This cannellini bean recipe with kale pesto is warmed up on the stove top with fresh tomatoes and lemon juice. It's a healthy "go to" white bean and kale pesto dish for a delicious vegetarian dinner.
This bean and kale recipe is versatile. Cannellini beans with kale pesto can be served on it's own as a main dish or over pasta, quinoa, rice, or farro.
A touch of grated Parmesan cheese garnish adds a nice punch. Vegans leave out the Parmesan garnish or substitute nutritional yeast.
Serve this bean and kale pesto recipe at room temperature, cold, or warm.
Chunky vs Smooth Kale Pesto For The White Beans
Hey look - pesto and beans are a classic combo so if smooth pesto is your thing, then knock it out and blend the heck out of it.
I personally love chunkier pesto for this bean and kale recipe so like to lightly pulse the pesto ingredients in a food processor to make a chunkier pesto in order to taste and see all the pesto parts.
Whole Tomatoes Diced Up Vs. Cherry Tomatoes Halved
Pick whole tomatoes and dice or just cut cherry tomatoes in half depending on what looks and tastes better.
Cherry tomatoes will give it a more vibrant look and different texture but a ripe cut up tomato is just as good!
I tend to use cherry tomatoes if eating cold or room temperature and a nice ripe large tomato if warming up / cooking. Either will work - don't sweat it 🙂
Different Kale Varieties For Kale Pesto
Pick the best looking most vibrant head of kale for this white bean and pesto recipe. There are generally, at least, two kinds available at the grocery store or farmers market.
- Dark green lacinato (aka dinosaur) kale gives the pesto a deeper and darker color than curly lighter green kale. Lacinato kale is flatter and easier to clean in my opinion.
- The lighter green curly kale retains it's color longer so choose that if you are a visual person and will have leftovers. Curly green has lots of nooks and crannies for dirt and small aphids to hide.
Take off most of the fibrous stem of the individual kale pieces (see video). This is easily done by running your hand down the stem and then chopping off the leaves or by using a knife to cut the stem away.
Use Nuts To Add More Flavor To Kale Pesto
Use whole almonds and crush 'em up or use sliced almonds depending on what you have on hand.
Toast the nuts for a richer flavor. Skip toasting if you don't have the time for the extra step or don't want to clean a baking sheet.
Final Words on Cannellini Bean and Kale Pesto
Spice up this bean and pesto recipe with crushed red pepper flakes.
Serve as is or over penne pasta, wild rice, or quinoa. Serve warm or cold.
Don’t want to use canned beans? Check out my blog post on cooking dry beans.
This is definitely a "check your teeth" after you eat kinda recipe. Your welcome 🙂
Serving Suggestion
Serve this Cannellini and Kale Pesto Dish with a complementary recipe like:
You May Also Like
If you like Cannellini Beans and Kale Pesto you may also like these similar recipes:
Things In My Kitchen:
- Salad Spinner - Remember to clean your kale. Lots of stuff can get hidden in there.
- Zester / Grater - Good for shredding / grating Parmesan finely.
- 8 Cup Food Processor - Affordable workhorse food processor for pulsing the kale.
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Cannellini Beans with Kale Pesto
EatSimpleFood.com
This cannellini bean recipe with kale pesto is warmed up on the stove top with fresh tomatoes and lemon juice.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (~2.5 ounces) sliced almonds, toasted
- 1 large head of kale, de-stemmed & roughly chopped
- 1 ½ tsp garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp (~ 1 lemon) fresh lemon juice
- 2 + tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 15.5 oz can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
- 1 large tomatoe, diced
- ½ cup water (optional as needed)
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and toast sliced almond 5-7 minutes or until fragrant and beginning to brown.
Make Pesto:
- Destem, rinse, and roughly chop kale.
- Into food processor add: kale, toasted almonds, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes (optional). Pulse a handful of times until it's finely chopped. You do not want it pulverized - you should still be able to see pieces of kale.
- Bring a large pan to medium high heat, add olive oil to lightly coat the pan.
- Add cannellini beans, kale pesto, and tomatoes. Add ½ cup water if you want a thinner consistency. Cover & cook ~ 5-7 minutes or until warm.
- Add more olive oil, lemon juice, and/or salt to taste.
- Top with Parmesan cheese and garnish with red pepper flakes if you like. Happy eating! Beckie
Notes
- This dish can be served warm or cold and cooking is optional. Just mix all the ingredients together if you don't want to cook it!
- Dark green lacinato (aka dinosaur) kale gives the pesto a deeper and darker color than curly lighter green kale. The lighter green kale retains it's color longer so choose that if you are a visual person and will have leftovers.
- Use whole almonds and crush 'em up or use sliced almonds depending on what you have on hand.
- Spice it up with crushed red pepper flakes.
- Serve as is as a main dish or over pasta, wild rice, or quinoa.
Jane @ Cottage at the Crossroads says
Hi Beckie,
I am FB friends of Holly and Paul. I received your message and I hopped over here to check out your blog. This recipe looks awesome and I will have to give it a try. My husband and I used to live in Mt. Pleasant, and now we live about 2 hours away. We have a blog called Cottage at the Crossroads where we post about renovating our old house, gardening, and cooking. So nice to meet you and I look forward to more recipes.
beckie says
Hi Jane - Nice to meet you! Just checked out your website and your recipes (yummmm!).
I adore this recipe, and you can also add chicken if you want more protein. Don't be shy with olive oil and Parmesan 🙂 Please let me know how you like it if you end up giving it a shot.