These Marry Me butter beans – creamy sun-dried tomato butter beans with a creamy, cheesy sauce – are the perfect quick, easy, and flavor-packed summer dinner. This dish is ready in just 30 minutes, can be made in one pot, and is delicious served with crusty bread to soak up the delicious sauce.

The “Marry Me” flavors have been extremely popular recently – my own Marry Me “Chicken” pasta, made with spicy tofu cutlets, went viral on TikTok and remains one of my favorite meals to date. These marry-me butter beans emulate the same flavors but with creamy butter beans for a slightly lighter meal.

Can’t find (or don’t like) butter beans? Try my Marry Me Chickpeas instead!

If you’d like more butter bean recipes, try these creamy butter beans, my red pesto butter beans, or these caramelized onion beans with zhoug.

Ingredient Notes

The exact quantities of the ingredients you need for this recipe are included in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here, I’ve added a few notes on the ingredients you need, plus a few potential substitutions you could make if you can’t eat/find a certain ingredient.

• Seasonings: Seasonings we use include smoked paprika, cayenne chili pepper, oregano, salt, garlic pepper, and onion powder.
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• Shallots: Finely diced shallots provide the base of this dish with a mellow, aromatic flavor. If you don’t have shallots, red onion or white onion will also work.
  
• Garlic: I used two medium-sized cloves of garlic minced finely for this recipe.
  
• Sun-dried tomatoes: Sun-dried tomatoes are one of the main parts of this recipe. Use a little of the oil the sun-dried tomatoes are stored in to cook the shallots and garlic.
  
• Tomato paste: A little tomato paste also adds some deep, tomato-ey flavor to the creamy pasta.
  
• Vegetable stock: I use a standard vegetable stock cube mixed with the correct amount of boiling water to mix up my vegetable stock, but you could also use pre-made stock.
  
• Cream: A splash of cream gives the Marry Me butter beans a creamy, silky sauce. You could use plant-based cream or coconut milk for a vegan alternative. Cream cheese would also work.
  
• Hard Cheese: I use a vegetarian hard cheese for this recipe, as Parmesan often is not suitable for vegetarians.
  
• Fresh basil: Finally, a scattering of chopped fresh basil is a must to give this recipe that perfect finish.

Chef’s Tips / Expert Notes

If you don’t have butter beans (they’re also known as lima beans, so watch out for that!), you could use another type of bean such as cannellini beans or haricot (navy beans). 

Chickpeas are also a lovely addition to a marry me sauce. 

Serving

These Marry Me butter beans are delicious served with crusty bread to mop up the sauce. It’s also delicious with mashed potato, rice, or even served over a jacket potato! If you want some greens, they would be perfect with steamed broccoli, roasted green beans, or a medley of green beans and carrots.

You could also serve it with some homemade garlic bread to mop up the sauce!

Storing

Store your leftover marryme butter beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. 

To reheat, place your microwave-safe container in the microwave until the food is piping hot.