Lemon Garlic Butter Beans

These creamy lemon garlic butter beans are an easy 30-minute dinner that will help you incorporate more beans into your diet this year! The sauce is made by blending sautéed onions and garlic with beans, tofu, nutritional yeast, lots of lemon juice and water, making this dish both dairy and nut-free. It comes together in under 30 minutes and is best enjoyed with toasted bread, or my homemade naan (check out the recipe here!).

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 zucchini
• 1 onion
• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• 1 lemon
• 2 cans of butter beans (400mL or 13.5 fl oz each)
• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 75g firm tofu (2.5 oz)
• 1/2 cup water
• Pinch of salt
• Bunch of fresh basil leaves
• Toasted bread to serve

Equipment

• Non-stick frying pan
• Blender
• Air fryer, or baking sheet for oven

Instructions

1. Thinly slice the zucchini and the onion, peel and mince garlic cloves, and cut the peel off half of the lemon and slice into thin strips.
2. Toss zucchini in 1 tbsp olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. If using an fryer, toss in the air fryer at 425F for 15-18 minutes, flipping a couple times to avoid burning. If using an oven, roast for 20 minutes at 400F, flipping halfway.
3. To a good non-stick frying pan on medium-low heat, add the olive oil and sliced onions, stirring often.
4. After a few minutes, add the minced garlic and lemon strips, continuing to stir often.
5. Drain and rinse two cans of butter beans, setting aside 2/3 cup for the sauce.
6. Turn the onions down to low while you blend the sauce. To a blender, add about 1/3 of the sautéed onions and lemon from the pan, 2/3 cup of butter beans, tofu, nutritional yeast, salt, juice from the entire lemon and water. Blend until smooth and creamy.
7. Add the remaining butter beans to the pan, then add the sauce from the blender and bring to a simmer.
8. Finely chop basil leaves.
9. Remove from heat, dish up, top with the roasted zucchini and chopped basil and enjoy! I love serving this with toasted sourdough bread.

Notes

*Instead of roasting the zucchini separately, you could simplify the recipe by sautéing it with the onions and lemon.

*You could also serve this with a batch of homemade naan – check out the recipe here!

*Cannellini beans would also be delicious instead of butter beans in this recipe.