Pasta with chickpeas spinach and lemon is a bright, vibrant and full of flavor pasta dish. This pasta chickpeas recipe also makes a great mid-week meal because it cooks up in under 30 minutes. A great recipe to add to your weeknight meal plan.
You may not think of pasta and chickpeas as two ingredients that go together but they actually make a great combination. The chickpeas add a nice firm texture and a delicious nutty flavor.
The lemon and spinach added to these ingredients just rounds it all out beautifully. This pasta recipe is so healthy and so good and it will please all types of eaters.
The ingredients you will need to make this Pasta recipe are:
- Pasta any type ( I used spaghetti because that is what I had on hand)
- chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans)
- fresh spinach (try to use fresh and not frozen)
- garlic
- shallots
- chicken stock
- lemon (fresh)
- olive oil
For me, I have many of these ingredients sitting in my pantry. I know my pantry and your pantry will look different but many of these items can make lots of different meals, not just this one.
Why these ingredients should be part of your pantry staples:
Most of these items you may already have in your pantry and on hand in your kitchen. I always have all of these ingredients in my kitchen and pantry because they are all so versatile and can go in so many dishes.
These ingredients (my pantry staples) are the start to so many great meals like my spinach with pancetta and shallots (I always keep some pancetta in the freezer to help with this one), my coconut curry ramen soup and my orecchiette and broccoli.
All of these easy meals use at least three or four of these items with the addition of a few other fresh and pantry staples. If you are not stocking up on these pantry essentials, you need to start!
As I mentioned above, this makes a great weeknight meal because this pasta is so easy to make. The only cooking time involves boiling your pasta water and cooking your garlic, shallots and spinach.
Here is what the steps to make this pasta with chickpeas recipe look like:
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Cook pasta when your water is ready.
- In the meantime, cook your shallots and garlic in olive oil.
- Add your spinach and cook down.
- Then add your chickpeas and your chicken stock.
- Cook for a few minutes to bring the flavors together.
- Add your lemon.
- Last add your cooked pasta to the spinach and chickpeas and toss to coat.
- Serve immediately.
That is it! While you are waiting for your pasta water to boil, you are getting the other ingredients together and cooked down. It really is the ultimate delicious and healthy weeknight meal.
Tips for making this pasta dish:
Will adding chicken to the pasta and spinach recipe taste good?
Yes it will! You can add cooked grilled chicken (or any type of chicken for that matter) to this recipe to bulk it up and to add protein. It will taste great.
Can I re-heat this pasta in the microwave?
Yes. Whenever I re-heat pasta in the microwave, I will dampen a paper towel and place that over the pasta before heating it. This will provide moisture to the pasta during the heating process and keep it from drying out. Just be careful removing the moist paper towel after heating because it will be hot.
If I do not have chicken broth can I substitute with something else.
Yes. I prefer this recipe with the chicken broth but I know we all cannot go running out to the store to buy ingredients all the time. You can substitute vegetable broth or reserved pasta water (scoop out some of the salted pasta water before you drain your pasta).
I hope you give this pasta recipe and try. It is a great meal that everyone loves and it is so easy to make.
Pasta with Chickpeas Spinach and Lemon
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti or any large shape pasta
- 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
- 10 ounces fresh baby spinach rinsed and dried
- ½ cup good quality chicken stock
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large lemon juiced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 small shallot diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes it won't be spicy since most of the heat is cooked out.
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.
- While you are waiting for the water to boil, grab all of your ingredients.
- For the chickpeas, drain them and rinse them under cold water until the water runs clear. Set aside.
- Dice your garlic and shallots.
- Now grab a large saute pan.
- Add your olive oil and heat over medium heat for 1 minute.
- Once your pan is heated add your garlic and shallots and cook for a few minutes.
- Now add your red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute.
- Next add your spinach, stock, lemon juice and chickpeas and cook until the spinach just starts to soften, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper and mix in well.
- Reduce the heat to low while you wait for your pasta to cook.
- When you pasta water is boiling, add a huge handful of salt. You should always salt your pasta water until it is salty like ocean water.
- Add your pasta and cook according to the manufacturers instructions for al dente.
- Once the pasta is almost done, scoop out one mug full of pasta water and set aside.
- Drain your pasta water and add your pasta to to the pan with the spinach and chickpeas.
- Toss your pasta into the mixture well making sure to coat all of the pasta with the sauce.
- Let the pasta sit in the spinach and chickpea mixture for a couple minutes as you continue to toss and stir it around. This will let the pasta pick up the flavors.
- If you sauce starts to look dry, add a little of your reserved pasta water cooking liquid and mix that in.
- Serve immediately as is or with some fresh Parmesan.
Joyce says
This was so delicious.