Easy Spanish Beans

These hearty Spanish Beans in a tomato sauce are made mostly of store cupboard staples and it is a budget friendly, healthy meal that is easy to make vegan. A slightly sweet and smoky tomato sauce, with protein packed butter beans and a green boost from with spinach. All cooked in one pan and ready in under 20 minutes.

Bean Stew in a white bowl next to a pan of more stew.

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This hearty, but healthy, Spanish Bean Stew is just 450 calories for a big comforting bowl and is delicious as a main meal with some chunks of crusty bread, or as a side as part of a tapas spread.

Once you have the intense smoky sauce perfected, this is easy to adapt with other ingredients like chicken or prawns.

If you are looking for other ways to use beans, then why not try our quick Butter Bean Salad, creamy Butter Bean Soup, easy Mexican Beans on Toast, or our tasty Three Bean Curry?

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Why You Will Love It
What are Spanish Beans?
Ingredients and Substitutions
Variations
Step by Step Instructions
Budget Tip
Serving Suggestions
Storage
Dannii's Top Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
More Spanish Recipes
Recipe
Feedback

Why You Will Love It

Protein packed - Butter beans are protein packed and they are super versatile too.
Quick - These Spanish beans are ready in under 20 minutes so they are perfect for a quick and filling meal.
Just a few ingredients - This is so easy to make and you probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen already.
Easy to adapt - Use this recipe as a base and then adapt it with our suggestions below.
Can be vegan - We added chorizo for extra smokey flavour, but it can easily be left out to keep it vegan.
Versatile - These Spanish beans are delicious as part of a tapas spread or just eaten with some chunky crusty bread.

What are Spanish Beans?

Spanish beans are large beans like butter beans (which we have used in this recipe) or lima beans in a thick and rich smoky tomato sauce. It has all the flavours you know and love from Spanish food.

The sauce is made with a base of shallots and garlic (heavy on the garlic) and then chorizo to give it a tonne of flavour (but this is optional and can be left out if you want to make it vegan.

The tomato sauce is then built up with canned tomatoes, a generous amount of paprika to intensify that smoky flavour and some olives for extra saltiness.

We then stirred through some spinach at the end, as it's always good to give a dish a green veggie boost if you can.

Ingredients and Substitutions

A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Butter beans - We used canned butter beans. You could use cannellini beans or chickpeas if you prefer.
Shallots - These are the base of the dish and add a nice sweetness. You could use a small brown onion if you prefer.
Garlic - Fresh is always best and you will need to make sure it is well crushed, almost into a paste to ensure even distribution. You could use frozen garlic if you prefer.
Tomatoes - This is what makes up the sauce. Try to use the best quality that you can, as the cheaper tomatoes tend to be watery and you will end up with a watery sauce. You can always add some tomato puree to thicken it up.
Spinach - This adds a nice green veggie boost. You can use fresh of frozen.
Olives - An easy way to add some extra Mediterranean flavour. Use your favourite olives.
Paprika - This adds a lovely smoky flavour. Use smoked paprika for extra flavour. Make sure your paprika hasn't been open longer than 6 months, otherwise it won't have much flavour.
Chorizo - This adds a real flavour burst and a little goes a long way. You can leave it out to make it vegetarian.
Red bell pepper - Adds some nice crunch to the dish.

Variations

The great thing about this dish is that you can add any vegetables to it. You could add courgette (zucchini) mushrooms, aubergine (eggplant) or even sweetcorn. Really, anything that you have in your fridge that might need using up. It's a great fridge raid meal.

Whilst it doesn't need it, you could add some grated parmesan on top before serving, or even some crumbled feta. If you wanted to make it vegetarian, then leave out the chorizo. You might want to add a little extra paprika for more smokiness.

Step by Step Instructions

Chopped chorizo, red bell pepper and onion cooking in a frying pan.

Step 1: Heat a little oil in a pan and add the shallots, pepper, chorizo and garlic and gently cook for 3 minutes.

Tomatoes, butter beans, olives, chorizo, peppers, herbs and spices all cooking in a frying pan.

Step 2: Add the rest of the ingredients, expect spinach.

Spanish Bean Stew cooking in a frying pan.

Step 3: Mix well and simmer for 10 minutes.

Spanish Bean Stew with wilted spinach cooking in a frying pan.

Step 4: Stir in the spinach 3 minutes before finished cooking.

Budget Tip

We used a can of butter beans, which are still good value. However, if you want to make these Spanish Beans even more budget friendly, then you can use dried butter beans. Soak them in water for at least 6 hours, but ideally overnight. Drain and since them and then boil them for 50 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

This is search a hearty meal all in itself, it doesn't really need to be served with anything. If you are making the portions smaller so extra people can have some, then you could serve with some chunks of crusty bread and a nice green salad. We also like it with our Easy Homemade Flatbreads or Naan Breads.

Potatoes are always a good side dish and here are some of our recipes that will go perfectly with this:

A stew of beans, chorizo and peppers mixed with wilted spinach and cress.

Storage

Store: This can be kept in the fridge for two to three days if stored in an air-tight container.

Freeze: To freeze, put in rigid, air-tight containers, leaving a half-inch (1.5cm) gap at the top. This will be good in the freezer for up to six months.

Defrost: You can defrost it in the fridge overnight.

Reheat: To reheat, simply microwave, or heat through in a pan on the hob (stove top).

Dannii's Top Tips

You can adapt the vegetables that are used in this dish to use up whatever you have in your fridge.
To make this vegan, leave out the chorizo. You might want to add a little extra paprika for some more flavour.
You could also swap the beans for leftover chicken or fry up some king prawns, or even add them to the beans.
We used canned beans, however you could use dried. Just make sure that you soak them overnight, then drain and rinse them and boil for around 50 minutes.

A bowl of Spanish stew in front of a pan of more stew.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make vegetarian Spanish beans?

To make this vegetarian, simply omit the chorizo. By doing this, it will actually make this dish vegan. The chorizo does add a lovely, rich smokiness to the meal, so if you do leave the chorizo out, we recommend adding a teaspoon of smoked paprika. If you still wanted some kind of meaty texture, you could add some tofu or cubes of quickly fried halloumi cheese.

Can you make Spanish Beans in the slow cooker?

Yes, this recipe works really well in the slow cooker. Follow steps one and two and then add everything to the slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours. Add the spinach 30 minutes before it has finished.

More Spanish Recipes

If you've tried this chorizo and bean stew, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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