This Spanish white bean stew is a great way to eat your beans! The chorizo makes it extra warm and cozy, perfect for a weeknight dinner.
This Spanish white bean stew with chorizo sausage is so good that everyone will believe you spent hours in the kitchen! The chorizo flavors the beans so beautifully, that even the ones who don’t like beans will certainly try a tablespoon or two. And who knows, you may turn them into bean lovers!
The combination of beans and meat is very common in many countries throughout the world and I lately also used it in my Greek-Mexican Pitacos recipe (I’m talking about some delicious minced beef and beans tacos made with pita bread!).
Personally, I am a bean lover. Why? Because even when made with the simplest ingredients (like these Tuscan style white beans), beans have something extra comforting, something that brings warmth to my heart. Or maybe it’s because they’re considered Greece’s National food. Due to their high nutritional value and their low cost, dried beans have raised many generations and have helped the Greek people not to starve during some tough times.
But they’re also a favorite ingredient of other Mediterranean countries like Italy and France. In this Spanish white bean stew, their Mediterranean spicy character is due to the chorizo which makes this dish extra warm and comforting.
What type of chorizo to use?
There are a lot of chorizo types apparently… There’s the dry/cured chorizo which can be eaten as is and there’s the fresh chorizo which must be cooked before you eat it. There’s also spicy or sweet types and soft or hard ones. Usually, the hard sausages are cured and the soft is semi-cured.
But that’s not all… There’s also the Spanish and the Mexican chorizo. If you buy a Spanish chorizo, it will probably consist of Iberico pork, a well known Black Iberian pig. And since this is a Spanish white bean stew I’d recommend using a Spanish soft (semi-cured) or fresh chorizo, sweet or spicy will be up to you (I used sweet for this recipe), but if you can’t find any, a Mexican chorizo will also do.
Beans are cooked perfectly if you have a pressure cooker. And they’re even better if you bake them in a dutch oven for a LOOONG time. And this applies to chickpeas also. I’ve used the baking method in this Greek baked chickpeas (Revithada) and the results were amazing. If you want to try this method, you’ll have to add the soaked beans, the rest of the ingredients and enough water to vover them by half an inch in a Dutch oven and bake them at 390°F (200°C) for about 3-4 hours.
Some notes/tips:
- Try to find a good quality soft chorizo, and not a hard/cured one.
- Soak dried beans overnight in a bowl filled with salted water and rinse them very well before cooking.
- Boil the beans without adding any salt until they’re soft and tender.
- If your water is hard it’s best to use bottled water.
- You can boil the beans one day before and keep them in the fridge. If you boil some extra, you can use them in salads during the week.
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- 14 oz (400 grams) dried white beans
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 9 oz (250 grams) soft chorizo sausage, sliced
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley (you can also use celery
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 can 14oz/400grams diced tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock or water
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Prepare the beans: From the previous night, soak the dried beans in a large bowl filled with water and 1 tablespoon salt. Rinse them well and boil them in a pot filled with water until soft and tender (the time will depend on the type, age, and quality of the beans). Rinse well and set aside.
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Make the stew: Transfer the olive oil, the carrot, the onion, the bell peppers, and the chorizo to a large skillet and cook over medium/high heat until the vegetables are soft (about 10-15 minutes). Add the paprika, the thyme, the parsley, the diced tomatoes, the chicken stock, the beans, the salt and the pepper. When it starts to boil reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
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Serve with bread and eat!
- Instead of dried beans, you can use 3-4 cans (depending on your appetite) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained.
- You can boil the beans one day before and keep them in the fridge. If you boil some extra, you can use them in salads during the week.
Can’t have enough bean recipes? These Greek baked giant beans (GIGANTES) are one of the most loved dishes in Greece. And for a good reason!
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That looks really delicious…this combination of beans and sausage sounds like a comfort food!!!
Thanks! That’s what I also think!:-)
I’m not familiar w the soft chorizo sausage? Clearly not the crumbly Mexican type. Is it the dried Spanish type similar to salami?
Hi Mark,
The soft chorizo is a semi-cured type of chorizo which can hold its shape when sliced. If you can’t find it you can use the hard one, but slice it thinly as it can be hard to chew sometimes. This is an article I found ( http://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com/2012/02/intro-to-chorizo-101.html ) that explains the types of chorizo better.