Easy Cannellini Beans

Turn cannellini beans into a delicious side dish with this easy recipe! It’s packed with Mediterranean flavors and plant-based proteins.

Here’s a simple recipe that all cooks should know: 5 minutes cannellini beans! It’s a lifesaver for weeknight cooking or the perfect solution for adding plant-based protein to a meal. You’ll be amazed at the flavor you can squeeze out of a can of beans in minutes. Toss it in a pan with some spices and it tastes like it’s been cooking all day. Here’s how to turn a can of beans into a delicious, healthy, and legitimate side dish (or dinner).

Ingredients for these easy cannellini beans

The magic of this cannelini bean recipe comes from the flavor infusion in a can of beans. Of course you can also cook on the stove yourself. (Follow the directions in White Beans on Toast.) But this recipe is meant as a quick and easy fix for weeknights: where you hardly have to think. What you need for this recipe:

• 1 can of cannellini beans
• olive oil
• Herbs de Provence or Italian spice (see below)
• chives
• salt pepper

Two great spice blends (bought or homemade)

There are two different spice blends that complement the buttery, creamy taste of the cannellini beans perfectly. One is used in French cuisine and the other in Italian cuisine. Both are easy to find at most grocery stores.

• Herbs of Provence: This blend is a group of herbs that grow in Provence, France, such as savory, marjoram, rosemary, lavender and thyme. It adds a herbal flavor with an incredibly unique subtle floral undertone. If you can’t find it, use an Italian spice or try homemade Provençal herbs.
• Italian spices: Italian Spices have a similar vibe but are made with common Italian herbs. It’s a blend of oregano, basil, thyme, sage, and rosemary. It’s easy to find in grocery stores, but you can also make homemade Italian seasonings.

How to make cannellini beans in 5 minutes

This cannellini bean recipe really doesn’t require any technique: it’s all about the taste! Here’s what you’ll do:

• Drain and rinse the canned beans. This is standard for using canned beans in recipes.
• Heat the olive oil in a pan.
• Add beans and spices and cook until hot, about 2 minutes. Fresh chives give this recipe a great fresh flavor and a nice light green color. If you don’t have one on hand, use a pinch of onion powder.

Give it a try and you’ll be amazed at how much flavor can be squeezed out of just one can of beans and 5 minutes. Take this concept and use it when you’re hungry and need a healthy, protein-rich snack or side dish.

Ways to Serve This Cannellini Bean Recipe

Another thing we love about this cannellini bean recipe is that it’s incredibly versatile. It’s great as a side dish, a hearty snack, or even a healthy plant-based dinner. Here are some ways to serve it:

• Perfect with pasta. It’s hard to find a vegetarian or vegan side dish with pasta. This goes perfectly with Baked Rigatoni Pasta, Pasta with White Sauce, Roasted Cauliflower Pasta, Pasta Primavera, Roasted Eggplant Pasta and Pasta with White Wine Sauce.
• Excellent with seafood. It also pairs well with fish or shellfish, such as pesto salmon or grilled salmon parfait, grilled salmon en papillote, grilled tilapia, fried cod, baked cod or grilled shrimp.
• Prepare a quick bowl. We do this for quick dinners on weekdays. Toss in a bowl with other raw or cooked veggies, scrambled tofu, leftover rice or quinoa, etc.

What are cannellini beans?

Cannellini beans are oval-shaped Italian white beans with a creamy texture and mild flavor. They’re one of the easiest canned kidney beans to find at the grocery store, along with Great Northern Beans. What is the difference between Cannellini and Great Northern Beans? The cannellini are larger and creamier in color; Great Northerns are smaller and whiter.

Don’t know how to say cannellini? Say Can-a-leen-ee.

Why eat more beans

Beans are one of the best foods you can eat: especially if you’re on a vegetarian or vegan diet! They are full of plant proteins, very stable and easy to prepare in delicious recipes. And… there are many other reasons! Here’s why you should eat more beans (according to The Beans Cookbook Fresh broad beans which we have reviewed here):

• They are the cheapest source of protein in the world. It is the only food classified by the USDA as both a protein and a vegetable.
• They can help you live longerThe list of beans’ health benefits goes on and on: They’re nutrient dense, packed with cancer-fighting antioxidants and healthy fiber. Can you guess the common element in the Blue Zone regime countries where people live the longest in the world? They all eat 1 cup of beans a day.
• You respect the planet. Beans could be indispensable for feeding the world’s growing population: they pollute the climate less than animal protein.

This recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.

More bean recipes

Beans are one of our favorite recipe ingredients! Here are some other ways to use beans in your home cooking: