White Bean Chilli Pasta

White Bean Chilli Pasta

This one is a proper weeknight hero in our house. White bean chilli pasta sounds simple, and it is, but the flavours are bold, a little bit fiery, and genuinely satisfying in a way that keeps you coming back for seconds. You've got creamy cannellini beans, a kick of fresh chilli, briny capers, and sweet tomatoes all tangled up with pasta and finished with fresh basil. It's ready in 25 minutes and honestly, we think it tastes like it took a lot longer than that. Make it tonight, you won't regret it.

Cook: 25 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Large pot for pasta
  • Large pan with lid for sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 100g plant-based butter
  • 2 banana shallots
  • 1 red chilli
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 tbsp capers
  • 500g cherry tomatoes
  • 1 400g tin of cannellini beans
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 350g rigatoni pasta
  • 1 lemon
  • 10g basil
  • nutritional yeast
  • extra virgin olive oil

Method

1

Prep the veg

  • Peel, trim and dice the shallots
  • Deseed and finely slice the chilli
  • Peel and mince the garlic
  • Drain the capers and roughly chop
  • Slice the tomatoes in half
  • Drain the cannelini beans
  • Pick the basil leaves and finely chop
2

Cook the pasta

  • Bring a salted pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to packet instructions
  • Drain the pasta, reserving around 150ml of pasta water
3

Cook the sauce

  • Melt the butter with the olive oil in a pan until the butter is foaming
  • Add the shallot, cooking for 3-4 minutes until softened and starting to caramelise
  • Add the garlic, red chilli, red pepper flakes, capers and tomato puree, cooking for 2 minutes until the garlic starts to turn golden
  • Add the tomatoes and cannellini beans with their water, stirring to combine
  • Bring to a simmer and cover the pan with a lid until the tomatoes begin to soften, releasing their juices
4

Finish and serve

  • Stir the pasta into the pan, mixing well to form a creamy sauce
  • Add a splash of pasta water if it seems too thick, but you may not need it all
  • Stir through the basil, nutritional yeast and juice over the lemon
  • Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and finish with extra basil leaves to serve

Tips & Variations

  • Save your pasta water: Seriously, don't skip this step. That 150ml of starchy cooking water is what turns a dry, clumpy bowl into a proper saucy pasta. We always remind ourselves to scoop it out before draining.
  • Dial up or down the heat: If you're cooking for people who aren't big on spice, just use half the chilli and remove the seeds. If you love heat like we do, leave the seeds in and go for it.
  • Add a handful of greens: We love throwing in a big handful of spinach or kale right at the end. It wilts down in about a minute and bulks the whole thing out without changing the flavour. Ian does this basically every time now.

Why This Works

The trick here is using that starchy pasta water to bring everything together into a silky, glossy sauce without needing any cream or butter. The capers and chilli do a lot of heavy lifting flavour-wise, giving you this punchy, slightly salty heat that cuts right through the richness of the beans. It's a really clever combination and once you've tried it you'll want it on rotation.