Gigantes Plaki (Greek Baked Beans)

An oval dish of Greek gigantes plaki served with sliced crusty bread.

No ratings yet

These cozy Greek baked beans (Gigantes Plaki) are creamy tender with an intense tomatoey sauce. Serve as a vegetarian entree, side dish, or appetizer.

Prep Time10

Cook Time2 15

Total Time2 25

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Greek

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 338kcal

Author: Victoria

Ingredients

250 grams (1 ½ cups) dry gigantes beans, giant butter beans, or giant lima beans soaked in water overnight
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup chopped red or yellow onion (about 1 small or ½ large onion)
½ cup chopped celery or carrots (about 1 large or 2 small)
3 cloves garlic minced or crushed
450 grams (2 cups) seeded and grated fresh tomatoes (about 2 large tomatoes) OR 1 (14.5 ounces / 411 grams) can diced tomatoes
1 cup water or more as needed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ to ½ teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped parsley for garnish
Crumbled feta cheese for garnish

Instructions

Drain the soaked beans, discarding the water and rinsing them well. Transfer them to a medium pot and cover with plenty of fresh water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer partially covered for 55 to 65 minutes until mostly tender (it’s ok if they’re not fully cooked as they’ll finish cooking in the oven).
Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant, but don’t let it brown.
Add the tomatoes, water, oregano, chili flakes if using, and season with salt and pepper. Raise the heat to bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium/medium-low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes to develop the flavors and slightly thicken. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) with the rack in the center.
When the beans are ready, drain them and combine them with the sauce. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish (about 1 ½-to-1 ¾-quarts). If the mixture seems dry, add more water and gently stir the mixture to combine. If the baking dish is very full and in danger of bubbling over in the oven, place it on top of a foil-lined baking sheet to catch any drips and spills. Keep in mind that doing so may require longer baking time as well.
Transfer to the oven and bake uncovered for 50 to 60 minutes or until the beans are soft and creamy and the sauce has thickened and reduced quite a bit.
Top with chopped parsley and crumbled feta cheese to garnish. Serve hot or at room temperature with crusty bread.

Notes

Store leftover gigantes plaki for up to 5 days in the fridge. Reheat leftovers in the microwave.
Gigantes plaki is arguably even better the next day as the flavors have more time to intensify and soak into the beans, and the sauce has more time to set. If you can, plan to make it ahead of time and reheat to serve!
If you double the recipe, expect to bake it a bit longer than the recipe directs. This can vary based on your baking vessel and how deep the bean mixture is. Just check periodically to see how much liquid remains at the bottom by inserting a large spoon into the center and gently pushing the beans aside.
Beans: You may not be able to find actual Greek gigantes beans (I got mine at a local market), but large butter beans or lima beans are a suitable substitute. This dish is traditionally made with dry beans which are soaked in water overnight and then cooked. If you must, you could substitute about 2 (15.5 ounce) cans of large butter beans, drained and rinsed in place of the 250 grams of dry beans called for in this recipe.
Tomatoes: Ideally if they’re in season use fresh tomatoes for this recipe. My 2 large local tomatoes were about 600 grams in weight before I halved, seeded (just used my index finger to scrape and scoop seeds out of all the pockets into a bowl) and grated them on a box grater, discarding the skins. The resulting weight of the pulp was about 450 grams. If tomatoes aren’t in season, you can use a can of diced tomatoes, though the result will be different (chunkier) and you may need to break them up a little as they cook to help thicken the sauce.

Nutrition