Oven roasted caramelized onions, peppers and butter beans in a tasty harissa honey glaze. These bold and spicy butter beans taste amazing with a minty lime yogurt drizzled on top for cooling; they can be served with fresh bread, baked sweet potatoes, rice, grains, and/or an additional protein of your choice to round off the meal.
Let’s take a can of butter beans and make it dinner…
Keeping a jar of harissa in your fridge is something I highly recommend, because it’s one of those ingredients that can completely transform a dish and make something special out of cupboard staples.
Today we are turning a can of humble butter beans into a sweet, smoky and spicy skillet of deliciousness, and the good news is we don’t need much make it happen. We will oven roast some onions and peppers until they are melty and caramelized, we will add harissa paste and honey to bring a deep complex flavor, we will throw in the beans and some tomatoes, and we will whizz together a cooling yogurt sauce to finish it all off.
My favorite way to serve these harissa butter beans is with roasted sweet potato halves, but you could also use it as a base for some kind of vegetarian protein, like fried halloumi or mushroom steaks. That said, the quickest and easiest way to transform this into a complete meal would be with a loaf of fresh bread (or pita breads).
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- To make this vegan, use maple syrup instead of honey and a vegan yogurt. Alternatively, just make a tahini sauce instead (the sauce in this recipe would be great).
- Your choice of harissa paste will dictate the flavor and spiciness level of this dish. I like to choose a mild harissa, because we use quite a lot of it. Even mild has a bit of a kick to it! You can use rose harissa or smoked harissa if you like.
- You could try this with any white beans. I do particularly enjoy butter beans in this recipe, because their large size means that while they might crisp up a little on the outside, there’s still lots of creamy middle. I wouldn’t hesitate to try this with another white bean variety, though, or even kidney beans.
- I happen to be obsessed with lime zest these days, but you could use lemon instead of lime (both for the zest and the juice in the yogurt sauce).
- I included some pomegranate seeds in my final photos. I do love them with these butter beans but they are optional. I wouldn’t buy them especially, unless you know you’ll use the rest.
- If you’re wondering about the quantity of yogurt sauce we’re making… it is a lot, more than you would need for this recipe. You can halve it if you like, but making it in smaller quantities can just be tricky because most food processors or mini blenders won’t work with such a small amount of ingredients. Leftover sauce can be kept in the fridge and used for something else (baked potato or sweet potato topping, or in another recipe where a sauce would be handy, like this One Pan Falafel Bake or One Pan Roasted Mushrooms & Halloumi).
Perfect Pairings
If you’re making these butter beans as part of a larger mezze style spread, or just want to make an interesting side dish for them, these recipes would pair beautifully:
Recipes to use up your jar of harissa paste
Harissa Butter Beans
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 medium red or yellow pepper, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 14 oz (400 g) canned butter beans, drained – or use 1.5 cups of precooked butter beans
- 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tbsp harissa paste
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 lime, zested
- olive oil, for cooking
Yogurt Sauce
- 1 cup (240 ml) Greek yogurt
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 small clove garlic, crushed
- 5 mint leaves
Optional Toppings
- pomegranate seeds
- chopped mint, cilantro (fresh coriander) or parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F.
- Scatter the sliced onions and peppers in a roasting dish. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil on top and mix until they are all just coated. Add salt and pepper to taste.1 large red onion, 1 medium red or yellow pepper, olive oil
- Place the dish in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the onions and peppers are reduced and browned around the edges.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by blending all of the ingredients in a mini food processor or with a hand blender in a tall jug.1 cup Greek yogurt, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 small clove garlic, 5 mint leaves, 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- Add the garlic, harissa paste, honey and another tablespoon of olive oil to the dish and mix through. It will all melt down and combine into a sticky sauce.3 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp harissa paste, 1 tbsp honey, olive oil
- Add the butter beans and cherry tomatoes and mix through.14 oz canned butter beans, 15 cherry tomatoes
- Place back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes, until the butter beans are lightly crisp and the veggies are melting down.
- Top the butter beans with lime zest, pomegranate seeds and herbs (if using), then drizzle with the yogurt sauce. Serve.1 lime, pomegranate seeds, chopped mint, cilantro (fresh coriander) or parsley
