A creamy, luxurious butter bean mash recipe with goat cheese and chive flavors! Butter bean mash is a low carb, high protein alternative to mashed potatoes and this decadent goat cheese and chive mash will completely win you over.
Regular readers, do not be alarmed. I’ve not gone low carb on you. LOL. I wouldn’t even know how.
But yes I still love to explore alternatives to mashed potatoes, especially if they can mix up my nutritional intake a little bit. White bean mash totally won me over the last time I tried it (see my Roasted Garlic & Cheddar White Bean Mash to refresh your memory) and so I thought it was high time for me to try another combo.
This butter bean mash is quick and easy to make, all in one pan, with butter, salt, tangy goat cheese and chives. That’s it!
The texture is light and fluffy and the flavor is fantastic. I still like to have a saucy topping, either an onion gravy or burst cherry tomatoes, although it’s not dry or bland on its own.
Is butter bean mash healthier than mashed potato?
I really can’t say, because we all have different definitions of healthy! Butter bean mash is lower in carb and higher in protein and fiber, if any of these factors are important to you.
But this recipe is pretty high fat, like most of my mashed potato recipes would be, because I add a lot of butter and cheese to bring some luxury to the texture. So if that makes it unhealthy by your definition, it’s probably not the ideal recipe for you (there are much lower fat butter bean mash recipes out there which use broth or lemon juice to moisten things up, so do some browsing!)
I will say this: Beans are an amazingly healthy food and something we should probably all eat more of, so I am really enthusiastic about butter bean mash as a way to get more beans into our diet. I personally am guilty of not eating enough protein and leaning on carbs a little too much, so for me it’s a great healthy swap.
Adaptations to this Butter Bean Mash
You could swap in another white bean (cannelini, navy / haricot) if you don’t have butter beans available.
If you have the time, using butter beans cooked from dried would get you a far superior result I am sure – if you do this you want to cook 1.5 cups or 9oz of dried beans to get around the same amount as you’d get from the two cans this recipe calls for.
If you want to reduce the goat cheese, go ahead, but add a few tablespoons of broth if you do this, for flavor and moisture.
Skip the butter if you prefer not to use it – but don’t skip the olive oil, it gives it a nice richness and stops it from being too dry. Add extra salt too.
No chives? Swap in another fresh herb that you love, or lightly saute some garlic in the pan before adding the rest of the ingredients to replicate the flavor a little.
How to Serve Your Butter Bean Mash
You can use butter bean mash anywhere you would use mashed potatoes!
But since they are in themselves a significant protein source, you can also base your whole meal around them. Scoop into a bowl and top with some veggies, for example any of the following would be absolutely delicious additions to a bean mash bowl!
- Burst cherry tomatoes
- Sauteed greens
- Herby roasted mushrooms
- Assorted roasted vegetables

Butter Bean Mash with Goat Cheese & Chives
Ingredients
- 2 cans butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 125 g (4.4 oz) soft goat cheese
- 30 g (2 Tbsp) salted butter
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 bunch of chives
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a small to medium sized saucepan, heat your butter beans, butter and goat cheese over a low heat until the butter and cheese have melted into a creamy sauce.
- Mash the beans. I like to do this with an electric mixer but with enough time you can get results from a potato masher and fork. Get the beans fairly smooth, but with a little texture.
- Add the olive oil and mix through. Assess the texture. If you’d like more richness, add a little more oil or butter. More moisture? Add some milk.
- Add the chives, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve!