White Bean and Kale Pasta
- 30 mintotal time
- $1.64£1.02a serving
- 694655calories
- 2423 gprotein
Serves 4; price is an estimate. Dinner Plan is a paid weekly plan for your household and budget. You see your week before you pay.
Pasta and kale in a silky sauce of crushed white beans and garlic oil, topped with crunchy lemon breadcrumbs.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 2 oz panko breadcrumbs
- 5 garlic cloves, 1 finely grated, 4 thinly sliced
- 1 lemon
- 12 oz dried pasta (penne, rotini or spaghetti), short shapes such as penne
- 7 oz chopped kale (bag), tough stalks removed
- 2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- salt, to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- black pepper, to taste
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes, to serve (optional)
Contains: wheat (gluten), celery. Check the label: milk, soy, sulfites. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil for the pasta, using a little of the salt. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan on medium heat and toast the panko with the grated clove of garlic and the finely grated zest of the lemon for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until golden and crisp. Tip onto a plate and wipe out the pan.
- Cook the pasta for 10–12 minutes until just tender, adding the kale for the last 3 minutes. Scoop out 1 cup (240 ml) of the cooking water before draining.
- While the pasta cooks, heat the rest of the oil in the frying pan on medium-low heat and cook the sliced garlic for 2 minutes until pale golden, not brown. Add the dried thyme, the beans, the crumbled bouillon cube and ½ cup (120 ml) of water and simmer for 4–5 minutes, crushing about a third of the beans with a fork to make a creamy sauce.
- Add the drained pasta and kale to the beans with a splash of the reserved water and the juice of half the lemon. Toss for 1 minute until glossy, adding more water if needed, and season with salt and black pepper.
- Serve topped with the crumbs, a pinch of red pepper flakes if using, and the rest of the lemon in wedges.
Leftovers: Fridge 2 days; reheat with a splash of water until piping hot and keep the crumbs separate in a jar.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 50 g panko breadcrumbs
- 5 garlic cloves, 1 finely grated, 4 thinly sliced
- 1 lemon
- 350 g dried pasta (penne, fusilli or spaghetti), short shapes such as penne
- 200 g chopped kale (bag), tough stalks removed
- 2 × 400 g tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- salt, to taste
- 75 ml olive oil
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- black pepper, to taste
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes, to serve (optional)
Contains: gluten, celery. Check the label: milk, soya, sulphites. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil for the pasta, using a little of the salt. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan on medium heat and toast the panko with the grated clove of garlic and the finely grated zest of the lemon for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until golden and crisp. Tip onto a plate and wipe out the pan.
- Cook the pasta for 10–12 minutes until just tender, adding the kale for the last 3 minutes. Scoop out 240 ml of the cooking water before draining.
- While the pasta cooks, heat the rest of the oil in the frying pan on medium-low heat and cook the sliced garlic for 2 minutes until pale golden, not brown. Add the dried thyme, the beans, the crumbled stock cube and 120 ml of water and simmer for 4–5 minutes, crushing about a third of the beans with a fork to make a creamy sauce.
- Add the drained pasta and kale to the beans with a splash of the reserved water and the juice of half the lemon. Toss for 1 minute until glossy, adding more water if needed, and season with salt and black pepper.
- Serve topped with the crumbs, a pinch of chilli flakes if using, and the rest of the lemon in wedges.
Leftovers: Fridge 2 days; reheat with a splash of water until piping hot and keep the crumbs separate in a jar.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 694 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 24 g |
| Carbohydrate | 105 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Fiber | 12 g |
| Sodium | 1133 mg |
| Calories | 655 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 23 g |
| Carbohydrate | 97 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Fibre | 14 g |
| Sodium | 544 mg |
Worked out from the ingredients, 308 g a serving; optional extras and salt to taste aren't counted. US and UK values differ a little because each uses that country's food data and products. US values from USDA FoodData Central.UK values from McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2021, under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it costs
About $1.64 a serving in the US (range $1.25–$2.17) and £1.02 in the UK (range £0.78–£1.35). That's the share of each ingredient this recipe uses; basics like oil, salt and spices aren't counted.
Prices are estimates. Item prices come from public price data where available (US: Bureau of Labor Statistics and USDA; UK: Office for National Statistics). Where that data has no match, we use our own estimate. Ranges set using Open Prices data (Open Food Facts, ODbL). Prices as of October 2026. How we estimate
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