This creamy beetroot beans recipe gives red kidney beans glow up treatment they deserve. Smothered in delicious sauce made with pureed beetroot, roasted garlic, creamy tahini, to name but a few simple ingredients, finished under the grill with some feta or plant based equivalent and sprinkled with toasted walnuts. All in just 30 minutes. Quick, comforting and delicious - perfect midweek meal.
Saucy beans are one of my favourite cosy meals. We make them at home all the time and this iteration with beetroot is one of my favourites (you know how much I love beetroot after all).
What are saucy beans I hear you ask? That's how we call any dish involving beans that includes some kind of sauce and quite a lot of it. So much in fact, that you will need plenty of delicious bread to help you mop it up (well, that's how we handle it anyway).
If this sort of easy dinner speaks to you then let's delve into it.
To make this dish in just 30 minutes you will have to prep ahead and cook your beetroot in advance (unless you use pre-cooked, vacuum packed type of course). If you are not sure what is the best way to do that, the timings etc. do check out my How to Cook Beetroot guide. It's all in there for you.
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✔️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Quick, easy, comforting and nutritious meal in just 30 minutes.
- Great way to incorporate more beans (red kidney beans in particular in this case) into your diet.
- Delicious lunch or dinner either on its own or with accompaniments depending on how hungry you are.
- Vegetarian recipe but super easy to adapt to vegan diet. Also naturally gluten-free.
- Really filling and delicious and just look at that colour!
- Flexible and easy to adapt recipe to work with what you've got in your fridge and cupboards.
- Great for both beets and beans fanatics.
🛒 Ingredients to make Creamy Beetroot Beans
Here's what you will need to make my Creamy Beetroot Beans:
Cooked Beetroot - You can use boiled, roasted or steamed beets here, as long as they're soft enough for pureeing/blending. To make it easier on yourself use shop bought vacuum packed cooked beetroot (not the vinegary type in the jar).
***Quick Tip*** Check out my guide on How to Cook Beetroot for advice on cooking this lovely root veg.
Red Kidney Beans - Personally, I don't this we are eating enough of red kidney beans, maybe in chilli and that's about it and so I'm using them in this recipe.
Use jarred or tinned beans, whatever is available. You can also swap red kidney beans for butter beans, borlotti beans, chickpeas or other beans you like. No bean discrimination here.
***Quick Tip*** If you are in the UK, I would highly recommend you check out Bold Bean Co jarred beans which are available now in all major supermarkets (although red kidney beans I only found in Waitrose and Ocado). They are such a treat and the beautifully seasoned liquid they are in is just as good.
Roasted Garlic - Lovely, gentle, almost sweet garlicky flavour without any harshness. Feel free to skip it if you don't have it on the go or replace it with couple of cloves of garlic sautéed in some olive oil instead. It won't be the same but if you like a touch of garlic it will be a nice addition. If sautéing only use 2 cloves instead of 4 plump ones as roasted garlic is much more mellow.
***Quick Tip*** Next time you've got your oven on for something, pop an entire head of garlic wrapped in some aluminium foil (like a little parcel) to roast alongside it. 30-40 minutes in 180-200°C/350-400°F oven will do the job. Keep it in the fridge and use to add flavour to dishes without the harshness of raw garlic.
Tahini - Contributes lovely creaminess and flavour. Tahini brands are not all equal and trust me Think I've tried them all by now. My two favourite ones in the UK are Belazu and Al Nakhil.
Yogurt - Use thick Greek or Greek style dairy or plant yogurt. You could substitute it with cream of choice (dairy or soya) or even some coconut milk if you prefer.
***Quick Tip*** You could use a portion of silken tofu here instead of or with yogurt and tahini.
Lemon Juice - For me lemon juice is just like salt and pepper. Almost every dish needs it and this is no exception. Use to taste.
Fresh Dill - My absolute favourite pairing with beetroot but you can swap it for parsley or coriander (cilantro).
Feta - I use it here as a topping and to add a touch of salty creaminess. Feel free to use plant based equivalent if you want. Mozzarella or halloumi slices would work nicely here as well.
Walnuts - For a bit of crunch in all that creaminess. You can swap them for pine nuts or leave out completely if you want.
🔪 How to make Creamy Beetroot Beans
Ingredient quantities & detailed instructions to be found in recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step 1: Put about 300-350g of cooked beetroot in a food processor or a blender together with roasted garlic, lemon juice, tahini and yogurt. Blend until completely smooth.Taste and season with salt and pepper. Adjust the amount of lemon juice to taste.
***Quick Tip*** I like to keep some beetroot aside and chop it up instead of pureeing to add a bit of texture. Feel free to puree it all.
Step 2: Roughly chop the remaining beetroot (if any) into small chunks. Finely chopped all the dill.
Step 3: Next pour beetroot pure into a sauté style pan together with the beans (including liquid) and give it all a good mix.Pop the pan on a low to medium heat to gently heat up the mixture stirring often (5-10 minutes).
***Quick Tip*** Don't walk away from the pan, it requires constant supervision and frequent stirring.
Pour about 150ml water/stock into the bean jar, pop the top on and give it a good shake. Use that water to adjust consistency of your beetroot beans. If you find you'd prefer it less thick add even more water/stock. Preheat the grill (if necessary).
Take the pan off the heat. Stir in ¾ of the chopped dill saving the rest for garnish at the end.
Step 4: Crumble some feta plant feta on top of the beans and pop the pan under the grill to brown it off slightly.
***Quick Tip***If you don't have a separate grill you can pop the pan in a preheated oven or simply leave it as is. Even without browning feta will add a little bit of saltiness and creaminess to the dish.
Step 5: Put walnuts in a dry frying pan and toast them on a low heat, giving pan a shake regularly so that they don't burn. Couple of minutes should be enough.
Step 6: Take the pan from under the grill, sprinkle over toasted walnuts and the rest of the chopped dill.
Enjoy!
🥡 Storing Creamy Beetroot Beans
Store: Beany leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 3-5 days. To serve, reheat gently on on the hob/stove or in the microwave. You will most likely need to add a bit of extra liquid (stock or water) to adjust consistency to make them saucy again.
Freeze: This dish is freezer friendly for up to 3 months which is more of a quality rather than safety timeline.
Defrost: I would recommend defrosting your beans overnight in the fridge before reheating as heating them up from frozen (although possible) will make them mushy.
💭 Pro tips
I've already included lots of tips throughout this post but here you will find few more that might be helpful:
Feel free to puree/blend all of the beetroot if you prefer. I usually chop some up for some extra texture but to be honest my kids prefer it when it's all pureed.
Adjust the amount of liquid to how saucy you'd like your beans to be. Bean liquid from the jarred beans is seasoned and really tasty so I always add it in. If using tinned beans and not wanting to add their liquid, simply drain and rinse the beans and top up the liquid with stock or water. I would recommend stock for more flavour.
Always adjust seasoning to your taste, lemon juice, salt pepper, you know your taste.
🍴 Serving suggestions
Any saucy, creamy beans have been simply made to be enjoyed with bread. Something to mop up all that sauciness. Try it with my no-knead focaccia, garlic flatbreads, easy wholemeal bread, super quick soda bread or vegan soda bread if you prefer. My crusty easy bread rolls will work a treat too.
Or just top them with homemade croutons and be done!
That's me done right here, lunch or light dinner sorted.
For a little bit of extra sustenance and goodness when feeding my growing boys with ever increasing appetites, I like to serve these with the side of quinoa, rice, bulgur wheat etc. whatever I've got in the cupboard. That and the side of greens (try my cavolo nero with chilli, garlic and crispy capers or salsa verde purple sprouting broccoli) or even simple peas or steamed broccoli, whatever veg your family like.
I like to serve greens on the side here but you can always incorporate them into the dish by adding couple of large handfuls of spinach at the very end of cooking as they will wilt in a minute or two.
On really hungry days we treat these saucy beetroot beans as pasta sauce and serve with pasta. Say no more.
I'm sure you 'll find your own way to enjoy them.
Have you tried my Creamy Beetroot Beans?
Please consider giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in recipe card below and share your views or tips in the comments.
📋 Recipe
Creamy Beetroot Beans
Ingredients
- 500 g cooked beetroot peeled and divided; see tip below
- 4 big roasted garlic cloves flesh squeezed out of the skins; see tip below
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice and more to taste
- 50 g tahini
- 50 g thick Greek yogurt or plant Greek style yogurt see notes
- 570 g jar of red kidney beans or use 2 x 400g(14-15oz) cans instead; other types of beans can be used instead
- 150 ml water or stock or more; see tip below
- 30 g fresh dill leaves only
- 50 g feta or vegan feta see notes
- 50 g walnuts roughly chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put about 300-350g of cooked beetroot in a food processor or a blender together with roasted garlic, lemon juice, tahini and yogurt. Blend until completely smooth.Taste and season with salt and pepper. Adjust the amount of lemon juice to taste.500 g cooked beetroot, 4 big roasted garlic cloves, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 50 g tahini, 50 g thick Greek yogurt or plant Greek style yogurt, salt and pepper
- Roughly chop remaining beetroot (if any) into small chunks. Finely chopped all the dill.500 g cooked beetroot, 30 g fresh dill
- Next pour beetroot pure into a sauté style pan together with the beans (including liquid) and give it all a good mix.Pop the pan on a low to medium heat to gently heat up the mixture stirring often (5-10 minutes).570 g jar of red kidney beans
- Pour about 150ml water/stock into the bean jar, pop the top on and give it a good shake. Use that water to adjust consistency of your beetroot beans. If you find you'd prefer it less thick add even more water/stock. Preheat the grill (if necessary).150 ml water or stock
- Take the pan off the heat. Stir in ¾ of the chopped dill saving the rest for garnish at the end.30 g fresh dill
- Crumble some feta or vegan feta on top of the beans and pop the pan under the grill to brown it off slightly.50 g feta or vegan feta
- Put walnuts in a dry frying pan and toast them on a low heat, giving pan a shake regularly so that they don't burn. Couple of minutes should be enough.50 g walnuts
- Take the pan from under the grill, sprinkle over toasted walnuts and the rest of the chopped dill.Serve with some quinoa, steamed greens and plenty of good bread. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per serving (based on 4 servings) and should be treated as a rough guideline only. It will differ depending on ingredients used.
- Yogurt can be substituted with cream of your choice or coconut milk.
- I love feta as a topping but you could use mozzarella or halloumi slices too.
- For more information on ingredients and possible substitutions see 🛒 Ingredients.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 3-5 days. Freezer friendly. For storage and freezing details see 🥡 Storage.
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