These spicy white beans are cooked with garlic, chili flakes, tomato paste, and a little bit of ~spice~. They’re super convenient, versatile, and comforting any time of the day.
If you have a can of beans, you have lunch. Beans and I are having a moment, which isn’t surprising because I grew up around lots of Indian lentil & bean dishes, but for some reason I never had white beans. They aren’t common in Indian cuisine, so I was unfortunately barred from understanding their soft melt-in-your-mouth beauty. I’m here now though, so that counts for something.
So next on the romanticizing lunch time series, I thought it’d be fun to add a twist to the brothy beans I see often. These spicy white beans include great northern beans cooked with olive oil, garlic, chili flakes, and tomato paste. But then I was like, let’s get spicy but not toooo spicy. So we also did garam masala, coriander, turmeric, and pepper.
These beans are ethnically ambiguous, but if Indian-italian cuisine ever surfaced, this might be it. I served them with a random salad of spring greens, almonds, tamarind chutney, and lime juice (highly recommend grabbing a sauce you haven’t thought to use in salad before). I’m all for pressure cooking dry beans but this is for when you want a 20-minute meal with little work, big flavor & comfort. Cool beans.
Spicy White Beans
Ingredients
- 30 oz. great northern beans or another white bean (2 cans)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ tsp red chili flakes
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- salt
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tbsp lime juice (~ ½ a lime)
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the canned beans.
- Add olive oil to a pan over medium heat. When it's hot, add garlic. Stir occasionally for a few minutes. The oil should start to bubble and the garlic should turn slightly golden.
- Add red chili flakes and stir with the garlic for a minute. Then add tomato paste and salt. Stir for 3-4 minutes, until it all clumps together.
- Add the ground spices (garam masala, coriander, turmeric, pepper) and mix for a minute.
- Add beans and one cup water. Turn heat to medium-high and cook uncovered for 3-4 minutes, or until it starts to simmer. Turn back to low heat and cover for 5-7 minutes.
- Taste for salt, finish with lime juice, and serve with toasted sourdough!
For more beans and lentils love, check out…
I’m with ya 🙂
This is simply wonderful.
No end to what can be done with this recipe.