Prepare to fall in love with these easy, creamy alfredo white beans, with a rich cashew alfredo sauce that’s totally dairy free but just as decadent! It’s a 30 minute healthy comfort food dinner (including the toasted breadcrumbs!) that you’ll crave. 

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I have been an alfredo girl pretty much all my life. Seriously. My favourite afterschool snack as a teenager was this frozen alfredo pasta thing I would pop in the microwave whenever the craving struck. 

All this to say that I’m not messing around when it comes to alfredo…but sometimes I do want something a bit more substantial than just pasta.

So, BEANS. Butter beans essentially stand in texturally for gnocchi, but packed with gut-loving fibre and a boost of plant-based protein. I serve these alfredo beans with some good, crusty sourdough bread and my entire family gobbles it up.

It’s the kind of low effort, high reward weeknight dinner that I live for: feels indulgent, it’s ridiculously easy, and it’s still giving me good nutrition (always a dietitian ha). You’ve got sauteed onion, garlic and kale for plenty of veg, then, just whip up my (almost) famous cashew alfredo sauce in the blender in like 5 minutes flat and swirl it all together with creamy white beans.

You can really make this one your own: you need a starch to make it a complete meal but feel free to serve it on top of rice, gnocchi or pasta instead of toast.

And I really love adding some tuscan kale but if you’re like, I’m just here for the beans, ma’am, you go right ahead and omit it. Or serve it with some roasted broccoli or cauliflower!

Looking for more good for you, craveworthy plant-based recipes? Pick up a copy of Plant Magic, my cookbook!

Every recipe you see on this blog is tested a minimum of 4 times before it lands here. Sometimes, a recipe hits from the very first recipe test…like this one.

But I pretty much never leave well enough alone, and there were a couple of tweaks I made to take it from good to great.

The first tip is all about the onions… you don’t want any crunch from the onions so they need to be cooked down well. I use two tricks: dicing the onions into tiny pieces and using water to help steam the onions soft as they saute. They add more flavour this way too.

The other thing I tweaked was the toasted breadcrumbs, which to me, really just takes it over the top with another layer of texture and flavour.

Skip them if you really want – maybe sprinkle with some parmesan for more umami – but I love them so much.

Nutrition Corner: This recipe is totally vegan, dairy free and gluten free with GF panko crumbs. Each serving has about 20g protein and 12 grams of fiber per serving, before any toast or rice.

More yummy dinner ideas with white beans

Stovetop White Beans with Cashew Alfredo Sauce

4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Prepare to fall in love with these easy, creamy alfredo white beans, with a rich cashew alfredo sauce that’s totally dairy free but just as decadent! It’s a 30 minute healthy comfort food dinner (including the toasted breadcrumbs!) that you’ll crave.

Toasted Breadcrumbs (optional)

• ½ cup panko crumbs, gluten free if needed
• ½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• ½ lemon, zest only
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme

Alfredo White Beans

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, very finely diced
• 1 small bunch tuscan kale, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 14 ounce cans butter beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 batch cashew alfredo sauce

• Make the breadcrumbs first, if using: fully heat a small dry skillet over medium heat. Add panko and toast, until browned, stirring constantly once browning starts, about 3-5 minutes.

• Remove from heat, drizzle with ½ tsp oil, lemon zest, salt, garlic powder and thyme and stir until mixed through.

• Make the alfredo sauce, if you haven’t already.

  Set aside.

• Now, make the beans: heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 8-10 minutes, until well softened…you don’t want crunchy onions!

At the 5 minute mark, add ¼ cup water to the pan to help onions soften without getting too brown. It will evaporate off.

• Add garlic and kale and another splash of water and cook, stirring often, until kale is bright green and tendercrisp, about 2-3 minutes. Add drained butter beans and stir through.

• Remove skillet from heat, pour over the alfredo sauce and stir to combine.

  Done!

• Divide the beans between 4 bowls, top with breadcrumbs and serve with crusty bread.