This easy white beans recipe takes just 5 minutes with canned beans and tastes delicious! Plus, how to choose cannellini, Great Northern, or navy.
Here’s one of the best tricks for the home cook: how to make a can of beans taste incredible in 5 minutes! This is one of our top ways to make a quick and easy lunch, dinner protein or healthy side dish.
Pop white beans into a skillet and cook with herbs until warm and perfectly seasoned. It sounds deceptively simple, but the flavor is anything but: it’s salty, rich and nuanced. Beans are some of the healthiest foods on the planet. Here’s more about white beans and how to whip up this fast and easy recipe: perfect for weeknights!
5 Star Reader Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This is delicious! I often have a container of white beans in the fridge that I cook from dried cannellini beans and use for dips, soups and stews. I was looking for a quick recipe and made this: it was quick, delicious and nutritious for a quick lunch or light dinner with a salad!” -Lee Ann
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I really enjoyed the simplicity these. I used EVOO and oregano. I can definitely see myself coming back to this time and time again. Simple and delicious. Thank you!” -M.
Choosing Your White Beans
There are three main types of white beans that you’ll find at the store. Here’s a breakdown:
- Cannellini: Cannellini beans (can-a-leen-ee) are an Italian variety that are large and kidney shaped, with a creamy texture and mild flavor. They’re also known as white kidney beans. See my favorite Cannellini Beans recipe.
- Great Northern: Great Northern beans are smaller than cannellini and have a brighter white color. They also have a mild flavor with a nutty undertone.
- Navy: Navy beans are the smallest of the types of white beans. They have a mild flavor and got their name because they were a popular staple for the US Navy in the early 1900’s. You’ll find them in Boston Baked Beans and other American dishes. They’re also known as Boston beans or pea beans.
- Butter: Butter beans are the largest of the white bean family. Lima beans are the green immature version of this bean, but the mature dried version tastes completely different. It has a creamy, rich flavor. Butter beans are sold in many grocery stores dried and canned. Try my Easy Butter Beans.
There’s also a variety of extra large white beans called gigante beans. This variety is harder to find and used differently in recipes, so we won’t focus on it here. But if you can find them, they’re buttery and delicious!
Ingredients You’ll Need
This white beans recipe is the perfect recipe for a weeknight where you’ve got no idea what to eat, or a quick and easy lunch. They’re also a fantastic vegan side dish, especially if you’re trying to add plant-based protein and fiber to accent a dish. This trick is so easy, you’ll wonder where it was all your life. Here’s
- 15-ounce can white beans: You can use any of the types above: cannellini, Great Northern or navy.
- Olive oil: My go-to oil for sauteing.
- Onion powder and garlic powder: These bring deep savory notes.
- Dried tarragon or oregano: Dried tarragon might not be a staple in your spice drawer, but I think it should be! Tarragon is an herb often used in French cooking, but it’s also used in other Mediterranean and European cuisines. The fresh herb has an anise or licorice aftertaste, like fennel. The dried version is similar but not quite as strong. If you don’t have it, a good substitute for tarragon in this recipe is dried oregano.
My 5-Minute White Beans Method
This white beans recipe is for already cooked or canned beans. To learn how to cook dried white beans, head to White Beans on Toast and follow the method there. As much as we like to make time to cook from dry, we eat a lot of canned beans around here. They’re so quick and easy, it’s worth stocking up! Here’s how to take a can of white beans and infuse big flavor:
- Drain and rinse the beans. The can liquid makes them too soggy, so strain that out.
- Melt butter in a skillet, or heat olive oil. You can use either. Butter infuses beautifully savory flavor, but olive oil works and keeps it plant-based / vegan.
- Add tarragon, onion powder, garlic powder and salt. Cook for 2 minutes, until warmed.
- Finish and taste. Taste. If you’d like, you could add a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of chopped parsley to make the flavors pop even more.
Once you’ve tried this recipe once, you won’t need to measure again! You can easily memorize the method and approximate on the seasonings.
Ways To Serve Them
These white beans work as a quick side, a protein boost for dinner, or a light lunch. Here are some of my favorite ways to serve them:
- With fish: Serve alongside Easy Baked Salmon or a Seared Tuna Steak for a Mediterranean-style dinner.
- With chicken: They’re great with Air Fryer Chicken Thighs or a Pan Seared Chicken Breast.
- Over greens: Toss them with Sauteed Kale and Farro for a warm, hearty bowl.
- In a bowl: Add them to a Grain Bowl or Farro Bowl with roasted veggies and a drizzle of Tahini Sauce.
Why White Beans Belong In Your Pantry
White beans are some of the most nutritious foods on the planet! Here’s what you’re getting in 1 cup cooked beans:
| Ingredient | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fiber | Fat |
| White beans | 242 | 17 grams | 44 grams | 11 grams | 0.6 grams |
- White beans are loaded with plant-based protein (about 30% your daily need in 1 cup) and fiber (about 44% of your daily need).
- Beans have lots of nutrients, a good amount of zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, and vitamins B1, B6, E, and K.
- Beans are a low glycemic index food, weighing in at 24 (source).
Dietary Notes
This white beans recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cannellini beans are a type of white bean. “White beans” can mean cannellini, Great Northern, navy, or butter beans. If a recipe calls for white beans, any of these will work (I typically use cannellini as my default).
Yes! Great Northern beans are a little smaller and have a slightly firmer texture, but they work as a 1:1 swap in this recipe and in most soups and salads.
In the UK, small white beans are often sold as haricot beans, the same variety used in canned baked beans. Cannellini beans are sold under their own name.
Yes! Cool them completely, then freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Easy White Beans Recipe
Here’s a fast and easy white beans recipe: just 5 minutes in a skillet and they’re full of flavor! Use this trick for cooked or canned beans.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 to 3 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 15-ounce can white beans of any type: cannellini, Great Northern or navy beans
- 1 tablespoon salted butter or olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon dried tarragon or dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the beans.
- Heat the butter or olive oil over medium-low heat in a small skillet. Add the beans and seasoning. Heat until just warm, about 2 minutes.
More Easy Bean Recipes
- Easy Black Beans: This makes a bland can of beans into a flavor-packed dinner with garlic and cumin. Eat them as part of a Rice Bowl!
- Easy Canned Chickpeas: Add paprika and garlic to make these chickpeas fantastic as part of meals or an Easy Grain Bowl.
- Easy Cannellini Beans: This tasty side dish is flavored with herbes de provence.
- Borlotti Beans These beans are full of creamy, savory flavor.
This is delicious! I often have a container of white beans in the frig that I cook from dried cannelini beans and use for dips, soups and stews. Was lookin for a quick recipe to use the last of the beans and made this…. quick, delicious and nutritious for a quick lunch or light dinner with a salad. Thank you!
Your recipes sound great and I can’t wait to try them.
Wow! I’ve never been more impressed with a recipe this simple. I made it this evening, and plan on having it on a regular basis.
Thank you for making it!
Thanks. I’m supporting an outdoor food pantry that can’t accept canned, fresh, or frozen food stuffs during winter. Your recipe will help people to know how to make healthy meals from dried beans and spices provided. Thanks for helping the hungry.
I really enjoyed the simplicity these. I used EVO and oregano. I can definitely see myself coming back to this time and time again. Simple and delicious. Ty
So glad you enjoyed!
I love beans, and forgot how delicious lightly seasoned white beans are, especially (at least my preference) when they’re a little mushy – so I cooked these a few extra minutes. (I used Great Northern.) Delicious flavor with oregano, now I can’t wait to get ahold of some terragon. Great complement to my pork chops tonight. So easy, too.
I have a personal design project at AmperArt.com where I illustrate a phrase that contains an ampersand. I’ll come up with something about beans and mention your blog when it’s published. One per month, so it might be a couple months.
Thanks.
UPDATE: Happy Accident!
I am glad I had to substitute oregano for the first batch, until I got ahold of some tarragon (first item on my shopping list!) for the batch I made tonight…because each spice rendered an entirely different flavor. Thanks for introducing me to tarragon. It truly does make the beans taste uniquely delicious. But I’ll also use the oregano when I want to complement an Italian entree.
Glad to hear that!
Good! I recommend less salt – I’ve made it twice and both times it was too salty with the 1/2 tsp (and I like salt!). Adding some lemon juice at the end did help cut the salt, so I’d say use less salt and/or add some lemon juice to enhance the flavor. But still a very good recipe.
Just made these for lunch. So easy and very tasty. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome!