten free!

Cooking the pasta…

How to make the beet sauce…

Combine the pasta + sauce

Suggested Adaptations

• Use whatever pasta you like. Any kind of pasta will work for this recipe including whole wheat, gluten free, or bean-based pastas.
• Don’t want to sauté the garlic? Toasting the garlic in the olive oil gives the sauce so much flavor, but there are also a few other ways to use garlic in this recipe depending on how much time you have. If you are roasting the beets, you could also roast a head of garlic at the same time and then add a few cloves of the roasted garlic to the sauce. If you like a strong garlic flavor, blend one or two cloves of raw garlic into the sauce. If you are short on time, you can use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic.
• Use ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese.
• Top with toasted chopped walnuts makes a great crunchy addition to the top of the finished pasta dish.

Recipe testing notes from Taesha

• If you are feeling iffy about the beets, don’t be afraid to use less. Perhaps start with 4 ounces of cooked beet to start and add more if desired.
• Be sure your beet is cooked until tender. Not only will this help to reduce the earthy flavor of the beets, but it will ensure that your beet easily purees down in the creamy sauce.
• Don’t forget about that pasta water. I don’t know about you, but I always seem drain my pasta and THEN remember I needed some of that starchy water for the sauce. And that pasta water is so key. It helps to add flavor and texture to this beet sauce…so, don’t forget to scoop some out of your pasta pot!

Other veggie-loaded pasta recipes you will love!

• 15-Minute Creamy Leek and Mushroom Pasta
• No-Boil Creamy Vegetable Pasta Bake
• Pesto Veggie Pasta Salad
• Baked Spinach Artichoke Pasta
• Baked Pasta with Eggplant
• 15-Minute Spinach Mac and Cheese
• Easy Veggie Pasta Sauce

Loving this beet pasta recipe and now you’re hungry for more?

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originally published on Mar 20, 2023 (last updated Mar 21, 2024)

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