A filling vegetarian meal filled with giant baked beans and some classic Greek flavors. The perfect vegetarian entree or side dish to any meal.

Most weeks when I am menu planning, the main dishes always come easily. However, when I get to pairing my side dishes with the main entrees, I find myself scratching my head.

I try and stay away from more than one carb side dish. And lately hubby has been asking me steer clear of those all together. So I have had to get creative with my side dishes.

One day hubs mentioned he wanted more beans in his diet. And having exhausted every baked bean recipe I knew of, I decided to think globally. I do not exactly recall what triggered Greek thoughts in my head..but for some reason that’s where I went.

I recalled a summer way back when we were without child or crazy responsibilities and we got on my hubby’s motorcycle at 10pm and sped to downtown Chicago to Greektown. An area in Chitown that is always awake, bustling with people trying to get their post clubbing gyros and Greek music billowing out of the open Taverna style restaurants.

Hubs and I always loved going to Greektown on the motorcycle to sneak in some late night Greek style fries with feta crumbles and a caffe frappe. The ambiance always made you feel alive. We would hang out there for hours, chatting, listening to music and sipping our frappes.

One of the many times we were there, they brought out gigantes plaki for us to pair with our chicken souvlaki instead of our Greek fries. Hubs was ready to send them back when I stopped him and said that we should try something different.

“Beans instead of fries? Are you nuts?” My hubby asked me. We both lifted the fork to our mouths and were instantly pleased we went with the beans instead of the fries. They were huge and covered in a tomato sauce infused with oregano and topped with feta.

“Make these for me!” Hubs said. And I did. 6 years later.

The best part about them is how easy they are to make.

Traditionally, they are made with these gorgeous elephant beans but I was unable to find those anywhere. So I used giant dry fava beans.

First soak the beans over night by placing them in a large pot and completely covering with water. The pot needs to be large because the beans will expand. Drain the beans and rinse them once ready to use.

Fill the pot back up with water and turn the heat on high. Drain and rinse the beans and boil in water for about 40 minutes to an hour, until they are soft but not mushy. It’s super important you boil them long enough; otherwise the beans will be too hard to eat despite baking them.

Preheat your oven to 350-degrees.

In the meantime make the sauce by pureeing onion in a vitamix or shredding on a microplaner. I prefer it if the onions sort of melt into the sauce. Do the same for the garlic.

Sweat the onion along with the garlic in some live oil until fragrant.

Add the pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley and oregano. Taste for seasoning.

Let it simmer until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.

Once the beans are cooked to the proper texture, drain them.

Add the beans to the pot with the sauce and toss to coat.

Lightly coat an oven proof baking dish with oil or pan spray and place saucy beans into the pan.

Cover with foil and place in the the oven for about 40 minutes.

Once beans are tender, remove the foil and let the tops caramelize a bit.

I think I took it a bit too far in this pic:) But nonetheless it was just as delicious. However, I did NOT enjoy the pan scrubbing 🙁

Feel free to sprinkle with feta as well as parsley. I ran out of feta this time around 🙁

Greek Taverna Style Baked Beans Mila Furman A filling vegetarian meal filled with giant baked beans and some classic Greek flavors. The perfect vegetarian entree or side dish to any meal. Print Recipe Pin Recipe Course Vegetarian Cuisine Greek Ingredients 1 pound Gigantes elephant or fava beans

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

5 garlic cloves minced

2 onions finely diced or shredded on the microplaner

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons fresh oregano

2 tbsp olive oil

Feta cheese crumbles to use as topping

Parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste Instructions First soak the beans over night by placing them in a large pot and completely covering with water. The pot needs to be large because the beans will expand. Drain the beans and rinse them once ready to use.

Fill the pot back up with water and turn the heat on high. Drain and rinse the beans and boil in water for about 40 minutes to an hour, until they are soft but not mushy. It's super important you boil them long enough; otherwise the beans will be too hard to eat despite baking them.

Preheat your oven to 350-degrees.

In the meantime make the sauce by pureeing onion in a vitamix or shredding on a microplaner. I prefer it if the onions sort of melt into the sauce. Do the same for the garlic.

Sweat the onion along with the garlic in some live oil until fragrant.

Add the pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley and oregano. Taste for seasoning.

Let it simmer until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.

Once the beans are cooked to the proper texture, drain them.

Add the beans to the pot with the sauce and toss to coat.

Lightly coat an oven proof baking dish with oil or pan spray and place saucy beans into the pan.

Cover with foil and place to bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Once beans are tender, remove the foil and let the tops caramelize a bit.

Top with parsley and some crumbled feta.















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