This creamy, flavour-packed Butter Bean Curry is the perfect hearty mid-week meal to top up your plant points. It’s really easy to prepare and can be ready to eat in just 40 minutes!
This Butter Bean Curry has got to be one of my favourite curry recipes and I’m so excited to share it with you.
It’s the perfect nourishing midweek meal to help you get more fibre and plants into your week – whilst still being a crowd pleasing dish that everyone will love.
I can’t get enough of the buttery taste and texture of the butter beans (also known as lima beans) paired with the creamy coconut milk and aromatic spices. It genuinely tastes a lot more indulgent than it actually is!
I recommend making this Butter Bean Curry in bulk and freezing a few portions for later. It’s always a good idea to have a few plant-packed nourishing meals on hand for when you can’t be bothered cooking!
Why You’ll Love This Butter Bean Curry
Easy to Prepare: This Butter Bean Curry is really easy to make. It requires one pot and around 40 minutes of your time from chopping right through to serving. Which is great considering how much variety and goodness is in this dish!
Perfect for Meal Prep: If you’re looking for a recipe to make in bulk so you can enjoy it on another day when you can’t be bothered cooking – this Butter Bean Curry is the perfect option! It freezes well and tastes just as good (if not better) the next day.
Fibre-Rich: If fibre is something you are lacking in your diet, this recipe has plenty of it!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Below are some helpful notes about the ingredients used in this Butter Bean Curry recipe. You can find the precise ingredients you’ll need in the recipe card further down.
Tinned butter beans – Also known as lima beans. You can cook your own dried butter beans to add instead, but tinned are just as nutritious and much easier!
Brown onion
Red pepper – You can use whatever coloured pepper you like. I chose red because the colour pops in this dish.
Carrots – These will be grated into the dish to speed up the cooking process.
Garlic
Tinned coconut milk – Personally, I love the creaminess that full-fat coconut milk provides, but if you want to reduce the saturated fat content in this butter bean curry, you can definitely use low-fat coconut milk as a healthier alternative.
Tinned chopped tomatoes – Finely chopped tinned tomatoes work well for creating this recipe.
Baby spinach – A few handfuls will be added towards the end of cooking.
Ginger puree – This is often found in the fresh herbs and spices section of the vegetable aisle in the supermarket. Alternatively, you can grate in around 1 inch of fresh ginger.
Spices – In this recipe I use ground cumin, turmeric, garam masala and chilli flakes. Feel free to adjust the amount of chilli flakes depending on your spice preference.
Vegetable oil – I typically use rapeseed oil or olive oil.
Salt and pepper
🌱 Total number of plant points: 8+
How to Make Butter Bean Curry
Step 1: Fry the onions on a medium heat with oil until soft.
Step 2: Add the diced pepper, grated carrot and crushed garlic to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
Step 3: Next add the spices, salt and pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes on a slightly lower heat. Add a little bit of water if the ingredients start to stick to the pan.
Step 4: Add the butter beans, coconut milk and chopped tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.
Step 5: Add the washed spinach, stir and cook on a low heat for a further 5 minutes.
Now it’s ready to serve!
Serving This Butter Bean Curry
My favourite way to serve this Butter Bean Curry is with a side of rice and a squeeze of lime. If you’re looking to score an extra plant point, serve this with a side of brown rice instead of white.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of coriander (cilantro), but if you are, this also works nicely as a garnish. It will also add an extra 1/4 plant point to this meal!
If you have any of this Butter Bean Curry left over, I recommend having it with some warm garlic and coriander naan bread for a hearty lunch the next day – delicious!
Storage
Store any leftover Butter Bean Curry in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
For longer storage, transfer portions into freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutritional Benefits of Butter Bean Curry
Butter beans are a great source of fibre, making them an ideal centrepiece of this curry if you’re looking to boost your fibre intake.
In fact, a portion of this Butter Bean Curry served with a cup of cooked brown rice provides around 15g of fibre (that’s half the daily recommended intake of fibre).
Fibre is an under-rated nutrient that we are not eating enough of, which is why getting more beans into our diet is so important.
Not only can fibre help keep your bowel movements regular, but according to research, eating a diet rich in fibre can help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer and type 2 diabetes.
More Delicious Bean Recipes
- Lemon and Basil Butter Bean Salad
- Mediterranean-Style Bean Salad
- 3 Bean Salad with Olives
- Kale and White Bean Salad
Easy Butter Bean Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 large brown onion (or 2 small), diced
- 1 large red pepper, diced
- 2 carrots, grated
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp ginger puree
- 1 tbsp cumin, ground
- 1 tsp turmeric, ground
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1-2 tsp chilli flakes (depending on your spice preference)
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- 2 tins of butter beans (lima beans), drained and rinsed
- 1 tin of coconut milk
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 3 big handfuls of baby spinach, washed and drained
Instructions
- Fry the onions on a medium heat with oil until soft (but not browned).
- Add the diced pepper, grated carrot, crushed garlic and ginger puree to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
- Next add the spices, salt and pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes on a slightly lower heat. Add a splash of water if needed to prevent sticking.
- Add the butter beans, coconut milk and chopped tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add spinach and cook on low heat for 5 more minutes until wilted.
- Serve with rice, a squeeze of lime and some fresh coriander.