This traditional Greek baked lima bean recipe with added veggies is a one stop meal. Gigantes Plaki is loaded with protein, perfect for all ages and so flavorful!
I'm back with amazing Greek recipes from Yiayia's kitchen. Per usual, she put her own spin on the traditional version, because she's my mom and nothing is ever good enough as is (so we all know where I get it from).
Lima Beans (Gigantes Beans) Our BFF
This lima bean recipe is a kid favorite, and by favorite I mean 2 ½ kids shovel it in when she brings it over. The ½ is my 3 year old because they are NEVER consistent. He once screamed because I gave him a cookie. No joke.
Are lima beans good for you?
Lima beans are an excellent source of protein and fiber. They also are a great source of iron.
The high fiber content prevents your blood sugar from rising too fast, so it's great for people that need to watch that. High fiber also helps with lowering cholesterol, so it's a perfect food for those watching their levels.
The protein in lima beans help make this an all in one meal. Because of the added veggies, you basically have it all. Pair it with some whole grain bread, and it's just about perfect.
Lima beans also have iron, which is needed for those of us who don't eat meat. In order for the body to absorb plant based iron in max amounts, you need to consume a source of vitamin c along with it. Which is why this recipe is perfect because the tomatoes are vitamin C rich.
A few other healthy bean recipes you may like are:
Are lima beans and butter beans the same?
Lima and butter beans are basically the same bean, Phaseolus lunatus if you want to get nerdy like that. The difference comes in geography. One part of the world named it after the creamy dairy product and the other called them limas.
Gigantes, the greek form, are literally translated as giant beans. They are a lima bean variety but in giant form!
Do I have to soak lima beans before cooking?
Like other dried beans, it isn't mandatory to soak them before cooking. But there are two really good reasons to do so:
- First, soaking your beans helps them cook much faster. And for someone with three kids and not enough time in the day, faster is better. Unless one of you know of a time making tree? Then I'm all in for slow.
- The second reason is making the dried beans easier to digest. This old broad has a belly that decided it doesn't want to cooperate when it comes to all things bean and grain lately. So if it makes it easier on my stomach then give it to me.
To learn more about soaking beans and the different methods, you can also look at my Instant Pot Kale and White Bean Soup recipe
How to make baked lima beans and veggies
The dried bean preparation is the hardest part of this recipe. The main thing to remember here is to soak your beans. You also cook them a bit the next day so that when you bake them they don't take super long.
If you don't do this, your veggies will be over baked and there is nothing worse than melted mushy veggies. I honestly get the heebie jeebies just typing those words.
- Soak and cook the beans.
- Saute the ingredients.
- Transfer to a baking dish and bake.
You can eat them as a main dish, nothing else necessary, or you can serve them along side another dish. Either way, this lima bean recipe is the perfect boost of healthy ingredients!
Baked Lima Bean Recipe (Gigantes Plaki)
Ingredients
- 2 cups lima beans , dried
- 1 sweet onion , diced (about 3 inch diameter)
- 2 cloves garlic , finely chopped
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil for sautéing , optional or use ⅓ cup broth for oil free
- 2 carrots , chopped (about 5 inches long)
- 2 stalks celery , chopped (about 8 inches long)
- 1 pound fresh spinach , chopped (or Swiss chard or both)
- 1 pound fresh tomatoes , diced
- ½ cup fresh parsley , chopped
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Wash and soak the beans in a pot overnight.
- The next day, drain the beans and add enough fresh water to cover them. Cook over low heat until half tender, about 30 minutes, drain, and save the broth.
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C
- In a large pot sauté the onions in veggie broth or olive oil for 2-3 minutes until they begins to get translucent.
- Add the garlic, carrots, celery, spinach and/or Swiss chard and sauté for a couple more minutes.
- Add beans and mix well.
- Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and sauté for another minute. Then add parsley and mix well.
- Add enough reserved broth from the beans to barely cover them. If you don’t have enough reserved broth, then use water for the rest (you can also use extra veggie broth).
- Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes stirring, occasionally. Add more broth if needed. You don’t want it to get too dry.
- Transfer to a 9 x 12 glass baking dish, cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until beans are tender and liquid has evaporated.
- Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Serve hot!
Notes
- If you can’t find lima beans, you can also use corona beans.
- You can also use canned/boxed/jarred tomatoes instead of fresh if you prefer. The taste will change a bit, but it will still work.
- Some tips if your beans are not softening:
- It could be that the beans are old, the older they are the harder it is to get them to soften so make sure to use within a year. If they have wrinkled skin they are too old.
- Hard or well water makes it harder for your beans to cook to soft.
- You can try adding about ¼ teaspoon of baking soda to your water to help soften them. Or add about 1 tablespoon to the soaking water and rinse them well after they soak.
- Wash and soak the beans, chop veggies and parsley.
- Great baby and toddler food. For babies puree as needed for age. Add liquid of choice to thin out if needed.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Alana
I made it last night and it was amazing, the only extra bit I added was a sprinkle of nutritional yeast when it was baking. One of the best healthiest meals we’ve had. Thank you for sharing the recipe
veggiesdontbite
I am so happy you liked it Alana!! Thanks so much for the great review!
Alissa
Amazing recipe! Super easy and versatile. Definitely will do it again! Thank you!
veggiesdontbite
I'm so happy you liked it Alissa!
malou
very tasty and satisfying with a nice thick slice of homemade bread.thank you for sharing
veggiesdontbite
SO happy you liked it Malou!! Thank you so much for the review!
Ellie
Made this for the first time tonight. The flavors were great but I had similar issues as GG.
My recommendations:
(1) cook the beans separately to your desired done-ness and just use some light veggie broth in the recipe where it calls for reserved broth. dried beans can vary *drastically* in how long they take to re-hydrate during the soak and boil depending on the exact type of bean, how long they've been dried (i.e. how long ago they were packaged), and altitude. since eating undercooked beans can make you sick, fully cooking beans separately rather than relying on times that worked in this recipe is probably a good move. ... I for one ate a serving of the undercooked beans this evening before digging into the specifics of undercooked lima bean poisoning and am at this point hoping for the best. eek!
(2) Instead of cooking the beans with the rest of the veggies for 15 minutes before transferring to the oven, just mix in your mixed beans with the rest of the veggies in the pot and transfer straight to the oven. This should help the already fully cooked beans from getting too soggy. The half hour in the oven should be sufficient to blend the flavors.
(3) Use less broth than you think you need -- it's easier to keep an eye on it as it cooks and add more than to have the finished product be soupy.
veggiesdontbite
Hi Ellie! Like I said to GG, there are definitely things that could go wrong in the process if you aren't careful, and yes dried beans can vary, but if you use the beans and the rest of the ingredients in the recipe that I stated it will turn out. I have had many people make this with success. You may need to cook it longer, and watch to make sure it doesn't dry out, but the ultimate flavor comes with that slow cooking process. That is how the authentic recipe is made, which is what I created here. You most certainly speed it up with the shortcut method of cooking the beans before but you'll lose some of that amazing yumminess in true authentic Gigantes Plaki. But I'm sure still good!
Linda
My boyfriend is a meat and salad guy. But I de died to make this for dinner anyway. I thought he was going to eat the entire thing! He couldn't get enough.
He's away for a while so I. Going to make a pan of it just for me. I'll enjoy it fir a week.
veggiesdontbite
I am SO happy he loved this!! It's messages like these that make my day! Thank you so much!
Deborah
Can you substitute kale instead of spinach? Spinach is not recommended for people who get gout.
Thank you
veggiesdontbite
Absolutely! It won't cook down as much for works great. You can basically sub any green.
GG
This looked so good but I was really disappointed with how it turned out. I feel like the limas should have been boiled much, much longer and the dish baked much longer as well because it was extremely soupy even though I gave beans at the baking stage an extra 30 mins of cook time with the foil off. I added a squeeze of lemon and a shake of oregano so the broth was flavorful at least.
veggiesdontbite
Hi there! Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. Something definitely went wrong in the process as I have made it many times, and so have others, without an issue. Did you make sure to soak the beans overnight completely covered in water? Also, it sounds like you added too much soaking liquid. You are only supposed to barely cover the beans. When you first cook it, you don't cover it. Only put foil over when you transfer to the oven. Perhaps when sautéing you added too much liquid? I'd love to help you figure out where you went wrong!
Mina
Hi. So I'm Greek and plan on making this for Easter this year! I love the idea of a plant based plaki! The photos don't look like lima beans. My yiayia always called those koukia, which I think are gigante?? Did you use actual lima beans, or are those just easier to find?
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Mina!! Nice to meet a fellow Greek! Yep, you are right on the beans. I brought the gigantes back from Greece. They are very hard to find here so my mom often just uses lima beans since they are very similar, just smaller.
Robin
This looks great! I don’t really use dried beans so while this may be a basic question, when you soak the beans do you start with cold water, Lukewarm water or hot from the tap water.
Thank you. And for a quicker meal could you sub in canned gigante beans?? And if yes what is the equivalent of canned that you would use? Thank you!!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Robin! Any water is fine since it's sitting overnight and will come to room temp anyway. I wouldn't recommend canned beans because it won't turn out the same since they are already cooked. The end result will be a little mushy. But if you did use canned beans, you could try and just put them into the pot with the carrots, celery, etc but don't add any extra water. Just mix and put into the baking dish to bake. You don't need to bake long, maybe just enough time to warm them. I'd say 10 minutes. Let me know if you try it!
Colleen
Do you have a link for which brand of lima beans you use? Thanks!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Colleen! I actually get mine in the bulk bin or I bring the real Greek beans home from Greece. I think any brand will work!
Smud
I used Goya large limas. However, I did soak them overnight, which I think was probably not necessary. Fifteen minutes of cooking the soaked beans was all I needed to get them to "semi cooked" (and they were a bit beyond that, even). Less broth in the casserole dish, watch cook time...it worked in the end.
veggiesdontbite
Glad you got it to work! I hope you enjoyed it!
Mr. Gardening Square
Would Fordhook Lima beans work well in this recipe? Just for reference- picture, stats, etc.
[ https://www.gurneys.com/product/fordhook_242_lima_beans_ ]
Those are large limas; about the size of a man's thumbnail. And, as I am growing more long-term veg in my garden, post-Corona, I have these seeds....so, I'm asking! Now, understand, I LOATHED lima beans as a child. So, ANYTHING that would enable me to eat them as a meat alternative (and with a college-going 'vegetarian' daughter) is a plus! Especially after planting them and growing them all summer, I'm VERY nervous about eating same, when I couldn't stand them as a child- I mean, made me gag. But this recipe (with some ciabatta rolls and butter) sounds marvelous.
How would you vary the recipe, using fresh limas? Cuz that's what I expect to have, come summer's end. Thanks...
veggiesdontbite
Hi! Yes, any lima bean will work. In fact any bean works but you would probably need less cooking time for smaller beans. I have never cooked with fresh beans but my guess is that they need less cooking time, and also less liquid. I would add half the liquid and then keep checking for doneness. Add more liquid if and when needed. Let me know how it goes!
steviefbillman
Wow! I am not usually one for lima beans but this is delicious!
Debbie
can you make this with frozen limas?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Debbie! I've never used frozen lima beans before. I'm guessing like the canned version they are cooked already? I'd definitely try but the cooking time will be less so just play with that. Let me know how it works!
Sue
I decided to give this a go, even though my lima bean memories are more about me picking them out than about eating them. But since I never liked any beans as a kid (and love them now), I though limas might fall into the same category. And I was right! This recipe is so yummy. Everyone asked me what made it so creamy. I had to swear it was all veggies, and those large limas. . . I am now converted. Lima beans for everyone!! Thank you Sophia!!
veggiesdontbite
Oh wow Sue! Thank you SO much! I am thrilled that you liked it and that I could change your lima bean experience. Isn't it nuts how creamy it is without any dairy?! It gets me every time. LOL
Karen
Making this for the first time, I soaked my beans overnight and many of the skins separated and floated to the top of the water. I ended up peeling the rest of the skins off of the beans. Should I have left them on? I've read brining might have helped prevent peeling skin. What are your thoughts?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Karen! It's totally fine to leave the skins but you can peel them if you prefer. I don't usually peel mine because I think the skins give it a nice and hearty flavor, plus it keeps the beans a little better when cooking. Once it is baked I don't usually notice them. How did it turn out?
Sina @ Vegan Heaven
This looks so delicious, Sophia! I love beans! 🙂
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Sina!! Me too!