Creamy Tahini White Beans: Perfect With Crusty Bread

A rich and creamy Turkish-inspired dish that works for pretty much any time of year. This plant-based recipe for tahini white beans is quick to make, deeply nourishing and full of flavour. This makes it ideal for midweek meals. Lightly spiced with warming aromatics, it features sweet potato and plenty of garlic.

I didn’t really know what to call this dish as it’s not quite a stew and definitely not a soup. A stew is cooked long and slow and this one is actually quite quick to both prepare and cook. And it’s not liquid enough for a soup. Nor is it a dip, although depending on the consistency you go for, it could be used as such. But whatever you want to call these creamy tahini white beans, the finished result is delicious.

Dive Right In

• Types of White Bean
• Why Make Creamy Tahini White Beans?
• Creamy White Beans With Tahini
• Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
• How To Make Caramelised Onions
• How To Make Creamy Tahini White Beans
• Other Recipes Using Tahini You Might Like
• Keep In Touch
• Pin It
• The Recipe

Types of White Bean

There are five types of white beans commonly used in the west. They all have similar uses and mild taste profile, but there are some differences.

Butter Beans (Phaseolus lunatus)

Also known as lima beans, these are large, soft and buttery in flavour. They’re really versatile and particularly good for salads and dips.

I have more recipes using butter beans here on Tin and Thyme than any other white bean. Whizz them up to make delicious buttery dips and spreads such as my mushroom pâté and green dip. Try them in this Spanish-style white bean salad. Or feature them in stews such as this squash and butter bean stew.

Gigante Beans (Phaseolus coccineus)

Also known as royal corona beans, they’re actually white runner beans with huge seeds. They’re much loved in Greece and are integral to the Greek baked bean dish, gigantes plaki. They’re slightly sweet in flavour and hold their shape well in cooking.

We usually manage to grow a few each year, but they’re a bit temperamental in our climate. In terms of flavour, these are my favourite. The image above is some that we’ve grown and I’ve used them in this chunky vegetable soup.

French Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Although the French bean has any number of varieties, these are the three that are most commonly used.

• Haricot Beans: (also known as navy beans, Boston beans and pea beans) are small and soft. They go mushy quite easily so are ideal for creamy dips and soups. These are the ones used to make baked beans. They also make fabulous white bean burgers.
• Cannellini Beans: (also known as white kidney beans) are larger than navy beans and with thicker skins. They tend to hold their texture better too and are popular in hearty Italian soups and stews such as ribollita.
• Great Northern beans: (confusingly, also known as white kidney beans) are medium-sized with a grainy texture and nutty flavour. They’re more common in the US than here in the UK. I’ve never used them, but they’re meant to be good in stews.

Why Make Creamy Tahini White Beans?

This recipe is worth making because it’s not only quick to make, but it’s also nutritious and most importantly delicious. Here are a few more reasons as to why you’ll want to make creamy tahini white beans.

• Big on Flavour, Low on Effort – Garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano and lemon give this recipe a deep, savoury warmth with minimal ingredients.
• Creamy & Comforting Without Dairy – Tahini creates a rich, velvety texture, which makes this dish satisfying whilst staying completely plant-based.
• Great with Crusty Bread – The thick, creamy sauce is just asking to be scooped up with a hunk of good bread.
• Nourishing & Balanced – The combination of white beans, tahini, sweet potato and garlic creates a recipe that’s packed with protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals and fibre.
• One-Pan Simplicity – Minimal washing up and an easy cooking process makes these creamy tahini white beans a perfect weeknight meal.
• Perfect for Any Season – Light enough for warmer months, yet cozy enough for cooler days, tahini white beans is a versatile go-to meal year-round.

Creamy White Beans With Tahini

Much as I love tomatoes, it’s sometimes nice to not have them in a dish you’d expect to have them in. Beans and tomatoes pair very nicely together after all. However beans and tahini also make an excellent match. So you’ll find no tomatoes in this creamy dish of tahini and white beans.

In Turkish cuisine, a mix of white beans and tahini is quite common and often used both in salads and stews. And if you think about hummus, that ubiquitous Middle Eastern dip that we all love so much, its principle ingredients are tahini and chickpeas.

As well as sautéed onion, I’ve also added sweet potato to temper any bitterness from the tahini. It adds a delightful touch of sweetness blending well with a little sourness from lemon juice. The dish is also very garlicky, so beware.

Simmering the beans and sweet potato with various aromatics means they both have a chance to soak up the flavours. The result is a creamy, rich, yielding, melt–in-the-mouth experience which just works brilliantly with good crusty bread.

Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions

This is another of those recipes that you can make with pantry staples. You’re likely to have most, if not all, of the ingredients needed to hand. However, I’ve given a few ideas for other veg you can use instead of, or as well as sweet potatoes.

Aromatics

Cumin seeds are a must. They’re so important for middle eastern cuisines, but worth having for all sorts of soups, stews, curries and more. They’re my most used spice.

Smoked paprika brings a little warmth and smokiness to the dish. But if you have pul biber (Turkish red pepper flakes) you can use those instead.

Oregano gives a wonderful warm and slightly pungent flavour to mediterranean dishes. Although not a herb traditionally used with Turkish tahini white beans, I find it works really nicely.

Garlic is key to this dish and you want lots of it. We grow our own garlic and try to make it last all year. Our fresh garlic is gone now, but I still have lots of pickled garlic cloves, so that’s what you can see in the image above.

Lemon juice adds a little zip and balances out the flavours really well. I also like to add some lemon zest for flavour.

Parsley is such a brilliant herb. It works just as well in British dishes as it does in mediterranean ones. Use the finely chopped stems to add flavour to the white beans and scatter the chopped leaves over the finished dish for freshness and more flavour.

Personally, I prefer curly parsley to flat leaf. That’s mostly because we grow our own and I find flat leaf parsley gets tough when grown outdoors in our British climate, whereas the curly one doesn’t. I also find it has a fresher taste.

Sweet Potato

Sweet potato gives a hint of sweetness to this tahini white bean dish. It helps to temper the slight bitterness from the tahini.

I often find orange fleshed sweet potatoes too sweet, so I’ve used a yellow fleshed one (with purple skin) which is still sweet, but nothing like as much. Sadly, they’re not so easy to get hold of in the UK. If you can find some, do give them a try.

You can swap the sweet potato for other sweet veg if you like. Parsnips and carrots both work, though carrots aren’t quite as sweet. Dice them small and add them as you would the sweet potato.

Peas are also a good bet, but maybe don’t bother with sweetcorn as it’s a bit chewy for this dish. Add them just a few minutes before removing the beans from the heat. They need to cook, but not so much that they lose their vibrant colour.

For optimum balance and nutrition, a nice addition is some soft green leaves such as spinach or nettles. Finely chop and add to the pot for the last five minutes or so before turning off the heat.

Tahini

Tahini comes in two variations: light and dark. Light is best for this recipe as the dark one is quite bitter. The light version is made with hulled sesame seeds whereas the dark is made with the whole sesame seed.

White Beans

Use any white beans you like. I tend to use either butter beans or haricot beans. What you use will very much effect the consistency of the finished dish though.

Tinned beans will produce a more traditional stew type of meal. Jarred haricot beans produce a thick potage, as in the images you can see in this post, ideal for scooping up with crusty bread. And jarred butter beans produce something in between.

How To Make Creamy Tahini White Beans

Tahini white beans is one of the easiest recipes you can make. Apart from a little chopping, it’s mostly a question of stirring.

Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions, timings and quantities of ingredients used.

Step 1. Fry Onions

Peel the onions, then dice them fairly finely.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle for thirty seconds. Then add the diced onions and cook for four to five minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden.

Step 2. Stir In Garlic And Spices

Grate or crush the garlic and add it to the pan along with the smoked paprika and oregano. Stir and allow to cook for thirty seconds or so or until fragrant.

Step 3. Add Beans And Sweet Potato

Scrub the sweet potato, but only peel it if the skin is rough or discoloured. Remove the tips, then cut it into cubes slightly bigger than one centimetre (about half an inch).

Zest the lemon and chop the parsley stems.

Add the sweet potato to the onion pan along with the beans, sweet potato, parsley stems, lemon zest and water (or stock). How much liquid you add will depend on the type of beans you use and the consistency you’re after. As you can see mine is a thick pottage. Start with the smaller amount given in the recipe and add more if needed.

Step 4. Simmer Stew

Give everything a good stir then clamp the lid on the pan. Bring the mix to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for ten to fifteen minutes or until the sweet potato is tender. Stir occasionally to prevent the beans sticking to the bottom. Add more water (or stock) if needed.

Step 5. Add Tahini

Stir your jar of tahini well; it’s very prone to separate. Spoon the required amount into the pan and stir until the beans become creamy or creamier. Place the lid back on the pan and simmer for a further minute.

Step 6. Add Seasoning

Turn off the heat, then squeeze in the lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste. It’s particularly good with lots of freshly ground black pepper.

Stir well and taste test. Add more lemon juice, salt or pepper if you think it’s needed.

Step 7. Serve

Spoon the beans into bowls and top with freshly chopped parsley leaves. Serve with crusty bread and maybe your favourite greens as a side dish.

Other Recipes With Tahini You Might Like

• Caesar dressing
• Sesame halva biscuits
• Tahini date flapjacks
• Tahini yoghurt sauce
• Traditional hummus
• Whole roasted cauliflower with turmeric tahini sauce

Keep in Touch

Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this creamy tahini white bean dish, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for using beans?

Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, tag me @choclette8 so I can see them.

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If you’d like more recipes using pulses, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.

Choclette x

Creamy Tahini White Beans. PIN IT.