Garlicky Butter Beans — a plant-based Mediterranean recipe by BOSH!
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Garlicky Butter Beans

This one has become a proper staple in our kitchens and honestly, once you make it, you'll understand why. Roasted garlic is one of those things that just transforms everything it touches, and paired with creamy butter beans and a punchy salsa verde, it's absolutely unreal. The beans go soft and silky, the garlic gets all sweet and mellow from the oven, and then that herby, tangy salsa verde cuts right through it. It's the kind of dinner that feels really impressive but comes together without too much fuss. Make this tonight, trust us.

Cook: 30 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 200°C
  • Food processor
  • Tin foil
  • Medium saucepan

Ingredients

  • 1 large garlic bulb
  • 1 x 700g jar of butter beans
  • ½ vegetable stock cube
  • 100ml water
  • 1 lemon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • handful of tarragon
  • handful of parsley
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp capers
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 ½ tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil
  • Sourdough toast

Method

1

Prepare the garlic 

  • Use a sharp knife to cut off the sprouting end of the garlic bulb. Drizzle the bulb with a little olive oil oil, wrap in a square of tin foil and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes
2

Prepare the salsa verde 

  • Finely chop the tarragon and parsley. Grate the garlic. Add the herbs and garlic to a bowl along with the mustard, capers, vinegar and a squeeze of lemon juice. Finally, stir through the olive oil. Taste and season with salt or more vinegar if needed
3

Prepare the creamed beans 

  • Take the garlic out of the oven and leave to cool until handleable
  • Prepare the vegetable stock, halve the lemon and open and rinse the beans
  • Squeeze the garlic into the food processor followed by half the beans. Blitz into a smooth cream. Pour the creamed beans into pan, bring to a simmer over medium heat, gradually add the stock until desired consistency, finally add the remaining beans and simmer for 3-5 minutes until the whole beans are warmed through and tender
  • Squeeze the lemon juice into the pan catching any pips in your free hand and simmer for a further 30 seconds. Finish with a sprinkle of salt and pepper
4

Time to serve 

  • Toast the sourdough until golden and crispy
  • Drizzle the salsa verde over the beans
  • Mop your beans up with the crunchy sourdough toast and serve straight from the pan if you like!

Tips & Variations

  • Get ahead on the garlic: The roasted garlic can be done well in advance, even the night before. Just pop it in the fridge and squeeze it out when you need it. It keeps really well.
  • Make the salsa verde your own: We love the tarragon and parsley combo but if you've only got one of them, just double up on the other. Basil also works brilliantly in there if that's what you've got.
  • Serve it right: This is gorgeous on toast, piled onto crusty sourdough, or just eaten straight from the pan with some good bread on the side. We find it works really well as a side dish too if you're doing a big spread.

Why This Works

The trick here is roasting the whole garlic bulb rather than just using raw or fried garlic. It goes completely sweet and almost jammy in the oven, which means you get loads of depth without any harsh sharpness. Then the salsa verde does the heavy lifting on brightness, and together they make the butter beans taste like something you'd order in a really good Mediterranean restaurant.