Whether you call them Marry Me Butter Beans or Tuscan White Beans, this simple dish makes the easiest vegan and gluten-free meal! With only 30 minutes required, it's a truly delicious and cozy weeknight dinner.
This recipe is my plant-based twist on the popular Marry Me Chicken, which claims if you make this dish for your partner, a marriage proposal will be the next question!
For this recipe, we're swapping out chicken for butter beans and cooking them in a rich and creamy sun-dried tomato sauce. If you loved my Lemon Garlic Butter Beans or Tomato Basil Beans, then you must try this vegan marry me "chicken"!
Ingredients:
Ingredient & substitution notes:
- Butter Beans: the dish works best with these beans as they are thick and flat. However, you can substitute for lima beans, chickpeas, or cannellini beans.
- Just make sure to use canned beans as you need the bean liquid to make this dish extra creamy!
- Coconut cream: This provides the creaminess of the Tuscan sauce. Please note to JUST use the cream, not canned coconut milk, for the creamiest dish.
- It can be substituted for an unsweetened plant-based creamer or vegan cream cheese for similar results.
- Shallot: Can be substituted for ½ chopped red onion.
- Vegan butter: This can be substituted 1:1 for olive oil or any other neutral oil.
- Nutritional yeast: This gives the dish a cheesy flavor while keeping it vegan.
- There isn't a good substitute for this but you can omit it if you do not like the flavor.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: I highly suggest using sun-dried tomatoes that have been marinated in oil for the best flavor!
How to make Tuscan butter beans
First, finely chop the shallot and mince the garlic. I like to use a garlic press here to cut down on prep work.
Then, melt the vegan butter in a pan. I recommend using my favorite Caraway Pans or a Dutch Oven for the best results.
Add in the shallots & garlic and saute in the butter for 2-3 minutes.
Next, add in the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, dried oregano, dried thyme, and chili flakes. Mix and saute with the shallots and garlic for another 2 minutes.
Pour in the can of butter beans with their cooking liquid. The bean juice or "aquafaba" makes this dish super creamy so don't strain it! Then, add in the coconut cream and lemon juice.
Stir everything together and cook at a simmer for another 5 minutes. This cooking time helps to evaporate some of the bean juice and cook down the sauce to make these Tuscan white beans super creamy.
As a final step, add in the fresh basil and season with salt & pepper to your liking. Serve warm & enjoy!
FAQ & Tips:
What can I serve marry me beans with?
While they are honestly great on their own, I love serving these Tuscan beans with a few slices of toasted sourdough, rosemary focaccia, or my addicting vegan garlic bread!
This dish almost resembles a curry in texture and is great served over a big bowl of rice. You can even add in more veggies including spinach, kale, or cooked artichokes for an extra bit of flavor.
How do I store Tuscan butter beans?
These sun-dried tomato butter beans are best enjoyed right after making. However, leftovers can be stored in a closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Keep in mind that the sauce will solidify in the fridge/freezer, so you'll need to reheat them to enjoy. To reheat, microwave or cook over low heat on the stovetop until warmed throughout.
You are going to love these savory & rich Marry Me Butter Beans! With an addictingly creamy tomato sauce and fresh basil, they are truly an easy and flavorful 30-minute weeknight dinner. Enjoy!
-TSG
More plant-based dinner ideas with beans you will love:
If you loved this recipe, please leave a 5-star review in the recipe card. I always appreciate your feedback and support! You can also follow along on my Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest or sign up for our newsletter!
Marry Me Butter Beans
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons vegan butter
- 1 large shallot peeled & finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes marinated in oil & chopped
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
- 15 ounces canned butter beans 1 can with the liquid added to the pot- do not strain!
- 2 Tablespoons coconut cream
- 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ Tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- salt & pepper to taste season to your liking here!
Instructions
- To prep, finely dice the shallots, chop the sun-dried tomatoes, and mince the garlic. I recommend using a garlic press if you have it.
- Next, add the vegan butter to a large pot and melt over medium heat.
- Once the butter is melted and sizzling, add in the shallots and garlic. Stir together and saute for about 2-3 minutes.
- Next, add in the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, dried oregano, dried thyme, and chili flakes. Stir and saute with the shallots and garlic for another minute until combined.
- Add the can of butter beans to the pan including the liquid from the can. This makes the beans really creamy, so do not strain them. Then, add in the coconut cream, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice.
- Stir together and bring the beans to a simmer. Once simmering, cook for about 5 minutes to reduce some of the liquid and cook the beans.
- Once the sauce has thickend, add in the fresh basil and season with salt & pepper to your liking.
- Serve while warm with a big slice of toasted bread. Enjoy!
Notes
- Please see the blog post for substitution ideas & more recipe tips.
- Leftovers can be stored in a closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Danielle says
Amazing recipe - nice and cozy! Recommend doubling or even tripling the recipe. Husband says it tastes like pizza.
Nicki says
Have you tried to make this into a soup by adding veggie broth? Wondering how that would turn out.
Megan says
I haven't but I bet it would work fine!
Sony says
Very yummy! I doubled the recipe and added more vegetables (more onions, carrots, eggplant, and spinach) and it was very good. I also cooked my butter beans in the pressure cooker and used the broth from that, which was very delicious. This will definitely go into rotation!
Megan says
So glad you enjoyed them and it's nice to hear the broth works from cooking beans from scratch as I get asked that question a lot 🙂
Sercy says
I used dried butter beans (I've never cooked with them before) and I soaked them in water for maybe and hour when I checked on them and they looked really deformed so i figured "okay they get soft really quick, cool" and i immediately started making this recipe but then I realized that I'm so SILLY and should have treated them like any other dried bean....... much to my chagrin I have been cooking the entirely finished recipe for about an hour and a half now in hopes that they will get soft sometime soon. So, a nice reminder to treat dried butter beans like any other dried bean and soak them over night and then boil them... I have no idea why I didn't do this lol. But the smell amazing ! Super excited to eat this when they're ready haha.
Megan says
Oh no haha! Thanks for sharing and hope it ended up working out 🙂
Allie says
Absolutely delicious. I did not have butter beans, so I used cannellini (with the liquid). I also wanted to up the protein and greens, so I added vegan Italian sausage crumbles and fresh spinach.But this dish, which is so simple to prepare, packs the flavor. Will be making this again!
Christi says
I am truly surprised this recipe lives up to its name! This dish is amazing!
I added an extra Tbsp of coconut cream and an extra Tbsp of nutritional yeast to make it extra creamy and it was perfect (for me).
Amanda says
I wasn’t able to find canned butter beans, so bought dried butter beans. Any suggestions about this since you specifically mention using the water from the can too to make it creamy?
Megan says
I've never made this with dried beans, however, you could try substituting with veggie broth. I didn't measure the exact amount of bean liquid but I would guess it's about a cup or so. They may not be as creamy but would still be really good 🙂
Amber says
I was really excited to try this dish but my beans turned out incredibly bitter. Has this happened to you? Any idea what went wrong? I make a lot of different bean dishes but this was my first attempt using butter beans.
Megan says
Sorry that's never happened to me- could be the brand of beans was more bitter or just using too much lemon juice? But it should not be bitter.
Amber says
This looks delicious! My husband and I are ‘flexitarians’ (attempt to be vegetarian as much as we possibly can) and are always on the go! I would love to attempt to make this with cream with organic free range chicken in the crockpot. I wonder if the beans would hold up or if there are other substitutions I could make?
Megan says
I have never tried this recipe in a crockpot so I'm honestly not sure but it may work!
Kristin says
Delicious! There wasn’t any left between my husband and I. Used Barista style oat milk as that’s what was on hand. Will definitely make this again!
Nisha says
Tried this exactly as the recipe described and I loved it!! I was very surprised at how well the combination worked together. Thanks for sharing this! Next time I want to try it with soaked beans instead of canned 🙂
Megan says
So glad you liked it! 🙂
Hailey says
Came out great! I didn’t have coconut cream and don’t like the taste of coconut so I just went without it, but it was still super creamy and delicious. Served it on top of pasta, will do this again!
Megan says
So glad you enjoyed!!
Abby J. says
Okay, this is a stellar combination of quick, easy, and delicious! I served it with garlic toast and it was a big hit with both my hubby and I. Making it again this week!
Skorpio Sun says
Loved this as a base recipe. Then i added curry and coconut milk. I used chickpeas and red kidney beans as well as the butter beans, Along with curly kale and bok choy and carrots.searved with nan bread My husband and I left no crumbs
Megan says
glad you enjoyed it!
SJDW says
Not bad, but it looks much better than it tastes. I’m not sure the flavors compliment each other well vs how I season my beans. I suspect the nutritional yeast is responsible for the mild aftertaste. I followed the recipe exactly as published.
Megan says
Sorry to hear it wasn't to your liking- if you're not a fan of nutritional yeast you can always just omit it in the future.
Jennifer Putnam says
I thought this was delicious! I didn't use coconut cream since my store didn't carry it but I'm not sure I missed it. I ate this on toasted bread and could have eaten the whole batch.
Lee Wilson says
Made this for dinner (using a mix of butter beans and chickpeas) served on a bed of brown rice and both me and my wife thoroughly enjoyed it. As usual when cooking a vegan dish from scratch I made double the quantity and then freeze half for a quick meal on another day.
Megan says
So glad you both enjoyed!
Margie says
Unbelievably good. *Chef's kiss*
Jess Ross says
This was phenomenal! I used Silk Half ‘n’ half instead of the coconut cream, and it was delicious 🙂
Megan says
So glad you enjoyed!
Ruth Grindeland says
Delish! Just made it for lunch and loved it!
Megan says
Love to hear that!
Sonia says
Such a quick and flavorful recipe. I’m new to being vegan and this recipe gave me a great option. Thank you.
Megan says
So glad you enjoyed it 🙂