Spanish Style Gigante Bean Salad
This simple gigante bean salad is rich, smoky and vinegary, creamy, crunchy and will have you coming back for seconds. It can be served warm or cold and is full of Spanish flavors like sherry vinegar and smoked paprika. Plus, it's ready in 20 minutes!
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Gigante beans are extra large white beans with a mild flavor and a creamy texture typically found in Mediterranean cooking. I love them in soups, stews and braises, but especially in simple salads like this one.
Not only does this salad take only 20 minutes to prepare, it can be made ahead and will keep fresh in the fridge for days. It actually gets better as it sits and the flavors have a chance to meld.
Gigante beans can be tough to find in the states, which is why I often use butter beans or giant lima beans instead. Not only are they widely available in canned form, they're just as creamy and delicious!
It's a great recipe to serve as an appetizer, lunch or side dish. It's also great for a potluck! It's completely vegan, gluten free and nut free, making it a great choice for those with dietary restrictions.
This salad is a budget-friendly recipe made with easy to find pantry ingredients, and it's perfect to keep on hand to munch on during busy days!
For more great bean recipes, try my Pasta e Fagioli (akaPasta Fazool), this easy and inexpensive 5 Ingredient Bean Soup or this Authentic Tuscan Ribollita Soup Recipe.
Why This Recipe Works
- Made with mostly pantry ingredients.
- Great recipe to make ahead.
- Only 10 minutes of prep time required!
Giant white beans - Gigante beans are not common in American grocery stores and even if you can find them, they will be dried. I use canned butter beans (also called large lima beans) for convenience. They are just as tasty! Be sure to drain and rinse the beans before using.
Shallots - Shallots work best here, but you can substitute a red onion or sweet onion in a pinch.
Olive oil - Use a really good quality extra virgin olive oil for this recipe. It makes a difference! You can find some tips on how to purchase good olive oil here.
Tomato paste - You can use canned tomato paste tomato paste in a tube for this recipe. If using canned paste, you can freeze the leftovers in a small container or zip-top bag.
Smoked paprika - This ingredient is key to achieving that signature smoky taste. If you substitute regular sweet paprika, it will not have the same effect!
Celery - You'll use the stalks of celery and some celery leaves. If you only have stalks, you can leave out the leaves or add more parsley to replace them.
Sherry vinegar - Sherry vinegar adds a distinct Spanish flavor, but if you can't find it, red or white wine vinegar can also work.
Fresh parsley - Italian flat leaf parsley is best!
*Find the full ingredient list in the recipe card below!
Helpful Equipment
- Large saute pan
- Cutting board
- Sharp chef's knife
Step by Step Instructions
- Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and shallot and sauté until starting to turn golden, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste and smoked paprika, then cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, then add the sliced celery and leaves, vinegar, beans, parsley and remaining 5 tablespoons olive oil.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, then stir until everything is well combined.
- Let sit for at least 15 minutes to let the flavors meld, then serve warm or at room temperature.
Tips for Success
- This dish is great served as a salad or side dish, but also works fabulously as an appetizer served with crusty bread.
- You can also make this with dried gigante beans if you prefer. They will just need to be soaked and cooked prior to making the recipe. Use 4 cups of cooked beans.
Serving Suggestions
These gigante beans pair well as a side dish with meats and seafood like these Grilled Marinated Lamb Chops and these Grilled Marinated Shrimp or a simple pan seared tuna or pan seared scallops. a Cucumber Radish Salad with Yogurt. Or give them a try alongside this Easy Baked Italian Sausage and Peppers sheet pan meal.
FAQ
Leftover beans can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Warm beans on low heat if reheating, or eat them cold.
Gigante beans are known as giant white beans. They're large and creamy-white beans that belong to the lima bean family and are prized for their buttery texture and mild, nutty flavor. They're popular in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines, particularly Greek cuisine, in which they are known as "gigantes."
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Spanish Style Gigante Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 2 shallots minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste heaping
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika mild or spicy
- 4 stalks celery thinly sliced, plus the leaves
- 3 teaspoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 2 14.5 oz cans butter beans, giant lima beans or gigante beans drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup fresh Italian parsley leaves only, roughly chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and shallot and sauté until starting to turn golden, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste and smoked paprika, then cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, then add the sliced celery and leaves, vinegar, beans, parsley and remaining 5 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then stir until everything is well combined.
- Let sit for at least 15 minutes to let the flavors meld, then serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Serve as an appetizer, salad or side with lots of crusty bread!
- The beans are delicious served warm, room temperature or cold. They will marinate and get more flavorful the longer they sit, and will keep refrigerated for up to 5 days.
I was looking for a recipe for this after having them at Italian delis and markets. I got a bag of "Gigante beans" at a local farmers' market. This is delicious and. simple, with mainly basic ingredients. I had these warm with crusty bread for dinner and am looking forward to eating the rest marinated. I like Melanie's idea of serving this with antipasto. Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe calls for *8 Tbsps of Olive oil divide but the method only uses 3 T what happened to the other 5 T? Do you pour it on after cooking ? Confused.
My apologies. The remaining 5 tablespoons of olive oil are to be added along with the beans, celery and vinegar. I will note that in the recipe now.
Can these gigantes beans be cooked in a stove top Pressure Cooker?
What would the time be?
Absolutely. As for time, I'm not entirely sure, you may have to do some research. https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pressure-cooker-gigante-beans-tomato-sauce This recipe says 50 minutes but that seems a bit long to me. Might take some trial and error. Best of luck!
Thank you for this! I just made it to serve with an antipasto platter for houseguests that arrive tomorrow. I doubled the recipe and its SO DELICIOUS I hope my husband and I don't eat it all before tomorrow! One question: I used "large lima beans" and wasn't prepared for all the skins to slip off in cooking - took me a while to separate them from the beans before mixing everything together. Do you have any tips for easily dealing with this next time I make it? Thanks!
Thanks, Melanie! I'm so glad you liked the dish, it's one of my favorite recipes. As for the skins slipping off during cooking... hmm. I had it happen with a few of mine, but not all of them like you mentioned. Beans can be funny, though. Perhaps soaking them in salted water prior to cooking would help the problem some. It's at least worth trying! Check out this link:http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/34898/cooking-beans-with-intact-skins
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Thanks for sharing such a delicious sounding recipe. I can't wait to try it! Also it was great to meet you at Ashley and Todd's amazing wedding. I don't think I ever saw so much food at an affair in my life. And I have been to many and catered even more!! I hope to see you again in the near future, perhaps with the new Mr. and Mrs. My husband and I plan on being at the shore near the end of August.
Sandra, it was SO nice to finally meet you as well!! What a beautiful wedding!! Please be in touch when you are down! 🙂
I had SOOOO many BIG limas in our garden last years and the only thing I knew how to do (storage-wise) was to make and can three bean salad. Now I have a wonderful new recipe for the big beans! Thanks, Coley! For your readers who garden... you can actually dry the beans on the vine and in their pods. When they rattle around in the dry pods, check one by pressing your fingernail on a bean. If there's no indent, they're ready to be put in a 130 degree oven for 30 min. (to kill anything that might be lurking in there) and then put in jars or bags. Looking forward to using this recipe with our crop this year!
Oh nice! I'd love to grow some of my own. Where do you get your seeds? Do you save them from the year before?
Yes, we save them from the year before and we also found a wonderful heirloom seed company called heirloomsolutions.com Pay $2 for a catalog, set up an account and get $20 worth of seeds. The packets ($5 each) are really large and made of mylar so you can keep the extras for future years. Martin's REALLY happy with the company (and what you may not know is he's not the easiest person to please... I say this with love, of course!). 😉
I love gigante beans too!!! They're found in a lot of the octopus dishes I see on restaurant menus (and if there's octopus, I order it) I've never made them myself though, definitely saving this recipe!!
You totally have to make this!! It's super easy and soo good!