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Home » Salads and Sides » Gigantes Plaki (Giant Greek Beans) In Tomato Sauce

Gigantes Plaki (Giant Greek Beans) In Tomato Sauce

Author: Karon Grieve Published : April 2020

Recipe
Gigantes beans
Gigantes Plaki
gigantes pin image

These rich and fragrant Greek giant beans in tomato sauce have to be the ultimate in comfort food. Living in Crete for three years confirmed my addiction to this Greek version of baked beans. Gigantes Plaki are usually serves as part of a mezze starter but make a great side dish too.

close up of bowl of gigantes beans with feta on top

What are gigantes beans?

The gigante is a type of bean. A great big enormous butter bean really. So if you can’t get hold of dried gigantes beans then don’t panic.

Make do with butter beans or any other dried white bean really and you will get just as good a plateful of Greek comfort perfection.

This is basically baked beans in tomato sauce but Greek style and a whole lot tastier.

oven dish of beans and bowl of beans in front

Two step recipe

As these are dried beans you will have to soak them overnight. Hardship I know, but, hell you can do this. I have every confidence in you!

  • gigantes dried beans soaking in water
  • chopped carrots, onions, garlic and celery

Ingredients for Gigantes Plaki

  • 200g gigantes dried beans (or dried butter beans, or quite frankly any dried white beans will do)
  • 1 carrot diced
  • 1 stick celery diced
  • 1 small red onion finely chopped
  • 1 small leek finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste
gigantes in sauce in baking dish

How to make Gigantes

  • Place dried beans in a pan and cover with cold water and leave to soak overnight
  • Rinse the beans and place them in a pan and cover with water and bring to the boil then simmer for an hour at least, you want them tender
  • Drain and reserve a cup of the cooking liquid
  • Heat oil in a frying pan and saute the onion, celery and carrot for 5 minutes then add dried herbs and the garlic for 1 minute, set aside till beans are ready
  • Pour the beans into an oven proof dish and add all the other ingredients plus the saved cooking water
  • Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 30 minutes
Gigantesin baking dish with feta scattered on top just out of oven

Serving suggestion

Serve your gigantes (giant Greek beans) in tomato sauce with some crumbled Feta and fresh dill on top and a drizzle of olive oil.

You can serve these as a side veggie or as part of a mezze starter as they would do in Greece.

Or you can be terribly British and serve them on toast, bloody marvelous. The Mediterranean diet meets the Great British nosh-up!

Kali Orexi!

single serving of beans in bowl with bread at the side
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PS Here are some more of my favourite Greek mezzi recipes you might like to try;

Greek fried meatballs

Tzatziki

Fried Beetroot

Luxury Taramasolata

Or just check out my entire section of Gorgeous Greek Recipes.

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.

Photos And Tips AboveMost of my recipes have step by step photos and useful tips plus videos too, see above.
gigantes beans by larderlove

Gigantes Plaki (giant Greek beans)

Karon Grieve
These Gigantes (giant Greek beans) and super comfort food packed with flavour
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Comment Bookmark Saved! Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins
Course Appetizer, Side vegetable dish
Cuisine Greek
Servings 4 people
Calories 263 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 200 g gigantes dried beans or butter beans
  • 1 small carrot diced
  • 1 stick celery diced
  • 1 small red onion finely chopped
  • 1 small leek finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • pinch of sugar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 400 g tinned tomatoes c chopped
Metric – US Customary

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 180C
  • soak the beans over night then drain and rinse
  • Cover beans with water in pan boil then simmer at least 1 hour till tender
  • Drain beans and reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid
  • Heat oil in a frying pan and saute the onion, celery and carrot for 5 minutes then add dried herbs and the garlic for 1 minute, set aside till beans are ready
  • Place the beans and all other ingredients in an oven proof dish and bake for approximately 25 minutes until everything is tender
  • Serve with crumbled feta and a drizzle of olive oil

Notes

Serve as a side dish or as part of a mezze sharing platter

Nutrition

Calories: 263kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 13gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 31mgPotassium: 1055mgFiber: 9gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 2524IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 162mgIron: 6mg
My Top Tips*Always read the full recipe first. *Assemble all your ingredients and everything you need before you start. *For baking check the size of tins I’m using as this makes a big difference to your cakes. * I use medium sized eggs unless otherwise stated. * I use extra virgin olive oil unless otherwise stated. * I use unsalted butter unless otherwise stated. * Check out My Preserving Kit!
Tried this recipe?Mention @LarderLove or tag #LarderLove

 

Filed Under: ALL RECIPES, Salads and Sides, Vegetarian Recipes

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Comments

  1. Sue says

    April 28, 2020 at 5:11 pm

    5 stars
    I used tinned beans for this recipe and was not disappointed. They are great on their own either as a light lunch, part of a meze or served on top of toast to soak up all the lovely juice. Well worth the time and effort but would make double amount next time so there is some left for the next day as it was just too good to leave.

    Reply
    • Karon Grieve says

      April 28, 2020 at 5:43 pm

      Hi Sue
      So glad you liked the recipe and that the tinned beans were such a success. Must say, Gigantes are the ultimate comfort food for me.
      K x

      Reply
  2. Christina says

    May 11, 2020 at 7:45 pm

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious and so simple to put together. I’ll be making this often.

    Reply
    • Karon Grieve says

      May 13, 2020 at 12:09 pm

      Hi Christina
      So glad it worked so well for you
      K

      Reply
5 from 3 votes (1 rating without comment)

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