Marinated White Beans

These Marinated White Beans are a quick, easy and flavour-filled dish that you will want to make on regular rotation. For speed and convenience, we use one of my store cupboard essentials, canned cannellini beans. We marinate the beans in a garlicky, extra virgin olive oil dressing with fresh lemon juice, dried chilli flakes, Kalamata olives, fresh basil and Italian parsley. The humble canned beans are transformed by the Mediterranean flavours in the marinade. The result is simple, fresh and delicious!

Course Appetiser, Side Dish

Cuisine Italian Inspired, Mediterranean

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 5

Marinating Time 30

Total Time 45

Servings people

Calories 251kcal

Author Alexandra Cook - It's Not Complicated Recipes

Ingredients

400 g (14 oz) tinned cannellini beans – rinsed and drained See Note 1
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic - grated
2 tablespoon lemon juice See Note 2
¼ teaspoon dried red chilli pepper flakes
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ cup Kalamata olives - pitted and cut into thirds
2 tablespoon fresh basil leaves - finely chopped
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley - finely chopped
flaky sea salt - to taste

Instructions

Drain and rinse the cannellini beans and set aside.
In a medium size saucepan, add the olive oil and garlic. Turn the heat onto low and warm through.
We want to cook the garlic without colouring it, to infuse the oil. This will take a couple of minutes.
Once warmed through, switch off the heat. Add in the lemon juice, chilli and oregano.
To the oil mixture, add the drained beans and olives.
Mix well to coat everything.
Serve immediately with the fresh basil and parsley stirred through and lots of crusty bread to mop up the juices.
If making in advance, add the herbs closer to serving.

Notes

Beans: butter beans also work well for this recipe, as do chickpeas.
Tablespoon: we use a standard Australian tablespoon which is 20 ml (4 teaspoons). For readers located elsewhere in the world, please use 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon for each listed tablespoon.
Seasoning: check that the seasoning is to your taste before serving. I like to add a little flaky sea salt, but it is important to remember that the olives will add to the seasoning of the dish.
Make ahead and storage: this is a dish that is ideal to make the day before, as the flavours will become more vibrant. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Ensure you bring to room temperature before enjoying.
Freezing: this recipe is not suitable for freezing.
Servings: serves four people as an appetiser with crusty bread, or two as a side dish to a main meal.

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