twenty-minute creamy butter beans with kale, and lemon

Serves 1-2         Prep 5mins         Cook 20mins

These are my twenty-minute, lunchtime butterbeans that can be added to and modified in many ways. I take the ease of this a step further by using frozen onions to but you can use fresh.

Butterbeans flew into my cooking arsenal a few years ago and have become the anchor to my lunches and dinners. Here, I’ve served them with vegan chorizo sausages though they work with any protein. Historically, I’ve paired these beans with a slice of toasted sourdough.

I’ve given the option of throwing in fresh dill, parsley or chives if you have them hand because fresh herbs make everything better.
400g cooked butterbeans
100g whole leaf kale (stemmed and chopped)
1 ½ tbsp white vinegar or white wine
1 lemon
1 small white onion
2–3 large garlic cloves
1 tbsp vegetable bouillon powder
3 tbsp yogurt
handful fresh herbs (e.g. parsley, dill, chives)
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch nutritional yeast (optional)
to taste salt & black pepper

  1. Chop the white onion, garlic, and kale. Congrats — that’s all the chopping required!

  2. Heat a wide frying pan or sauté pan over medium heat and drizzle in as much olive oil as your heart desires. Once hot, add the chopped onion, followed by the garlic. Sauté until softened, but watch the heat — we don’t want these to brown, just to stay translucent.

  3. When the onion and garlic start to catch slightly on the bottom of the pan, deglaze with the white wine vinegar (or white wine, if using). The pan should be hot enough that the liquid instantly sizzles when it hits the surface. Let it cook off for a minute or two.

  4. Pour in the tin of butterbeans along with all their liquid, then stir to incorporate. Add the vegetable bouillon and 80ml of water to loosen things up.

  5. Reduce the heat and let the beans simmer until the liquid reduces slightly and the mixture thickens — about 5–7 minutes. Use your spatula to break down about a fifth of the beans against the side of the pan to help thicken the sauce.

  6. Stir in your kale here and let it wilt for 1-2 minutes.

  7. Turn the heat to low. Stir in a generous dollop of yogurt, followed by nutritional yeast and chopped herbs of choice (if you have any on hand… dried also works here).

  8. Season with salt, cracked black pepper, and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Serve hot, finished with another bright hit of lemon, flaky sea salt, and a final scatter of fresh herbs.