This creamy and mildly spiced Harissa Butter Bean & Sweet Potato bake is a delicious one-tray dinner that is perfect for busy weeknights. Nutritious, vegan and minimal clean up.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Quick and Easy: Minimal prep, one tray, and hardly any cleanupāperfect for busy nights.
- Balanced and plant-based: With butter beans for protein, sweet potato as a nutritious carbohydrate plus fats from coconut milk, this is a filling meal that gives you a little bit of everything.
- Creamy and savory, but not too spicy: Although this dish has a distinct Middle-Eastern harissa flavor, it’s only mildly spiced. It uses a small amount of harissa, and the heat is tempered with creamy coconut milk and sweet flavors from sundried tomatoes and roast sweet potato.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The great thing about this recipe is that most of the ingredients are long-shelf life canned or jarred foods. The hard vegetables (sweet potato and onion) will also last for a couple of weeks. So, if your dinner plans change, you can make it the following week and the ingredients won’t go bad. They’re also affordable, and at the time of writing this post, this meal would cost about $9 AUD if I bought the ingredients here in Australia. Here’s a shopping list of everything you’ll need:
- Harissa paste (if you can’t find this near where you live, try buying it online or making your own – Minimalist Baker’s harissa recipe looks very simple)
- Sundried tomatoes in oil
- Canned butter beans
- Yellow (brown) onion
- Sweet potatoes
- Garlic cloves
- Tomato paste (concentrate)
- Canned coconut milk (unsweetened) – please make sure you get unsweetened, and not the kind of coconut milk from a bottle. It is too watery, sweet and won’t work.
- Vegetable stock powder (bouillon)
- Natural unsweetened yogurt (I prefer soy, but will also use coconut)
- Fresh parsley leaves
- Toasted sourdough
Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact quantities.
Instructions
My favorite thing about this recipe (aside from how good it tastes) is that it is so easy and only uses one tray. Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner and you won’t be left with piles of dishes to do. Here’s how you make it:
Step One: Add the onion, sweet potato, garlic cloves (unpeeled) sundried tomatoes, their oil and harissa to a baking tray and coat well.
Step Two: Roast for 20 minutes, then flip and remove garlic. Mince garlic, mix with tomato paste, then add butter beans to the tray.
Step Three: Add coconut milk and the tomato-garlic mixture to the tray.
Step Four: Mix gently to distribute. Return to oven for another 10-20 minutes or until sauce has thickened slightly and sweet potato is tender.
Step Five: Leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Step Six: Serve with yogurt, fresh parsley and crusty sourdough.
Substitutions & Variations
If you’re missing some ingredients, here are some swaps I can recommend:
- Sundried Tomatoes: Can be swapped for roasted red peppers. They’ll give the dish a tangier, less sweet taste.
- Butter Beans: Canned cannellini beans or chickpeas would also work well.
- Yellow Onion: Red onion or shallots can be used for a sweeter, less savory flavor.
- Sweet Potatoes: Butternut squash (pumpkin) would also work really well in this recipe.
- Coconut Milk: For a lower-calorie option, you can use light coconut milk (but the sauce won’t be quite as creamy). For a richer sauce, canned coconut cream is delicious. Just always make sure to buy unsweetened and canned. Do not use coconut milk from a carton or bottle, it is not suitable for this recipe. That kind of coconut milk is intended for smoothies, not savory sauces like this, it will be much too thin and watery. If you are allergic to coconut, you could try using this with regular pouring cream (if you’re not vegan) or you could use an unsweetened vegan pouring cream like Oatly or Flora Thickened Plant Cream. I particularly like the Flora one. This is not sponsored, it’s just super versatile and is almost exactly like regular dairy cream.
- Vegetable Stock Powder: Use a bouillon cube or substitute with salt.
- Natural Yogurt: Not essential but a lovely fresh finish for the recipe. You can leave this off or swap it for a drizzle of coconut cream.
- Parsley: Could be swapped for coriander.
- Serve it with rice: If you don’t have sourdough, or want a gluten free serving option, serve this over rice. It’ll soak up the sauce beautifully.
Storage
This Harissa Butter Bean & Sweet Potato Bake will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator or up to 2 months in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave or on the stove. Or if you’re in a rush, defrost and heat in the microwave in one go, just make sure to stop and stir/break up the chunks so it heats evenly.
Expert Tips
The sauce will thicken up as it cools. So, don’t rush in, leave the tray bake to stand for 10 minutes before serving for an extra lush finish š
FAQ
Yes, you can prepare this dish ahead of time. Cook it as instructed, then let it cool before storing it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven or microwave before serving.
Yes, the recipe itself is gluten-free. Just ensure you serve it with gluten-free bread, or swap this for rice if needed. Double check the ingredients list of coconut milk too, in case it has an additive or thickener that is not gluten free.
It’s very mild, and unless they are very sensitive to heat, it is suitable for young children. If you want to make it spicier, you can easily dial up the heat by adding more harissa paste (I’d suggest trying 2 tsp for a mild-medium heat).
Yes, this dish freezes well. Store in an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or defrost in the microwave. Reheat in the microwave, on the stove or in the oven.
If you want an extra creamy sauce consistency, use canned coconut cream instead of milk. You could also stir through yogurt at the end after baking.
Harissa is a paste made with garlic, tomato paste, lemon juice, salt and olive plus lots of spices like red chili peppers, coriander and cumin. It’s known for its bold, spicy taste with a smoky, savory undertone and aromatic complexity.
Serving Suggestions and More Recipes
If you love easy, hearty dinners (and are a sweet potato fiend like me) then you’ll love my Spiced Cottage Pie with Sweet Potato, Lentil Tacos with Sweet Potatoes or Harissa Chickpeas served on Roast Sweet Potato Halves.
If you enjoy this recipe, or have any variations you’ve tried you’d like to share I would love to know. Leave a comment and star rating below or feel tag me in your photos on Instagram @glowdiaries___ and I will reshare your posts to stories š
Creamy Harissa Butter Beans & Sweet Potato Bake
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- 1 tsp harissa
- 140 g sundried tomatoes in oil
- 800 g canned butter beans drained and rinsed
- 1 large yellow (brown) onion
- 600 g sweet potato (about 2 large sweet potatoes)
- 4 cloves garlic unpeeled
- 1/4 cup tomato paste (concentrate, not puree)
- 400 ml canned coconut milk unsweetened
- 1 tsp vegetable stock powder (bouillon)
To serve
- Natural yogurt unsweetened, I use soy or coconut
- Fresh parsley leaves
- Toasted sourdough
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190C/375F (170C fan forced).
- Slice onion into eighths. Peel and chop sweet potato into 1-inch (2.5cm) chunks.
- Add sweet potatoes, onion, sundried tomatoes and 2 tbsp of their oil, harissa paste, vegetable stock powder and garlic cloves (unpeeled) into a large roasting tray. Coat thoroughly, rub with your hands if needed (wash hands afterwards or use gloves).
- Roast for 20 minutes, then flip and carefully remove garlic. Peel and mince the garlic cloves. Add to a small bowl with tomato paste and mix to combine.
- Add this tomato-garlic mixture, butter beans and coconut milk to the tray. Mix gently to distribute. Return to oven for further 10-20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly and sweet potato is tender.
- Top with fresh parsley, yogurt and serve with crusty sourdough.
Video
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