This cozy smokey Butter Bean Stew takes flavour inspiration from Spain. With loads of smoked paprika, garlic, rich tomato sauce, and creamy butterbeans, it's one of those stews that just begs to be mopped up with good crusty bread.
This deliciously easy stew comes together in one pot, and uses easy to find ingredients. Make a double batch of it to freeze and you'll always have some to eat when the weather is freezing and you need some sunshine in your bowl.
I particularly love serving up this butter bean stew with Vegan Garlic Bread and a green salad like this Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing & Roasted Chickpeas. Or take further inspiration from Spain and serve with these Easy Oven Baked Patatas Bravas.
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🍅Ingredients
This cozy butterbean stew has simple ingredients, but the taste is just delicious. Fun Fact: Butter beans are also known as Lima Beans, and in Spain are called garrofón.
- Butter Beans (Also known as Lima Beans): I use pre-cooked tins of butter beans. You can also use jars or cook your own from scratch by soaking, then gently simmering in plenty of water until soft.
- Red Pepper: You can choose jarred, or fresh.
- Red Onions: Sweet red onions lend their flavour to the stew. (I don't know why they are called red, when they are clearly purple though)
- Carrots: Little chunks of carrots add texture and sweetness.
- Garlic: Measure the garlic you want to add with your heart. I suggest at least 4 cloves. Maybe more.
- Tomato Passata or Crushed Tomatoes: You want the sauce to cling to the beans, so crushed or tomato passata is better here than just chopped.
- Tomato Paste: This creates a more intnse tomato flavour.
- Olive Oil: Don't be tempted to use any old oil. Olive oil here is essential for the full Spanish flavour.
- Smoked Paprika: Sweet Smoked Paprika (Preferably Pimenton de la Vera) is essential for the delicious smokey flavour.
- Chilli Flakes: Add as many or as little as you like. I like my stew a little spicy, but add more or less as you desire.
- Rosemary: Fresh Rosemary lends a Meditteranean flavour and pairs beautifully with the beans. Use dried if you must.
- Oregano: Dried Oregano
- Flakey Sea Salt: Or kosher salt.
- Optional Herbs such as parsley to garnish.
See recipe card for quantities.
👩🍳Instructions
Follow along with these easy steps for the perfect stew!
- Cut all the vegetables into even small pieces and sautee in the olive oil until the onion is softened.
2. Add the tomato paste and garlic and sautee until the garlic softens and the tomato paste cooks. Now add the spices and chopped herbs and stir for a few seconds to release their flavours.
3. Add the tomato passata and the drained butterbeans. Add a can of water to rinse out the tomato passata tin and simmer.
4. Simmer slowly for 25-30 minutes until the carrots are softened and the sauce is reduced. Be sure not to let the stew burn. Taste and add more salt or a pinch of sugar to balance the flavours if needed.
Hint: Adding the chopped rosemary, smoked paprika and other spices before adding the sauce allows them to sautee a little and release their aromas, resulting in a richer, more delicious stew.
🌶Substitutions and Variations
Like any stew, this one is endlessly adaptable to suit your own taste buds (or those of your family). Here are some variations I've tried that worked well.
- Other Beans - Cannellini, Giant White Beans or Kidney beans all work well in this stew, as do chickpeas.
- More Spices- A ⅓ teaspoon of cinnamon and a ⅓ teaspoon of cumin are a delicious way to send this into another direction.
- Potatoes- Add one or two small potatoes to the stew, they absorb the delicious flavours and sort of melt into it.
- Extra Spicy- Add more chilli for a spiced up version of this stew.
- Oil-Free- Carefully sautee the onions and garlic in a little water before adding the spices. You will need to be extra vigilant so that you don't burn the food.
- Greens: Add some spinach or kale at the end of cooking and cook until just wilted for an added boost of green goodness.
This stew is already naturally vegan, gluten-free, and made with whole foods.
🔪Equipment
Although you can make this butterbean stew in a saucepan, it is lovely to use a casserole dish or dutch oven. One day I'd like to be able to have this Le Crueset pan to use, but it the meantime I use a pan we picked up at a garage sale!
🥫Storage
This stew is great for making ahead of time. It tastes even better when made a day ahead then reheated as the flavours really get to know each other. You can also freeze this butterbean stew for up to 3 months or pop it in the fridge and reheat for up to 4 days.
If you have frozen this stew, you can cook it directly from frozen. Add a little water to the pot when cooking to ensure it doesn't catch. I like to add extra greens in when reheating for a quick, complete meal.
❗Top tip
Taste and add extra seasonings a few minutes before you think this stew is ready. Adjust with a little sugar, salt or extra spices or herbs as needed.
❓FAQ
Yes! Butter beans are high in fibre and protein as well as being rich in folate. They're a great store cupboard staple.
A butter bean is also called a Lima Bean, and in Spain are called garrofón. They're also known as sieva. If you want to know more: check out this Wiki post https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lima_bean
More Soups and Stews
Looking for other cozy stew recipes like this? Check these out...
What to serve with:
These are my favorite dishes to serve with this Spanish Inspired Butter Bean Stew:
📖 Recipe
Easy Smokey Butter Bean Stew
Equipment
- 1 Stove Top casserole dish
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
- 480 g (2½ cups) butter beans (Equivelant to two standard 400g / 15 oz cans of beans, drained. )
- 400 g (2 ⅔ cups) tomato passata (1 standard 15 oz can)
- 400 ml (1 ⅔ cups) water
- 1 pepper
- 3 red onions
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary (finely chopped. )
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- pinch sugar (if needed)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- De seed and chop the peppers into 1cm pieces. Peel and chop the onions and carrot into small pieces. Finely chop the garlic.1 pepper
- In a deep saucepan or casserole dish that can go on the stove, add the carrots, onion and peppers and sautee in the olive oil until the onions soften.3 red onions, 2 medium carrots, 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Add the tomato paste and garlic to the vegetables and cook for a few minutes.1 tablespoon tomato paste, 4 cloves garlic
- Now, add the spices and herbs and cook for 20-30 seconds so they release their flavours.1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon chilli flakes, 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
- Add the drained and rinsed butterbeans, the tomato passata and 400ml water (rinse out the tomato passata can and use that water)480 g butter beans, 400 g tomato passata
- Simmer slowly for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened and all the vegetables are cooked.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Also taste and add a little sugar and/or salt if needed to balance the flavours.
- Serve with parsley sprinkled on top and some crunchy fresh bread to mop up the juices.pinch sugar, Salt and Pepper to taste
Notes
- Other Beans - Cannellini, Giant White Beans or Kidney beans all work well in this stew, as do chickpeas.
- More Spices- A ⅓ teaspoon of cinnamon and a ⅓ teaspoon of cumin are a delicious way to send this into another direction.
- Potatoes- Add one or two small potatoes to the stew, they absorb the delicious flavours and sort of melt into it. Chop into small pieces so they cook evenly. Choose to leave the skins on or off.
- Extra Spicy- Add more chilli for a spiced up version of this stew.
- Oil-Free- Carefully sautee the onions and garlic in a little water before adding the spices. You will need to be extra vigilant so that you don't burn the food.
- Greens: Add some spinach or kale at the end of cooking and cook until just wilted for an added boost of green goodness.
Terry Hodson says
Sorry but it takes much longer to prepare than 10 mins what with all the fine chopping. I'm pre-making it so will do the final cooking tomorrow - the 20 mins. Can you elaborate on the potatoes - are they chopped?
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Thank you for your feedback, sometimes I forget I'm very quick at prep so I'll update the recipe to reflect chopping times. The optional potatoes should also be chopped. You can choose to leave their skins on or peel, it's up to you.
Xanthe says
Lush! I subbed a tin each of cannellini and chickpeas as didn’t have butter beans in the cupboard. Super easy to follow recipe and tasted devine. Thank you!
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Oh nice idea to sub in chickpeas and cannellini beans, I'm so glad you liked the recipe!