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Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

Gigantes plaki

April 14, 2017 by Ania - 23

beans, comfort food, easy, Greek, healthygo to recipe

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gigantes plaki

Being vegan during Greek Easter is hard. In the weeks prior to Easter, when all the fields are covered with lush grass and beautiful wild flowers, you see lots of sweet little lambs frolicking around, enjoying the spring sunshine and trimming the ‘lawns’. They seem so happy and carefree and it makes me sad when we drive past one week later and there are no more lambs… πŸ™ .

We used to get invited to traditional Easter lunches but we cannot bear to watch a poor little lamb rotating on the spit while everybody around us goes on about how juicy and delicious the meat is and how much they love lamb (clearly not the happy and carefree kind). They will also be utterly confused as to why we don’t want to eat it or not even a bit of feta cheese.

It is ironic that a lot of modern Greeks do not seem to grasp the point of being vegan (or what it even entails) as the idea of abstaining from eating animal products stems from ancient Greece and in its agricultural past.

In fact, Greeks used to eat lots of healthy, beautiful meat-free dishes. Even today devout Greeks typically consume these plant-based dishes in the 40 days preceding Easter, although you get the sense that meat abstinence is a bit of a chore for them.

Gigantes plaki is the best example of these plant-based dishes and one of our favourite ‘mezedes’ (small plates). It’s beautifully fragrant, simple to make and utterly delicious! It’s a nourishing and satisfying meal with plenty of plant-based protein. It may seem like it takes a long time to make, but it really doesn’t – the oven takes care of most of the work for you! πŸ™‚

PS: If you make my gigantes plaki, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as @lazycatkitchen and use the #lazycatkitchen hashtag. I love seeing your takes on my recipes!

hot gigantes plaki served

gigantes plaki served

gigantes plaki baked

gigantes plaki lunch

gigantes plaki close up

5.00 from 4 votes
Print
  • serves: 4
  • prep: 20 min
  • cooking: 120 min

Ingredients

  • 250 g / 2 cups dry giant / butter beans, soaked overnight
  • 45 ml / 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 x 400 g / 14 oz tins of chopped tomatoes*
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 small red onion, finely diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp brown sugar or maple syrup (optional)
  • a good pinch of chilli powder (optional)
  • approx. 1 generous tsp fine sea salt
  • few grinds of black pepper
  • handful of parsley, finely chopped

Method

  1. Discard soaking water and rinse the beans well. Put them into a medium pot and cover with plenty of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer (with a lid mostly covering the pot) for about 45 minutes (make sure you gather the foam that has come to the surface and discard it). At this stage, the beans need to be cooked ‘al dente’ as they will finish off cooking in the oven.
  2. In a frying pan, fry the onion until translucent, add in garlic and fry for another minute or two.
  3. Decrease the heat to low and add in cinnamon and chilli (if using) to the onion and garlic mixture. Fry for another minute, coating the onion and garlic in the spices. Stir often as spices are dry spices and burn easily.
  4. Pre-heat the oven to 180Β° C / 355Β° F.
  5. Add in tomato paste, diced tomatoes, oregano, salt, sugar (if your tomatoes are a bit too tangy) and pepper. Simmer for about 30 minutes – until tomatoes are starting to thicken. Add in drained beans and mix everything together.
  6. Transfer the mixture to an oven safe dish adding about Β½ cup of bean cooking water. Stir through well.
  7. Bake for about 1 hr, until the sauce has thickened nicely and the beans are soft and creamy.

Notes

*If using fresh tomatoes, use about 8 medium ripe tomatoes (peeled).

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

    Leave a comment

  1. Caroline says

    April 14, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    Oooh. I get sooo excited when your recipes come through.
    Please can you explain what giant beans are xx

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 14, 2017 at 12:28 pm

      Thanks so much, Caroline! So nice to hear πŸ™‚ Yes, you are right, I forgot that they are probably not available that easily outside of Greece, sorry. I would go for the largest butter beans you can find! Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
      • Caroline says

        April 15, 2017 at 2:19 pm

        Fab. Thank you xxπŸ˜‰

        Reply
  2. Maryanne says

    April 15, 2017 at 12:12 am

    Hello thank you for your recipe, can I use canned beans and if so how much?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 15, 2017 at 10:14 am

      Hi Maryanne,

      I don’t think they will work, I’m afraid as they are already fully cooked and by the time you take the dish out of the oven they will have turned into mash πŸ™ Ania

      Reply
  3. Richard Jerina says

    April 19, 2017 at 9:27 am

    Hi. Can I use tinned butter beans to cut out the over night soaking and if so how much would I need.?
    Thanks
    Richard

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 19, 2017 at 2:42 pm

      Hi Richard,

      I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I don’t think tinned beans will work in this context. The reason being that they need to be not quite fully cooked before they get baked or otherwise you’ll end up with a bit of a mash and lack of texture. Hope that helps, Ania

      Reply
  4. Maha Khan says

    April 19, 2017 at 1:24 pm

    Wonderful recipe.I like this and I think this is very delicious.
    I am going to make this recipe for my family and husband
    Thanks for sharing

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 19, 2017 at 2:40 pm

      Thanks so much, Maha! I’m delighted to hear that you liked it! Hope it goes down well with your family too! x Ania

      Reply
  5. Anna says

    May 18, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    Will this recipe work okay with the smaller Lima beans as well? Would I have to adjust liquid at all?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      May 18, 2017 at 10:09 pm

      Hi Anna,

      I haven’t tried myself, but it should work the same. They will need a shorter cooking time before you mix them into the sauce. Good luck! Ania

      Reply
  6. Dana says

    June 15, 2017 at 10:53 pm

    This recipe looks delicious. What would you recommend as a side dish? Is this something you could pair with quinoa? My companion is slightly picky and is the type that can’t eat things like just plain pasta with red sauce or just lentils. I can’t wait to make this.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      June 16, 2017 at 9:29 am

      Thanks, Dana! I’m glad to hear you are planning to make this. I would recommend crusty / toasted sourdough bread to mop up all the delicious sauce, a big green salad (Romaine lettuce, spring onions, cucumber, capers for example) and a glass of white wine works well too! πŸ™‚ Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  7. Anita W says

    August 10, 2017 at 1:27 pm

    Had been searching for this style dish to use my Rancho Gordo corona beans,this looks exactly what I need.
    Do you cover the dish while it bakes in oven?
    Thank you,(another) Anita

    Reply
    • Ania says

      August 10, 2017 at 1:37 pm

      Hi Anita,

      Great, I hope you’ll like it. I didn’t as I liked them a bit dried up on top, but if you prefer them more saucy you could do that for sure.

      PS: It’s Ania, actually πŸ™‚

      Reply
  8. Cindy says

    November 3, 2017 at 1:30 am

    Help! Smells wonderful, sauce is wonderful, but the beans have been in the oven now for 2 1/2 hours. I have added a total of 4 more cups of water and they are still crunchy! I soaked them overnight in a covered pot, then dumped that water, rinsed the benas, put fresh water to cover them by a couple of inches, and simmered them for a full HOUR. They were somewhat crunchy, but I figured maybe that was what you meant by β€œal dente”, so I proceeded as the recipe directed. After the first hour in the oven, uncovered, I added hot water and covered them, hoping that would help. There was a slight improvement, so I have done that now for a total of four additional cups, gping on the third hour, covered. The water is being absorbed even with the lid on… I keep checking and that is why I add more. I am uisng a Le Creuset dutch oven at 355F. Thoughts? It smells really good…Thanks!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 3, 2017 at 3:03 pm

      Hi Cindy,

      Oh, no, I am so sorry to hear that. I assume you have used the same type of beans as I did, so the only reason that comes to mind is that you might have been sold really unfresh beans perhaps? Sorry I cannot be of more help. Ania

      Reply
  9. Karen says

    November 14, 2017 at 8:21 pm

    Hi… can’t wait to make these. I am vegan and adored the Plaki all over Greece this summer. I cam home and tried to reproduce the dish using giant lima neans but the texture was all wrong. I have found gignes on amazon and just ordered a 5 pound bag. Your rexipe will be the one i use! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 15, 2017 at 12:37 pm

      Thanks, Karen! I am excited that you are planning to make this dish, I hope it will hit the spot! Ania

      Reply
  10. Darryn von Maltitz says

    April 13, 2020 at 8:22 am

    Hi there

    This recipe looks delicious. Do you shell the beans before cooking them or do the shell come off during the cooking process?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 13, 2020 at 1:35 pm

      Hi Darryn,

      I don’t shell them at all, I don’t feel that there is any need to be honest with you, but feel free to override me. Cheers! Ania

      Reply
  11. Adam says

    April 22, 2020 at 12:07 pm

    I’m going to try these as soon as I can get to a supermarket. I usually eat ready made ones from a can or when I’m on a Greek island.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 22, 2020 at 7:49 pm

      Great, I hope they will hit the spot! x Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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