Popped Beans with Herbs make a fantastic side dish. They're a super quick and easy dish that tastes great. Why popped? When you pan-fry them, they pop! Ready in 10 minutes with 5 ingredients.
Why you'll love this recipe
These pan-fried fresh Popped Beans with herbs are bursting with fresh flavour.
Pan-frying the beans gives them a lovely crispy texture that contrasts well with the soft inside.
Some of the beans sort of 'pop' when they crisp up and get extra tasty.
Then a huge handful of herbs freshens it up and adds loads of flavour.
A delicious side dish, salad or soup-topper.
Ingredients
You don't need many ingredients for Popped Beans!
Beans - I use butter beans (aka lima beans) as I love their almost potato-like texture, but you could try them with any white beans, chickpeas or other beans. Great Northern Beans or canellini beans work great, too.
Garlic - everything is better with garlic, right? If you're not a fan (whaaat???), then just leave it out.
Herbs - Use whatever fresh herbs you have to hand and it will be different every time. Tarragon, rosemary, thyme, parsley etc..
Oil - Use your favorite frying oil. Coconut works too for a totally different flavor of dish.
Salt and pepper
What is a soup topper?
It's easy to make soup extra special and personalised.
First, you definitely need to start with a really good soup that you love.
Then you can add all sorts of soup toppings to jazz it up and make the meal heartier!
Try these crispy pan-fried beans on my vividly green healthy vegan kale soup. The fragrant herbs and crispy beans would elevate these veg-packed tasty soups to a heartier meal and make them extra special.
Croutons are a great place to start, but if you get creative there are limitless possibilities. I love adding a protein, like these fresh herb beans (recipe below!) but you could also try everything from mushrooms to crispy onions.
Favourite soup toppings
Fresh herb popped beans
Sauteed garlic mushrooms
Toasted seeds
Roasted chickpeas
Parmesan crisps
Toasted nuts
Herby croutons
Balsamic drizzle
Soup recipes
Soup toppings are perfect on these tasty soups:
Vegan Lentil Soup
Easy Tomato Soup
Easy Pea Soup (4 ingredients)
Zucchini Soup with Basil (courgette)
Beetroot Soup
Be sure to also check out my roundup of 25+ Delicious Vegan Soup Recipes!
Side dish serving suggestions
But you can do much more with these sauteed beans than top soup with them!
I love them so much that I'd eat them cold as leftovers from the fridge.
Jamie Oliver has a popped beans recipe that he serves for brunch with baked eggs and tomatoes - that's a tasty way to enjoy them, too.
Try them as a healthy, protein-packed side dish with these recipes:
Vegan Fajitas
Portobello Mushroom Steaks
Persian Tofu Veg Skewers
Mushroom Stroganoff
Recipe
If you make this easy herby beans recipe, please tag it with #veggiedesserts on Instagram or other social media. I LOVE seeing your recreations of my recipes.
Sauteed Popped Beans
Equipment
- Frying pan
Ingredients
- 1 can white beans (400g / 15 oz can) I used butter beans/lima beans
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large handful roughly chopped mixed herbs such as parsley, coriander, thyme
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the beans, then pat them dry with a tea towel.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, then add the garlic and beans. Cook, stirring or tossing occasionally, for 5 minutes or until slightly crispy. Mix in the fresh herbs.
- Enjoy as a side dish or as a soup topping.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors, so is not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietician for special diet advice.
Nora
Oh wow! Looks super delicious, I love the color of that soup! And beans for sure are a good topping for that, yum. 🙂
rochel
yummm..
it sounds tasty and healthy .
i would love to make it and taste it !
great post with yumm recipey
Becca Talbot
I love butter beans too, I find the texture really creamy and they're really filling beans. These soup toppers sound delicious ???? X
Crystal
This is such a great recipe for soup.We always make soup more often in the winter months.
Diane Wilkins
This looks sooooooo good. Can't wait to give it a try. Nothing is than a bowl of soup in this cold weather. Thanks for sharing.
Hannah
IVe never though to do soup toppers - I need to try!
Ali - We Made This Life
Ooh I wouldn't have thought of having a soup topper, these look really delicious and I bet they make the soup more hearty and filling too.
Elizabeth
What a lovely soup topper! I confess I had no idea lima beans were butter beans, lol! Consider me educated!
REbecca
These beans look delicious! I've never thought of pan frying beans before. I made soup the other week with beans in it but it didn't turn out too well! I'm pinning this to remind me to try it 🙂
Laura
Ohh I love slightly chunky soups and ones with toppers as it makes it a little bit more substantial. This herby bean topper looks delicious and such a good idea
Laura x
Stacey MacNaught
I love the look of this recipe. We're always making soups over the winter months (me and my slow cooker are in love between September and March!). So I'll be trying the herby bean topping in that post-leftovers bit before New Year 🙂
Thank you
Rebecca | AAUBlog
I'm all for cooking from scratch, and these sound like a good alternative to traditional croutons 🙂
Lynne Harper
I love items made at home 🙂 I also love a good warm soup in winter time. I haven't really thought of soup toppers before but these sound delicious