Marinated Gigantes Beans are an easy, Vegan, and Gluten-Free way to get a flavor-packed dish loaded with fiber and flavor! Serve as a side dish, in a salad, OR even as the Main course. This recipe was created in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill.
Marinated beans or bean salads are such a great way to add some vegetarian protein and fiber to any meal.
For this easy white bean recipe, I like to use a simple combination of fresh herbs, shallot, and just a few spices to create a flavor-packed butter bean dish that can be served warmed or chilled and can be made in advance.
In fact, you could easily double or triple this recipe and have a container of these marinated Gigantes beans in the fridge to add to meals throughout the week.
Personally, I like it even better after a day or two when the flavors really have time to meld together.
What are Gigantes Beans?
Gigantes Beans are very large white beans that have a creamy texture and mild flavor.
Commonly used in Greek recipes, Gigantes Beans in Europe are usually a more firm white bean that is from the Scarlet Runner bean family. In the United States, Gigantes Beans are most commonly Large Lima Beans or Giant Butter Beans (the same thing).
Large Lima Beans (aka Butter Beans) are naturally high in fiber, trace minerals, and protein!
For this marinated Gigantes beans recipe, I partnered with my friends at Bob’s Red Mill to showcase their dried Large Lima Beans. They sell a variety of dried beans and lentils and they are always gluten-free, Non-GMO, and of the highest quality.
Marinated Gigantes Beans Ingredients:
- Bob’s Red Mill Dried Large Lima Beans
- Salt, Water for Soaking and Cooking, Dried Bay Leaf
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- White Wine Vinegar
- Fresh Parsley and Dill
- Shallot
- Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes
When it comes to soaking and cooking dried beans, every bean has its own unique formula. For these large lima beans, I like to do a soak in cold, filtered water. For 1 cup of dried beans, I use 4 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of Kosher Salt.
I know that you often hear NOT to put salt in the soaking water but with large beans like these, I have found that they split less if I add some salt to the soaking water. I’ll soak them for 6 to 8 hours and then drain and rinse.
Add the soaked beans to a pot along with a dried bay leaf and 3 cups of filtered water. Bring to a boil and IMMEDIATELY reduce heat to a simmer. You do NOT want to boil the cooking beans or they will split and crumble. Think soft, low simmer, and occasional gentle stirring.
Cook time will vary depending on soaking time and age of the beans but I recommend starting to check for doneness around 40 minutes. You want them just soft enough to bite through but not so soft that they are falling apart.
I recommend seasoning the gigantes beans when they are still warm so that they really absorb the flavor of the herbs, spices, shallot, and oil.
Add the warm beans to a mixing bowl along with the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and vinegar. Toss in the chopped dill, parsley, and shallot. Gently stir to mix and let sit for at least 20 minutes before serving (to give the vinegar time to take the bite out of the shallot).
Refrigerate any leftovers and use up within 4 to 5 days.
Recipe Tips:
- 1 cup of Dried Large Lima Beans will yield approximately 3 cups of cooked beans.
- Always make sure to rinse and sort dried beans for stones or broken beans before soaking and cooking.
- Marinated Gigantes Beans are terrific made in advance so feel free to make this dish a day or two before you actually plan on serving it!
- I have not attempted freezing and defrosting this dish.
- If you like an additional kick of flavor, I sometimes like to add 1/2 teaspoon of Smoked Spanish Paprika
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
Marinated Gigantes Beans are an easy, Vegan, and Gluten-Free way to get a flavor-packed dish loaded with fiber and flavor! Serve as a side dish, in a salad, OR even as the Main course. T
- 1 cup dried Bob's Red Mill Large Lima Beans soaked
- filtered water for soaking and cooking
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt for soaking
- 1 dried bay leaf for cooking
- 3 cups cooked beans still warm
- 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons White Wine Vinegar can substitute Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup dill leaves finely chopped and packed
- 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves finely chopped and packed
- 1 medium shallot peeled and finely chopped
-
When it comes to soaking and cooking dried beans, every bean has its own unique formula. For these large lima beans, I like to do a soak in cold, filtered water. For 1 cup of dried beans, I use 4 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of Kosher Salt.
I know that you often hear NOT to put salt in the soaking water but with large beans like these, I have found that they split less if I add some salt to the soaking water. I'll soak them for 6 to 8 hours and then drain and rinse.
-
Add the soaked beans to a pot along with a dried bay leaf and 3 cups of filtered water.
Bring to a boil and IMMEDIATELY reduce heat to a simmer. You do NOT want to boil the cooking beans or they will split and crumble. Think soft, low simmer, and occasional gentle stirring.
Cook time will vary depending on soaking time and age of the beans but I recommend starting to check for doneness around 40 minutes. You want them just soft enough to bite through but not so soft that they are falling apart.
-
I recommend seasoning the gigantes beans when they are still warm so that they really absorb the flavor of the herbs, spices, shallot, and oil.
Add the warm beans to a mixing bowl along with the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and vinegar.
-
Toss in the chopped dill, parsley, and shallot.
-
Gently stir to mix and let sit for at least 20 minutes before serving (to give the vinegar time to take the bite out of the shallot).
-
Refrigerate any leftovers and use up within 4 to 5 days. Enjoy!
- 1 cup of Dried Large Lima Beans will yield approximately 3 cups of cooked beans.
- Always make sure to rinse and sort dried beans for stones or broken beans before soaking and cooking.
- Marinated Gigantes Beans are terrific made in advance so feel free to make this dish a day or two before you actually plan on serving it!
- Red Wine Vinegar can easily be substituted for the White Wine Vinegar
- I have not attempted freezing and defrosting this dish.
- If you like an additional kick of flavor, I sometimes like to add 1/2 teaspoon of Smoked Spanish Paprika
- Please note that the Nutritional Information is approximate and based on very specific ingredient inputs.
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
More Easy Bean Recipes:
Italian Sausage Meatball Soup with Cabbage and White Beans
Italian Butterbean and Chicken Sausage Soup
DISCLOSURE: This post is part of a series of posts sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. Bob’s Red Mill has compensated me for my time to develop this recipe and share my experiences with their products. Thank you for supporting the brands that make EverydayMaven possible. All opinions are my own.
My whole family are huge lima bean fans and usually eat them in soups so I was excited when I saw you post this last week! I did substitute cilantro for the dill and added the Spanish paprika – excellent!
Yesssss! Lima beans are so versatile – so happy this was a hit and I LOVE the addition of the Spanish paprika!
We made a big batch of these over the weekend and I wanted to come and say thank you! Very delicious and easy. We used up the last of them last night and plan to make more next weekend. I have to admit, we were a bit skeptical of the amount of herbs in the recipe, but it really works and is just loaded with flavor. GREAT RECIPE!
Hi Susan and Lee,
So happy to hear this! Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know 🙂