Looking for a tasty, protein-packed vegan meal that’s perfect for meal prep? This creamy garlic butterbeans dish is sure to satisfy! Made with a rich, savory vegan cream cheese, tender butterbeans (also called lima beans), aromatic garlic, juicy tomatoes, fresh basil and nutrient-dense spinach. It’s a wholesome, plant-based meal that comes together easily.
Butterbeans are an often overlooked legume that provide plenty of plant-based protein and fiber. Combined with the creamy sauce and veggies, this dish is a well-balanced and convenient make-ahead meal. Simply prep a batch on the weekend and you’ve got hearty, flavorful portions ready to reheat for lunches or dinners throughout the busy week. It’s vegan comfort food at its finest! Let’s get cooking.
There are so many great many vegan cream cheeses out there – I like the Philadelphia, Violife and Nush Spreads which would all work amazingly in this recipe.
I highly recommend using jarred beans as opposed to tinned in this recipe (and in most bean recipes!) if you can get hold of them. But of course if you only have access to tinned, you can use those. Here are some of the key differences between jarred beans and tinned beans:
Processing Method:
- Canned beans go through a heating process to kill bacteria and allow them to be shelf-stable at room temperature for years.
- Jarred beans are cooked and then sealed in jars using heat processing, but the processing time is shorter than canning.
Texture:
- Canned beans tend to have a more mushy, softer texture because of the intense heat exposure during the canning process.
- Jarred beans generally have a firmer, more intact texture since the heat processing is shorter.
Liquid/Sauce:
- Canned beans contain just the beans and the canning liquid they were cooked in.
- Jarred bean products often contain the beans in a sauce or seasoned liquid to add flavor.
My favourite brands include Bold Beans and Brindisa.
Top with crispy fried breadcrumbs for some added flavour and crunch.
Creamy Garlicky Butterbeans
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 700 g butterbeans (pre-drained weight) undrained/in their juices (I recommend using the jarred kind)
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 450 g cherry tomatoes
- 4 tbsp vegan cream cheese
- Large handful spinach
- Handful fresh basil chopped
- Juice of 1 small lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large pan over a medium heat and add the oil
- Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes so that the tomatoes soften (you can squash them down gently with the back of a fork to help this).
- Pour in butterbeans (with their juices) and bring to a boil before reducing to a simmer for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the vegan cream cheese so a creamy sauce forms.
- Add in the salt, pepper, lemon juice, basil and spinach. Once the spinach has wilted, it's ready to serve! If meal prepping, this will keep in a container in the fridge for upto 3 days.
