This recipe for homemade Greek giant beans is a quick and easy stovetop twist on traditional Greek ‘gigantes plaki’. You’ll love the perfectly tender, creamy beans in their rich, tomato-vegetable sauce with punchy Mediterranean flavors. Skip the oven for an easier but just-as-delicious version of this Greek comfort food classic!

What are Greek giant beans?

Greek giant beans (known as ‘gigantes’ – pronounced GEE-gan-tez – or ‘giants’ in Greek), are large white kidney-shaped beans that are popular in Greek cuisine.

These beans are called lima beans or butter beans (depending on where you live!) in English. You’ll recognize them by their large size, delicious creamy-tender but also slightly firm texture, and mild, some say ‘buttery’ flavor.

In the classic Greek recipe ‘Gigantes Plaki’ (‘baked/roasted giants’), the giant white beans are usually baked in a rich tomato sauce with vegetables and classic Mediterranean flavors like oregano, dill and garlic.

The beans are of course the stars of this dish, and a perfect ‘blank canvas’ to absorb the beautiful flavors of the sauce. You might like to call this recipe simply Greek baked beans!

Fun fact: ‘Gigantes’ are sometimes called ‘elephant beans’ in Greece because they are huge like an elephant’s ear!

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Uses canned lima/butter beans. No need to worry about soaking beans overnight. No need to even turn on the oven! This easy and fast one pot stovetop version saves on power and time, but is just as tasty as a classic Greek giant beans recipe.

• Rich and satisfying. You’ll love the mouth-watering and comforting combination of hearty beans, tangy tomato and vegetable sauce, and aromatic herbs.

• Healthy baked beans! Pulses are always a healthy choice, but this gigantes plaki recipe can be a nourishing meal in one with the addition of all those veggies and fresh herbs.

• Versatile dish. Serve as a hearty and filling main dish with a generous sprinkle of feta cheese and fresh bread or olive oil toasts, either as is or with meat on the side. Or, serve as an appetizer, tapas style, with other Mediterranean style snacks (see ideas below).

• Family friendly. While these Greek beans are packed full of Mediterranean flavors, the taste is also familiar and mild enough for (hopefully) even your pickiest eater to enjoy.

• A naturally vegetarian and gluten free meal option. Or serve as they are (without any feta and replacing the honey for sugar) and in fact they’re even vegan friendly!

Ingredients

Olive oil: So we’re not talking ‘a little bit of olive oil for cooking the veggies in’ here. Olive oil is a key ingredient in this recipe and you’ll need a little over a quarter of a cup. Go for a good quality extra virgin olive oil if possible since it really adds to the overall flavor and texture of the sauce.

Onion: I prefer to use a brown or yellow onion with plenty of flavor.

Celery: For extra depth of flavor with slightly earthy and herbaceous notes.

Carrot: 1 or 2 chopped finely for a little natural sweetness and extra texture and nutrition in the sauce.

Garlic: I often use garlic paste for convenience, but feel free to substitute with fresh garlic cloves.

Dried oregano: This herb adds distinct authentic Greek flavor. I suggest adding a whole tablespoon. Don’t skip it – your Greek butter beans just won’t taste right without it.

Tomato paste: Sometimes called tomato purée (but not the American kind) or tomato concentrate. To add punchy tomato flavor.

Canned tomatoes: For ease, I usually go for chopped or diced tomatoes.

Canned lima/butter beans: These are ready-cooked beans which should be easy to find in the canned foods aisle in any supermarket. Alternatively, try a European style deli or other store.

Honey: Add a whole 2 tablespoons of honey (or a little sugar if you don’t have honey) to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes perfectly.

Vinegar: In addition to the honey, I add 2 tablespoons of vinegar (any is fine – white, red or even balsamic) for a hint of sweet and sour in the beans.

Salt and pepper and a bay leaf: As always, the right amount of seasoning makes or breaks the finished dish. A bay leaf is optional, but will add a subtle but pleasant mild floral note to the dish.

Fresh parsley and dill: Both of these add refreshing and aromatic notes to the dish that don’t overpower the other flavors. Dill has the more distinctive taste of the two and I feel it’s really essential to the authentic flavor of this giant beans recipe.

Really not a fan of dill, however? I’ve got you covered since I wrote a whole post about alternatives to dill, just in case!

Feta cheese: So this is entirely optional (the beans are great eaten by themselves!) but I love to sprinkle just a little feta cheese over the delicious Greek butter beans before serving. Plus more fresh herbs to make them look extra pretty.

How to make Greek giant beans

Step 1: Cube the vegetables (as finally as you can – use a food processor if you prefer). Then cook in the olive oil on a medium high heat for around 7 minutes. You want the veggies to soften and sweeten but without browning.

Step 2: Stir in the garlic and oregano.

Step 3: While still on the heat, stir in the tomato paste and canned tomatoes and then the beans (drained and rinsed first), honey and vinegar.

Then, using the empty tomato can, add half a can of water. Finally, add salt and pepper and a bay leaf if you have one, and stir well.

Step 4: Bring the mixture to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for around 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened a little.

Step 5: Stir in the fresh herbs at the end.

Serve sprinkled with feta cheese (if you like!) and more fresh herbs to make it look nice!

How to serve

One of the great things about ‘gigantes plaki’ is that you can either serve them as the Greeks often do, by themselves with lots of feta and fresh crusty bread (try this amazing homemade Greek bread recipe!) to mop up the sauce.

OR you can serve them with whatever you’d usually serve baked beans in tomato sauce with. I love to serve them breakfast style, as a main meal with sausages, these delicious Greek scrambled eggs or a fried egg and these simple olive oil toasts on the side!

Which means they’d also be great actually served for breakfast or brunch. Serving with this popular and very easy crustless ham and cheese quiche is another breakfast option!

They also go really well with meatballs (here are some Greek chicken meatballs – for the air fryer or oven), or any kind of meat such as these oven baked Greek chicken kabobs or simple baked chicken thighs.

The third option is to serve them mezze style, as part of a selection of Mediterranean style appetizers. Here are a few other dishes to include as part of your spread.

• Greek salad or Greek lettuce salad

• Halloumi fries and/or zucchini fries

• Spanish omelette

• Greek spinach and feta parcels or tiropitakia (mini cheese pies)

• Greek style smashed potatoes in your air fryer!

Or check out all easy appetizers!

Variations

I don’t actually recommend varying classic dishes such as gigantes plaki too much… since they’re classics for a reason!

Having said that, there are a few simple tweaks you can make that still maintain the authenticity of the dish. For instance, you can add some cooked sausage or chicken or pork to the cooked beans for an even heartier dish.

You could add more of different chopped vegetables such as zucchini/courgette, peppers, or eggplant.

You could wilt some spinach into the dish at the very end, to up the nutritional value even more.

Finally, you could add more dried or fresh herbs, such as thyme, basil or rosemary, or even add a pinch of red pepper flakes or chilli flakes for a spicy twist on the classic.

Can’t find lima/butter beans? Try the dish with other canned beans such as cannellini beans, navy beans or even chickpeas.

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