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    Home > How-To

    Published: Apr 14, 2015 · Modified: Jul 12, 2020 by Denise Browning · "This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission." · 23 Comments

    How to Color Pasta with Juice Easily

    Dairy FreeVegetarian

    Jump to Recipe ↓
    how-to-color-pasta-juice

    How to color pasta with juice is something I have been learning about recently, and I would love to share this easy secret with you. So yes, from now on you won't have to pay extra for stored-bought colored pasta... or even spend time making your own pasta from scratch with special colorings.

    pasta co,lored with beet juice over a platter with silverware plus other veggies for how to color pasta with juices

    Simply obtain any regular dry pasta you prefer from the supermarket and color it yourself using vegetable juice. This is an ingenious technique similar to that of boiling pasta in wine. You can use beets, red cabbage, spinach or any other leaf vegetable, bell peppers, etc. The most important thing is to use sufficiently concentrated vegetable juice.

    Coloring pasta with juice is a technique that not only infuses subtle flavors but also makes the dish more beautiful and fun. Ready to get started?

    Well, without further ado, here is how to color pasta with juice...

    How to color pasta

    1. First, make the beet juice. Blend beet chunks and 1½ quarts of water in a blender until smooth. Strain juice and discard beet pulp. Reserve the beet liquid/juice.
    2. In a medium to large pot, bring the remaining 3 quarts of water and 1 Tablespoon of salt to a boil. Add pasta and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until bendable. At the same time pasta is cooking, bring 4 cups (or 1 quart) of the reserved beet juice, a sprinkle of salt, and vinegar to a boil over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan.
    3. Using tongs or a pasta strainer, lift out partially cooked pasta from the pot and place in the sauté pan with the boiling juice. Cook pasta until al dente, stirring frequently, over medium-high heat. You may need to add another cup or two (or ¼ to ½ quart) of the remaining beet juice to finish cooking the pasta. Once pasta is cooked, strain.
    4. You can sauté strained pasta with oil and/or butter, garlic, herbs, cheese, and pretty much anything else that you want. 

    Variations

    You can use red cabbage, spinach or any other leaf vegetable, bell pepper, carrots (although color won't be vibrant. Definitely, not a fave ingredient to color pasta), etc to color pasta. The most important thing is to use a concentrated vegetable juice to achieve a vibrant color.

    Storage

    Store colored pasta leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Freeze pasta al dente (only) for up to 30 days. 

    close up image of colored pasta

    pasta colored red with beet juice being twirled on a fork
    Print SAVE Saved Recipe! Pin
    5 from 9 votes

    How to Color Pasta with Juice

    Learn how to color pasta with juice and save both time and big bucks... and also make your pasta dish more beautiful and fun!
    Course:Main Course
    Cuisine:American
    Keywords:beet pasta, how to color pasta, pasta juice
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 8 minutes
    Total Time 18 minutes
    Servings 2 people
    Calories509 kcal
    Author Denise Browning
    Cost U$ 2.00 per person

    Equipment

    • blender
    • pan
    • strainer

    Ingredients

    • 5 medium beets washed, peeled, and cut into chunks
    • 4½ quarts water divided
    • 1 tablespoons salt plus more to sprinkle
    • ½ pound store-bought dry pasta of your choice
    • 1 teaspoon white vinegar to intensify and freshen the color

    Instructions

    • First, make the beet juice. Blend beet chunks and 1½ quarts of water in a blender until smooth. Strain juice and discard beet pulp. Reserve the beet liquid/juice.
      A metal pot with red beet juice
    • In a medium to large pot, bring the remaining 3 quarts of water and 1 Tablespoon of salt to a boil. Add pasta and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until bendable. At the same time pasta is cooking, bring 4 cups (or 1 quart) of the reserved beet juice, a sprinkle of salt, and vinegar to a boil over medium high heat in a large sauté pan.
    • Using tongs or a pasta strainer, lift out partially cooked pasta from the pot and place in the sauté pan with the boiling juice. Cook pasta until al dente, stirring frequently, over medium-high heat. You may need to add another cup or two (or ¼ to ½ quart) of the remaining beet juice to finish cooking the pasta. Once pasta is cooked, strain.
    • You can sauté colored, strained pasta with oil and/or butter, garlic, herbs, cheese, and pretty much anything else that you want.
      pasta colored red with beet juice being twirled on a fork

    Recipe Notes

    • OTHER JUICES: You can use red cabbage, spinach or any other leaf vegetable, bell pepper, carrots (although color won't be vibrant. Definitely, not a fave ingredient to color pasta), etc to color pasta. The most important thing is to use a concentrated vegetable juice to achieve a vibrant color.
    • STORAGE: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Freeze pasta al dente for up to one month! 
     

    Nutrition

    Calories: 509kcal | Carbohydrates: 104g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 2g | Sodium: 3761mg | Potassium: 919mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 68IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 120mg | Iron: 3mg

    ** Nutrition labels on easyanddelish.com are for educational purposes only. This info is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate, since the nutrition content of recipes can vary based on ingredient brand or source, portion sizes, recipe changes/variations, and other factors. We suggest making your own calculations using your preferred calculator, based on which ingredients you use, or consulting with a registered dietitian to determine nutritional values more precisely.

    Please note that health-focused and diet information provided on easyanddelish.com is for educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. Consult with your doctor or other qualified health professional prior to initiating any significant change in your diet or exercise regimen, or for any other issue necessitating medical advice.

    DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Comment and rate the recipe. Also follow us on Pinterest at @easyanddelish for more delish recipes.

     

     

     

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    Filed Under: American Recipes, Easy And Delish, Easy Dairy-Free Recipes, Easy Vegetarian Recipes, How-To Tagged With: Pasta

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Chris @ The Café Sucré Farine says

      April 14, 2015 at 1:15 pm

      Very cool! I had no idea you could do this. What a fun presentation for a dinner party!

      Reply
    2. Judit + Corina @Glamorous Bite says

      April 14, 2015 at 1:24 pm

      Such a vibrant and exciting way to have a pretty pasta! Thank you for sharing, we do love red beets.

      Reply
    3. Dioneia says

      April 14, 2015 at 4:03 pm

      do you do this with other vegetables? would it be the same way!?

      Reply
      • Denise Browning says

        April 14, 2015 at 4:24 pm

        Dioneia: I tested with both red beets and carrots. As you can see in the pictures, it worked very well with red beets -- as works well with red wine. But I have to say that the experiment with carrot juice was disappointing. It did not turn a vibrant orange color, no matter how concentrated was my carrot juice.
        I think it will also work well with basil juice for a green color and red cabbage juice for a dark red.
        You can also test a small amount of pasta with concentrated green bell pepper juice but I am not very sure if the color would be a light or dark green.

        Reply
    4. Deb|EastofEdenCooking says

      April 15, 2015 at 9:15 am

      Fantastic tip! What a grand idea to make pasta dish special.

      Reply
    5. Abbe @ This is How I Cook says

      April 15, 2015 at 10:27 am

      This is one of those great ideas-why didn't I think of it before things!

      Reply
    6. John@Kitchen Riffs says

      April 15, 2015 at 11:40 am

      What a fun idea! So clever -- didn't know you could do this. Really like this -- thanks so much.

      Reply
    7. Sarah at Journeys of The Zoo says

      April 15, 2015 at 12:42 pm

      Do you think if I cooked the beets first that I could then make something with the pulp later (or afterwards if they're raw)? Beets are a Family favorite (I grow them in my garden) and I'd hate to waste any. Love the vibrancy of the colors and your pictures are beautiful.

      Visiting from this weeks Tasty Tastebugs Linky at Peek N 2 Paradise.

      Besos, Sarah
      Journeys of The Zoo

      Reply
      • Denise Browning says

        April 15, 2015 at 3:27 pm

        Hi, Sarah! Thanks for stopping by.
        In order to color pasta, the vegetable has to be raw otherwise color of the pasta will be faded.
        What you can do is make the juice with the raw beets and strain. All the juice will be used to boil pasta and the shredded pulp that rests in the strainer can be boiled in a separate water or steamed to be used in salads or other dishes. If you don't want to cook the pulp, you can put it to dry instead and use it as a condiment for sautéed rice and other dishes.
        Wishing you an awesome week! xx

        Reply
    8. Rekha says

      April 15, 2015 at 8:05 pm

      This is awesome Denise! I am going to try this today 🙂

      Reply
      • Denise Browning says

        April 15, 2015 at 9:01 pm

        Enjoy!!!!

        Reply
    9. Liz says

      April 15, 2015 at 8:27 pm

      Denise, this is brilliant! I love the vibrant color from using beets---I must try this, too!

      Reply
    10. Juliana says

      April 15, 2015 at 10:11 pm

      This is such a great idea Denise...not only beautiful colors but flavors as well...great post!
      Enjoy the rest of your week my dear 🙂

      Reply
    11. Anna @ shenANNAgans says

      April 16, 2015 at 4:58 am

      Such a cool idea, I would not of thought to do this, some because I'm a bit lazy and some because you buy a broad range of coloured pastas at my farmers markets. I will bookmark this beauty, sure makes the pasta pop. 🙂

      Reply
    12. Mi Vida en un Dulce says

      April 16, 2015 at 7:23 am

      Interesting idea, like it as it gives fun to the pasta, and doing it with vegtables is great. So we just neeed to add some olive oil and parmesan cheese and we can have a great meal!!!

      Reply
    13. Shashi at RunninSrilankan says

      April 16, 2015 at 1:50 pm

      I adore your use of beets to color this pasta - such a gorgeous color!

      Reply
    14. Gourmet Getaways says

      April 17, 2015 at 8:09 am

      5 stars
      Wow, what a lovely, handy tip we got from you here, Denise! There's so much colours and flavours to play with in the vegetable world. Thanks for sharing!!

      Julie & Alesah
      Gourmet Getaways xx

      Reply
    15. Sugar et al. says

      April 18, 2015 at 4:09 am

      Wow! This is just brilliant Denise! A great way to make meals colorful and healthy at the same time. I am crazy about beetroot and this pasta is going to made in my house soon.

      Reply
    16. Little Cooking Tips says

      April 19, 2015 at 9:29 am

      5 stars
      What a wonderful idea! Thank you Denise! The best part is that this way you can also add flavors to the pasta! Can't wait to try this:)
      xoxoxo

      Reply
    17. Ash-foodfashionparty says

      April 20, 2015 at 10:19 am

      5 stars
      I love love working with beets and such a nice trick to enhance the pasta Denise. I truly believe in natural coloring and this is gorgeous my dear.
      xx

      Reply
    18. Raymund says

      April 20, 2015 at 2:50 pm

      5 stars
      This is a really nice tip, thanks for sharing this

      Reply
    19. Hadia says

      July 30, 2015 at 7:33 pm

      Denise, this is truly a fantastic tecnique that I never thought of before! Absolutely creative!

      Reply
      • Hadia says

        July 30, 2015 at 7:34 pm

        Excuse me, I mean technique.

        Reply

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