In this paper, we use the variational approach to investigate recurrent properties of solutions for stochastic partial differential equations, which is in contrast to the previous semigroup framework. Consider stochastic differential equations with monotone coefficients. Firstly, we establish the continuous dependence on initial values and coefficients for solutions. Secondly, we prove the existence of recurrent solutions, which include periodic, almost periodic and almost automorphic solutions. Then we show that these recurrent solutions are globally asymptotically stable in square-mean sense. Finally, for illustration of our results we give two applications, i.e. stochastic reaction diffusion equations and stochastic porous media equations.