Creamy Pesto Beans
This delicious one-pot creamy pesto beans recipe is ready in just 15 minutes and makes the perfect light, easy dinner served with crusty bread or as a side for a bigger meal. It's perfect if you want the zingy taste of pesto but want a more protein and fiber-rich option than pasta!
This is a combination of two recipes that have been super popular on the blog lately: this creamy pesto pasta recipe and these gorgeous one-pot creamy butter beans. For a really quick and easy pesto recipe, try my ditalini pesto pasta.
For more delicious bean-inspired recipes, you'll love these 15-minute lemon and basil white beans, this spicy vodka beans recipe, or this cheesy white bean tomato bake.
Ingredients
This is a beautifully simple recipe (perfect for when you can't be bothered or simply don't have the time to cook!) and can be made even simpler by opting to use a jarred store-bought pesto instead of making your own.
Below are the ingredients used plus some notes on each - scroll down to the recipe card for the full quantities and instructions.
- Beans: I used cannellini beans in the photos for this recipe, but you could also use butter beans or haricot beans instead. Tinned or jarred beans make this recipe super quick - you could use dried beans, but you'll need to add additional cooking time for this.
- Garlic: I used two relatively large cloves of minced garlic for this recipe, and omitted any garlic from the pesto so as not to overload the dish!
- Good quality olive oil: So important for a simple recipe like this! A good quality olive oil really makes all the difference.
- Vegetable stock: I use vegetable stock cubes mixed with boiling water in my recipes, but feel free to use a ready-made vegetable stock instead.
- Lemon: The lemon juice adds a necessary zingy, fresh flavor to this recipe. Zesting the lemon over the finished dish is also a lovely extra touch.
- Pecorino cheese: Many pesto recipes contain Parmesan, which is not suitable for vegetarians. I use Pecorino cheese instead. To make this recipe vegan, omit the cheese or substitute with nutritional yeast.
- Pine nuts: Toasted pine nuts (literally toast the pine nuts in a dry pan for 2-3 minutes until golden) add a lovely depth of flavor to the pesto. Reserve a few nuts to scatter over the finished dish for added texture.
- Pesto: I made a simple fresh "pesto" from fresh basil leaves blitzed with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil - the remaining ingredients that are typically included in pesto (garlic, hard cheese, pine nuts, lemon) are already in the dish so we don't need to double up. A store-bought pesto would also work well, though!
How to Make Creamy Pesto Beans
Here's a quick overview of making this recipe - scroll down to the recipe card for the exact ingredient quantities and instructions.
Step 1) Make the Pesto
Combine the toasted pine nuts, fresh basil, lemon juice, garlic, and grated cheese in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Then, slowly add in the olive oil until it emulsifies smoothly into the pesto. Set aside for now.
Step 2) Sauté the Onion and Garlic
With the remaining oil, sauté the onion and garlic in a pan for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften.
Step 3) Simmer the Beans
Add the beans and stock to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, crushing about a quarter of the beans with the back of your spoon to get a creamy, thick sauce.
Add the spinach and let it wilt into the sauce for about a minute.
Step 4) Swirl through the Pesto
Remove the pan from the heat and swirl the pesto (roughly 2-3 tablespoon should be good) through the beans.
Step 5) Garnish and Serve
Top the pesto beans with the remaining toasted pine nuts, cream cheese, lemon juice and zest, and fresh basil leaves.
Serve while hot from the pan!
Storing Your Pesto Beans
This recipe is best served fresh, as the pesto may lose its color when reheated. However, you can store any leftover creamy pesto beans for up to 3-5 days in the refrigerator and in an airtight container.
Reheat your beans in the microwave or over the hob until warmed through.
Creamy Pesto Beans
This simple creamy pesto beans recipe is ready in less than 15 minutes and contains fresh flavors from the pesto and lemon so a light, summery meal. Perfect served with crusty bread.
Ingredients
For the basil pesto
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 20g fresh basil leaves
- 55g toasted pine nuts
- ½ lemon (juice)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 20g hard cheese (Pecorino or Parmesan)
For the Beans
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 white onion, diced or thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 (400g) tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 200ml vegetable stock
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 80g spinach, chopped
- 10g toasted pine nuts (to scatter)
- 2 tablespoon cream cheese
- ½ lemon (juice and zest)
- 6-8 fresh basil leaves, to garnish
Instructions
- Make the Pesto: Toast your pine nuts in a dry saucepan for 2-3 minutes until they turn golden brown and fragrant. Add the pine nuts, basil leaves, minced garlic, cheese, and lemon juice to a food processor and blitz until smooth. Then, add the extra virgin olive oil slowly until combined.
- Heat the remaining oil for the beans in a pan, and add the diced onion and minced garlic. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften.
- Add the cannellini beans, stock, and salt and pepper. Let the beans simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens a little - breaking down about ¼ of the beans with the back of your spoon will help achieve a thick and creamy sauce.
- Add the chopped spinach to the beans, and stir until it's just wilted (~1 minute).
- Remove the pan from the heat and swirl in your pesto - this prevents the pesto from losing it's color by overheating.
- Serve the beans with the lemon juice and lemon zest squeezed over the top, the dollop of cream cheese, and fresh basil leaves to garnish.
Notes
If you want to save time/keep this recipe as a true one-pot dish, feel free to use a store-bought pesto instead.
If you have leftovers, store your pesto beans for up to 3-4 days in an airtight container. Reheat on the stove until warmed through.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 413Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 1636mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 6gSugar: 3gProtein: 13g
Too salty! Followed the recipe explicitly (my wife was supervising. ha) and although I like salt...this was waaaaay too too. And it was watery. For this 400g of beans (drained) and two garlic cloves, either cut veg. stock in half or double to 800g beans. In any case, cut 1 tsp salt to 1/2 tsp salt. Recipe was salty because stock, cheese, can beans all are salted. Right?
Hope this helps.
Hey John, I'm sorry to hear that. I use unsalted beans and salt-free stock cubes, but it didn't occur to me that those aren't necessarily what other people will use. I'll make a note to add some notes to the recipe
Hi, you mention adding pine nuts and pecorino cheese to the pesto in your notes, however they’re not included in the ingredients or method - how much of each would you suggest? Thank you!
A lot of the recipes on here are like that. Just not thought out completely. It also says 2tbsp of olive oil in the ingredients, later says to add it to a pan, but then says to use the remainder of the oil in the pesto. What remainder? lol
Hey Dave, you're right - I had a look at my notes, and I've messed up a bit when recording this recipe. I'm going to make a note to re-test it this week and update the ingredients, quantities, and instructions properly. In 2024, when this recipe was published, I was a one-woman machine building this business, working another job, and also raising a two year old, things got a little chaotic sometimes! I'll do better this time round. Thanks for your comment.
A tbsp of black pepper?! I did a teaspoon and even that was too much! With the adjustments though, it was very good. Also, was confused when you said a 1/2 cup of chives!