My girl Gaby from What’s Gaby Cooking truly never misses. I’ve been cooking my way through her newest cookbook, Take It Easy, and fell head over heels for this unique, absolutely dreamy recipe.
These creamy white beans are savory, herby, a little spicy, and absolutely delicious. They have a mix of blended and whole cannellini beans for a wonderful texture, so besides going straight with a spoon to this bowl of magic, be sure to pick up some crusty bread to scoop up every last bite.
This recipe comes together so easily but feels super unique and elevated — a meal you’ll feel excited about sharing with friends, family, your roommate, or just enjoying yourself. The same goes for every single recipe in her cookbook, which is all about delicious, stress-free cooking, so be sure to pick up a copy ASAP.
Everything you’ll need to make these creamy white beans
This white beans recipe is so simple yet filled with rich, bold flavors and a hearty, creamy texture you’ll love. You’ll top the beans with an incredible spicy herb oil that truly takes this dish to the next level! Here’s everything you’ll need to make them:
- Dried cannellini beans: you’ll be cooking your cannellini beans in water with some fresh herbs so remember to use dried beans!
- For cooking the beans: you’ll need an onion, garlic, fresh rosemary, a bay leaf, and a Calabrian chile.
- Spinach: once the beans are cooked you’ll stir them with some fresh spinach for a boost of veggies.
- For the herb oil: this homemade spicy herb oil is absolute perfection. It’s made with olive oil, fresh rosemary, garlic, more Calabrian chiles, and fennel seeds.
What are Calabrian chiles?
Calabrian chiles are a type of chile pepper that grows in Southern Italy. They have a unique, medium-hot spicy, smoky flavor to them that makes them the perfect pairing with these white beans. You’ll typically find them jarred in the grocery store.
Can I use a different type of bean?
Sure! The best swap for cannellini beans in this recipe would be great northern beans, navy beans, or butterbeans. Let me know if you give any of those a try!
The best way to enjoy these white beans
There’s nothing more satisfying than scooping meals with bread, don’t you agree? Get your favorite crusty bread or baguette and tear off pieces to scoop up all of this creamy bean goodness!
Creamy white beans in 4 simple steps
- Cook the beans. Start by rinsing your beans, then add them to a large pot with cold water. Add in the onion, garlic, rosemary, bay leaf & Calabrian chile, bring everything to a boil, then simmer until the beans are super tender. Discard any foam that comes up and stir in the spinach + salt.
- Make the herb oil. While the beans are cooking heat all of the spicy herb oil ingredients in a skillet on medium-low until the herbs are fragrant. Set this aside.
- Blend the beans. Add 2 cups of the beans and spinach mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour this mixture back into the pot with the rest of the beans.
- Assemble & serve. Add the beans to a bowl, pour the herb oil on top, and serve them up with your fav crusty bread!
Storing tips
Feel free to store any leftover white beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days. Simply reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop before enjoying.
More vegetarian meals you’ll love
- Mom’s Authentic Puerto Rican Rice and Beans
- The Best Dal Ever
- Vegan White Bean & Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Butternut Squash, Chickpea & Lentil Moroccan-Spiced Stew
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas with Avocado Lime Crema
Get all of my vegetarian dinners here!
I hope you love Gaby’s creamy white beans! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Then remember to grab a copy of What’s Gaby Cooking: Take It Easy cookbook, too!
Gaby’s Creamy White Beans
Savory, creamy white beans topped with homemade spicy herb oil and served with crusty bread for a satisfying lunch, dinner, or side dish any day of the week! These easy, creamy white beans are packed with fiber, protein, fresh herbs, and a delicious kick of heat you'll love.
Ingredients
- For the beans:
- 12 ounces dried cannellini beans
- 1 medium yellow onion, cut into wedges
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 Calabrian chile
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- Sea salt
- For the spicy herb oil:
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 Calabrian chiles, thinly sliced (or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes)
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- For serving:
- Crusty bread
Instructions
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To make the beans: Rinse the beans, put them into a large pot, and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Add the onion, garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, and Calabrian chile. Bring the beans to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a high simmer. Skim off any foam during the cooking and discard. Cook until very tender, 50 to 60 minutes. Stir in the spinach and season with salt.
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To make the spicy herb oil: While the beans are cooking, heat the oil in a small skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the rosemary, garlic, chiles, and fennel seeds. Cook until the garlic is lightly golden and the herbs and fennel are fragrant. Set aside.
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To assemble and serve: In a blender, puree about 2 cups of the bean and spinach mixture briefly until smooth. Stir the puree back into the beans. Transfer the beans to a serving bowl, pour the spicy herb oil over the top, and serve with crusty bread.
Nutrition
Recipe by: What’s Gaby Cooking | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
12 comments
Cant wait to make this soon for me i never had creamy white beans before perfect for my after office meals love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
These look amazing and I can’t wait to make it. My question is about the beans. Do they need to soak prior to cooking? Only cooking them for one hour seems like it wouldn’t be long enough for dried beans. Just checking!
Nope, this should be enough time. if you feel they are still not ready after an hour you can let them cook a little more, but an hour should be enough. enjoy!
This sounds delish! Do I did the onion wedges, rosemary spring, and bay leaf before stirring in spinach?
Hi there! A little confused on step 1- after cooking the beans do you drain? Do you discard all of the add ins that cooked with it? Then you add the spinach?
Thanks!
Amber
I have the cook book you reference and I don’t see this recipe anywhere… is it from her other cookbook?
Hi Christina! We accidentally linked the wrong one 🙂 The post has been updated with her newest cookbook!
I was happy with how this turned out! For the level of effort, healthy-ness and flavor, I was definitely impressed. I omitted the Chile because I couldn’t find it at the store and wanted to keep it mild. I added a bit of water as needed while cooking. After cooking the beans I took out the rosemary and bay leaf before adding spinach and salt directly to beans (in the water- no draining). I wish I would have picked through the beans as a few didn’t seem to have finished cooking with all the others.
This was okay for me. I definitely ended up cooking the beans for about 90 minutes as 60 was not enough. I still felt like this was missing something. Apart from the occasional bite of chili and garlic, it was bland and too oily for me. The herbs never came through. I don’t know what I did wrong. I would also probably add some extra crushed red pepper on top of the chilis, but I
personally like to sweat. If you’re not vegetarian, adding some spicy chicken sausage to it might add that nice punch of flavor I felt was missing.
Thank you for sharing, sorry this did not turn out as you had hoped.
I didn’t enjoy this recipe as much as I thought I would. However, I was unable to find the chilies at my store, so I looked up substitutes and used Anaheim peppers. So maybe that was the problem? The beans just did not have much flavor to me. I added red pepper flakes and then hot sauce when I served it, and that did help. I did not use all of the chili oil because it was a lot of oil.
The chilis are definitely key for this recipe. If you are able to find them, I would recommend giving this recipe another try!