If you love the Greek dish of Spanakopita, a filo pie packed with fresh spinach, herbs and tangy cheese, you'll love the flavors of this Spinach and White Beans Skillet dish. With all the fresh and vibrant flavors, combined in a comforting and easy-to-make one pan meal.
This is a great meal to eat in Spring and or on cool early summer evenings when you crave fresh greens and bright flavors, but still want a comforting bowl of something a little warming because there's a chill in the air still. Packed with fresh herbs like dill and parsley, plus tangy green olives and a good sprinkle of feta, this delicious white bean and spinach dish will be your Spring Dinner favourite.
Of course if you love flakey pastry packed with greens check out my Vegan Spanakopita recipe. Or if you're up for more hearty dishes of creamy white beans this White Bean Puttanesca or this Creamy White Beans with Mushrooms & Pesto are both great one pan dinners.
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🥬Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients you'll need to make this white beans and spinach recipe:
- White Beans - cannellini beans or butter beans. I use canned white beans, however you can also use beans you cook from scratch yourself. Beans are a great option for dinner as they contain a good amount of both fibre and protein! Perfect for keeping you full for longer.
- Fresh baby spinach- or alternatively finely chopped chard or kale.
- A leek or some large spring onions or a finely chopped shallot.
- Garlic Cloves - at lease 3 cloves garlic. - or more!
- Pitted green olives- these add a lovely tang and bite. Make sure they're good quality queen olives.
- Nutritional yeast- this adds a deep cheesy flavor- a bit like if you used parmesan cheese, but keeps this recipe dairy-free.
- Water or vegetable stock- you can choose powdered vege
- Olive oil: a decent extra virgin olive oil adds to the overall Greek vibe.
- Fresh Dill and Fresh Parsley- fresh herbs add brightness and are essential to creating the spanakopita style flavoe.
- Lemon Juice- fresh lemon juice is essential to brighten up the flavors!
- Vegan Feta Cheese- a good sprinkle over the top of the white beans at the end. Optional but so delicious.
- Flakey Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper to taste!
See recipe card for quantities.
👩🍳Instructions
Start by finely chopping the leeks/onions and garlic, and roughly chopping the pitted green olives.
1. Add olive oil to a large skillet or frying pan. Add the leeks and garlic. Sauté until wilted.
2. Add the nutritional yeast and stir.
3. Add in the drained and rinsed white beans, then the veggie stock.
4. Simmer over medium high heat along with the green olives for 10 minutes or until the beans start to break down a little.
5. Add in the fresh spinach leaves and allow to wilt into the beans.
6. Add in the chopped dill and herbs. Allow all the veggies to wilt into the beans.
7. Sprinkle over a generous amount of vegan feta and roughly a tablespoon of oliv oil to finish the dish.
Serve with plenty of crusty bread, or even some garlic bread to mop up the juices!
Hint: Make sure your spinach or greens are well washed! No one likes gritty dinner!
🌶️Substitutions & Variations
Here are some yummy ways you can switch up this recipe to use up what you have or change up the flavors.
- Other Beans: -Great Northern Beans, Navy Beans or even chickpeas would be good substitutes in this dish.
- Pasta- Use half the beans and add in pasta to cook for 10 minutes (or according to the packet direction) for an easy one pan pasta dish.
- Extra Creamy - if you're craving a creamier, richer dish, add a swirl of oat cream or coconut milk to the dish before serving.
- Interesting toppings- Add some crunchy toppings like these Vegan Tofu Bacon Bits or even a few chopped up sun-dried tomatoes, or crunchy croutons.
🔪Equipment
You'll need a dutch oven, large skillet or frying pan to cook this dish- even better if it has a lid to help wilt down the veggies.
🫙Storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze for up to 3 months- simply reheat from frozen.
Top tip
The fresh herbs in this dish are tastiest wilted in just before serving to keep their bright colour.
More Beans
Love beans? Try these delicious bean recipes!
More quick dinners
Why not check out these quick dinner ideas:
📖 Recipe
Spinach and White Beans Skillet- Spanakopita Style
Equipment
- 1 Flame proof casserole dish (or large pot or Skillet)
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
For the Beans
- 250 g leek (one large- or 3 shallots)
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 480 g (2 ½ cups) cannellini or white beans (Drained. Equivelant to 2 standard 15 oz 'cans' )
- 40 g (1 cups) nutritional yeast
- 350 ml (1½ cups) veggie stock (or 2 tablespoon boullion mixed with 350 ml water.)
- 50 g green olives
- 2 teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or lemon juice)
- 3 cloves garlic (or more!)
- 1 teaspoon flakey sea salt
- 4 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
- 4 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
- 200 g fresh spinach (or chard)
- 50 g vegan feta cheese
Instructions
- In a large casserole dish or skillet heat the olive oil and gently sautee the chopped leek (or shallot) until softened. Add the minced garlic cloves.250 g leek, 3 cloves garlic, 3 tablespoon olive oil
- Add the nutritional yeast and cracked black pepper and mix in with the leeks.40 g nutritional yeast , 2 teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
- Drain and rinse the white beans, then add to the pan along with the stock.480 g cannellini or white beans, 350 ml veggie stock
- Add in the chopped olives, and leave the beans to simmer on low for up to 15 minutes50 g green olives, 1 teaspoon flakey sea salt
- Add the spinach the beans, letting it wilt down.200 g fresh spinach
- Add the dill and parsley, and a generous squeeze of lemon juice.4 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley, 4 tablespoon fresh chopped dill, 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- FInish the dish by crumbling over the vegan feta cheese and some optional extra olive oil. Serve with plenty of crusty bread to mop up the juices.50 g vegan feta cheese
Notes
- If you want a thicker stew, crush the beans a bit to thicken. If you like it a little more soupy, add in a little extra stock.
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- Different Beans - I prefer making this with white beans, however you could use navy beans, haricots, or even chickpeas cooked until very tender.
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- Gluten Free- make sure that your veggie stock is gluten free, otherwise this recipe is already vegan, dairy free and gluten free!
Tim Mc Donnell says
Wonderful dish - bright and tangy - perfect as a centerpiece and could also be side. I can’t tell you how it plays out the next day because we liked it so much we ate it all
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
I'm so glad you liked it- having no leftovers is high praise indeed!