Facebook Pinterest X (Twitter) WhatsApp Reddit E-mail

This recipe for Greek butter beans (lima beans) is an easy, but equally tasty, version of gigantes plaki. Butter beans are cooked in a rich tomato sauce which is made even more flavoursome with garlic and lots of herbs. A super healthy and gut friendly vegan meal.

Ceramic dish filled with Greek butter beans in tomato sauce and parsley scattered over the top.

This is my riff on the Greek Gigantes Plaki, a classic vegetarian dish of beans baked in a rich tomato sauce. It’s the Greek version of baked beans and is usually served with bread and feta cheese or as part of a meze spread.

As the oven is expensive to use, I make mine on the stove top. The result is still ever so tasty though.

Although Gigantes beans are often cooked with just the tomato sauce, it’s quite common to add greens too. In Greece, wild greens are usually collected for this dish. I tend to use spinach, chard or kale.

Greek Butter Beans: Ingredients

This Greek butter bean stew is such a simple one to make and the ingredients are few. But because of this go for the best beans and tomatoes you can afford or grow. They are the key to this recipe.

Gigantes Or Butter Beans?

We have grown Gigantes in the past. They are fabulous and ever so tasty. You can see them in action in this chunky vegetable soup. We absolutely must grow some again. They are not easy to buy here in the UK though. Butter beans (lima beans) are the next best thing.

What Are Gigantes?

Gigantes (Phaseolus coccineus) are extra large white runner beans, commonly used in Greece as a dried bean. When cooked, they have a good flavour, a creamy texture and hold their shape well.

The name comes from the Greek word gigantios, which, not surprisingly, means gigantic.

Like all beans, gigantes are great for gut health. They contain high levels of fibre and essential minerals as well as protein. They’re also low in fat.

Butter Beans (Lima Beans)

Butter beans are similarly healthy and also delicious. To make butter beans in tomato sauce, you can go one of three ways.

Soak dried beans overnight. Drain, then cook in plenty of unsalted water until they are tender. You can do this in a slow cooker, a pressure cooker or on the stove top. My top tip is to add a bay leaf or a strip of kombu seaweed. Both of these help to make the beans more digestible.
Buy jarred beans. These are expensive, but they really are a much higher quality than tinned beans. Or at least the ones I use are. They’re a Polish heritage variety and ever so tasty. I buy a few when they’re on offer at the supermarket and only use them when the beans are the star of the show. As well as this recipe, they’re really worth using in this Spanish white bean salad.
Tinned beans. These are super handy and I usually have a couple of cans in the cupboard. They’re relatively cheap too. Some brands are better than others, but they generally have a price tag to match. I like to drain and rinse tinned beans well before I use them as the liquid has a bit of a tinny flavour to it. This is not the case with jarred beans, where the liquid tastes really good.

For an interesting listen on why beans are so good for our health and planet, I can highly recommend The Food Programme’s Beans Part 1: Are Legumes The Answer?

Tomatoes

This year CT bought some Great White tomatoes home from work. Why they’re called white, when they’re actually yellow, I’m not sure. But my goodness, they’re good. I thought Brad’s Blackheart were the best I’d ever used for cooking up to then. Now I know Great White tomatoes are even better.

They’re really sweet and juicy, have hardly any seeds and they’re thin skinned. This means even if you don’t peel them, the skins disappear when cooked along with the flesh. It’s actually fairly easy to peel the skin straight off, if you really want to though.

So, if you grow tomatoes and like to cook with them, I highly recommend this variety.

Obviously, you can use whatever tomatoes you like, fresh or tinned. But as they are such a key ingredient for Greek butter beans, try to go for the most flavoursome and least watery ones you can.

Onions

Like so many Mediterranean dishes, Greek butter beans starts with frying an onion in olive oil. A large yellow onion is the best one to use. It’s cheap and has plenty of flavour.

Carrots

Carrots are traditional to the Greek Gigantes bean dish. They add a little sweetness, some bulk and additional nutrients.

Tomato Purée

Tomato purée adds umami and intensifies the richness of the tomato sauce. You don’t need much, but a couple of tablespoons make quite a difference.

Garlic

The tomato sauce used to make gigantes plaki is traditionally a very garlicky one. I’ve used two large cloves of garlic, but you won’t go wrong if you add an extra one.

Herbs

I’ve seen recipes for gigantes plaki that use dill, thyme, mint or oregano. One thing they all have in common though is parsley. So whichever herbs you decide to use, make sure you include fresh parsley. You’ll need some for scattering over the top of the finished dish too.

I make my tomato sauce with dried oregano, then add fresh parsley and mint close to the end of cooking. Sometimes I swap the oregano for fresh thyme leaves.

Greens

Greens are an optional extra, but I like to use them to make a delicious and nutritious easy one pot meal.

The Greeks go for wild greens in their gigantes recipes. I tend to use spinach for ease, but chard and kale are also good. I have been known to use nettles too in the spring. Young nettles have a lovely flavour and work well as a spinach substitute in pretty much any recipe.

Spinach, or nettles don’t need much cooking time, so they work particularly well in this recipe. It’s best to add tender chard leaves in the early stages of cooking. Kale, however, is a tougher beast. It works best, cooked separately and then added near the end of the cooking process.

If you don’t like the idea of greens in your Greek butter beans, then just leave them out.

Chilli

Chilli is not at all traditional and is entirely optional. I just find that a little heat and chilli flavour goes exceedingly well with tomato sauce.

If you like, use a teaspoon of smoked paprika instead of the chilli or half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

Greek Butter Beans (Or Gigantes) With Tomatoes

The beans I used for the images in this post are big enough to call Gigantes I reckon. But really I’m just kidding myself. They are butter beans in tomato sauce with greens. But what a deliciously rich tomato sauce it is and how wonderfully creamy those butter beans are.

As with all traditional cuisines, there are many variations to beans in tomato sauce. Ingredients depend on what’s in season and what part of the country you’re in. Many families also have their own “secret” recipes.

This is my take on the dish and I reckon it’s a good one.

Greek Butter Beans: Step-by-Step

If you use ready cooked butter beans, this recipe is a cinch to make. If you want to cook the butter beans from dried, you’ll need some extra preparation time and to start the day before you need them.

Step 1. Fry Onions

Place a large lidded shallow pan over a medium to low heat. You need enough heat to cook the food, but not so much that it browns the veg. Add the olive oil. Whilst it’s heating up, peel the onion, then dice it fairly small.

Add to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes until translucent. Stir in a pinch of sea salt.

Step 2. Add Carrots

Whilst the onion is cooking, prepare the carrot or carrots. Give them a good scrub to clean them. Top and tail, but there’s no need to peel.

Dice them as small as you can, then add to the pan of frying onions. Give them a good stir to coat in the oil, then leave for five minutes to gently fry.

Step 3. Spice It Up

Finely chop the chilli, if using and add to the pan. Peel the garlic and either finely chop or grate it. Add to the pan. Give everything a good stir, then add the tomato paste.

Stir that in as well as you can and allow to cook for a couple of minutes.

Step 4. Add Tomatoes

Roughly chop the tomato or tomatoes and add to the pan. Alternatively add a tin of good quality chopped tomatoes instead.

Add the oregano or thyme leaves together with the remaining salt and a good few grinds of fresh black pepper. Pour in the water and stir. Put the lid on the pan and leave to simmer gently for five minutes.

Step 5. Add Beans

Add the cooked beans. Rinse and drain tinned beans first. However, if you’re using a jar of beans, add the whole thing, liquid and all. But omit the water in the previous step. If using ready salted beans, you may want to use less salt in the actual recipe.

Give everything a good stir, clamp the lid back on the pan and simmer for a further five minutes.

Top Tip

If you’re using tinned tomatoes, the sauce can sometimes taste slightly bitter. Taste it and see. If you feel it needs it, add a half teaspoon or so of sugar to take the edge of it. Or swap it for xylitol or use a pinch of stevia instead.

Step 6. Add Greens (if using)

Wash the greens well. If using baby spinach, leave as is, but roughly chop mature spinach. For chard, remove the leaves from the stem, finely shred them. If using kale, see my with kale section below.

Add the greens to the pan and give another good stir. At this point check how liquid the sauce is. The sauce should be thick rather than watery, but not so thick that it sticks to the bottom of the pan.

If it’s just right, put the lid back on the pan. If it’s fairly thick, but not actually sticking, put the lid back on the pan. The greens will release some moisture as they cook. If the sauce looks at all watery, keep the lid off the pan as you cook so that excess liquid can evaporate. You may need to turn the heat up slightly for this, although you’re looking for a simmer rather than a boil.

Cook for another five minutes or until the greens are soft or to your liking.

Step 7. Add Herbs

Wash and finely chop the parsley and mint. Stir into the pan and simmer for a further two minutes.

Taste test at this point. If you feel it needs more seasoning or some sweetener, stir it in.

Scatter some finely chopped fresh parsley over the top before serving.

With Kale

I often add kale to my Greek butter beans, particularly cavolo nero. Because the leaves are quite tough, however, I cook them separately, then add to the tomato sauce near the end of the cooking process.

Bring a little water to boil in a large pan along with a pinch of salt. Add the kale and cook for about 5 minutes (more if you like your kale soft rather than al dente).

Drain and stir the kale into the tomatoes. Simmer for a minute or two, before adding the herbs.

How To Serve Greek Butter Beans With Tomato Sauce

Serve with crusty bread, Greek style flatbreads or my Greek rice for a healthy and filling main meal. It’s good both hot and at room temperature. As is often the case, it’s even better on day two, so a great dish to make in advance. Scatter some crumbled feta cheese over the top, if you think it needs it.

Alternatively serve Greek butter beans as part of a meze meal along with bread, a bowl of olives, baked feta cheese and some sort of green salad. I have a few other ideas below.

Other Meze Recipes You Might Like

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this version of Greek gigantes in tomato sauce with greens, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?

If you’d like more butter bean recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have a few of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.

Choclette x

Greek Butter Beans. PIN IT.

Print Pin

5 from 18 votes

Greek Butter Beans With Tomato Sauce And Greens

This dish of Greek butter beans (lima beans) is an easy, but equally tasty, version of gigantes plaki. Butter beans are cooked in a rich tomato sauce which is made even more flavoursome with garlic and lots of herbs. A super healthy and gut friendly vegan meal.

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Greek

Keyword: butter beans, meze, stew, tomato sauce

Servings: people

Calories: 285kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
1 carrot (or 2 small ones) – diced
1 red chilli (optional) – finely chopped
2 clove garlic finely chopped or minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
400 g fresh tomatoes or 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes (I used Great White)
1 tsp oregano or 8 sprigs fresh thyme
100 ml water
450 g cooked butter beans (lima beans) 180g dried butter beans or two 400g tins – drained and rinsed. (I used a 660g jar of queen butter beans (450g drained weight))
250 g spinach or chard greens – washed
1 handful fresh parsley finely chopped
1 handful fresh mint finely chopped
½ tsp sea salt or more to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

In a large shallow lidded pan, gently fry the onion in the olive oil until translucent – about 3 minutes.
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 large onion
Add the carrots and a pinch of salt. Gently fry for a further 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.
1 carrot
Add the chilli, garlic and tomato paste and stir. Cook over the same gentle heat for a couple of minutes.
1 red chilli, 2 clove garlic, 2 tbsp tomato paste
Add the tomatoes, oregano or thyme and water. Stir, cover and cook gently for five minutes.
400 g fresh tomatoes, 1 tsp oregano, 100 ml water
Add the butter beans. Stir, cover and simmer for five minutes.
450 g cooked butter beans (lima beans)
Throw in the baby spinach leaves. If larger leaves, roughly chop first. If using chard, chop the leaves into small pieces and use the stalks for something else. Stir and at this stage check the consistency. If the sauce is fairly thick, put the lid back on the pan and simmer for another five minutes. If it’s watery, leave the lid off and simmer so that some of the liquid can evaporate. You’ll probably need to crank up the heat a little if this is the case.
250 g spinach
Add the herbs, remaining salt and plenty of black pepper. Simmer for another couple of minutes, with the lid on or off, depending on the thickness of the sauce.
1 handful fresh parsley, 1 handful fresh mint, ½ tsp sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
Stir then taste test the sauce and add more seasoning if required.
Serve hot, or at room temperature with a sprinkling of finely chopped parsley.

Notes

Serves four as a main meal and eight to ten as part of a meze platter.

Serve with crusty bread or Greek-style flatbreads and crumbled feta cheese, if liked.

The greens are optional, but make the dish into an excellent one pot meal.

If the sauce starts to catch on the bottom of the pan at any point, add a little water and stir.

You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the main body of the post.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

Sharing

I’m sharing this recipe for Greek gigantes in tomato sauce with Glutarama for #CookBlogShare.