🏭 Banza

Banza is an American pasta brand built around chickpeas. According to the company, the recipe came together in 2013 in the Detroit kitchen of co-founder Brian Rudolph: the first batch was not good, and the texture only came right after he bought gluten-free baking ingredients. His older brother Scott then joined to get the pasta into grocery stores across the country.

According to the brand, the chickpeas come primarily from Central Montana; one core partner is Flat Acre Farms, a fifth-generation family farm in Chester, Montana. Since August 2024 all of its chickpea suppliers have committed to harvesting without glyphosate and other pesticides (desiccation). Its pasta, pizza and mac and cheese are CleanScan certified by The Detox Project, meaning they were tested for glyphosate and 400+ pesticides with non-detectable results. According to the brand's FAQ, Banza pasta and mac and cheese are made both in the U.S. and in Italy; the company names its Virginia Park plant in Riverside, California.

The website lists pasta in many shapes, including spaghetti, linguine, penne, rigatoni, cavatappi, rotini, shells, elbows, gemelli, bucatini, angel hair, orzo and cascatelli. Banza Chickpea Pasta lists chickpeas, pea starch, tapioca and xanthan gum as ingredients; Banza Brown Rice Pasta, brown rice and chickpeas. Both lines are certified gluten-free by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization. Banza Wheat Protein Pasta lists semolina (wheat), chickpeas, wheat protein and pea protein; it contains gluten and is made in the U.S. in a separate facility. The brand also sells mac and cheese, pizza, protein waffles and rice.