Creamy Kimchi Butter Beans Recipe

A bowl containing a mound of white rice, a creamy bean dish topped with chili oil and scallions, and a side of kimchi.

Creamy Kimchi Butter Beans Recipe

My creamy kimchi butter beans are coated in a creamy cottage cheese sauce with soy, sesame and ginger. One skillet and dinner in under 20 minutes!

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Main Dishes, Side Dishes

Cuisine: Korean

Diet: Gluten Free, Halal, Hindu, Kosher, Low Calorie, Low Fat, Vegetarian

Keyword: beans with kimchi, creamy kimchi sauce, kimchi beans

Servings: servings

Author: Sarah Bond

Ingredients

1 cup cottage cheese 225 g
1 cup kimchi squeeze out excess liquid, 150 g
1 Tbsp soy sauce 15 mL
2 tsp toasted sesame oil 10 mL
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
Pinch each salt and pepper
2 15-oz cans butter beans drained and rinsed, can sub any white bean, 425 g cans, 440 g total drained
To serve: cooked rice, thinly sliced green onions, sesame seeds

Instructions

Blend: In a blender, combine all ingredients except the butter beans, until smooth. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.
Heat: Pour sauce into a large skillet and gently stir in the butter beans. Heat over medium-low until warm, about 7 to 9 minutes.
Be careful not to heat it too much, as the cottage cheese can separate a bit.
Serve with white rice, topped with sliced green onions and sesame seeds

Notes

If you have it, I also like to drizzle a little chili crisp on top before serving!

Storage: Keep leftovers in an airtight glass container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store the rice in a separate container so it doesn't soak up all the sauce.

Reheat very slowly, either on the stove over low heat or in the microwave. The same rule from cooking applies here, because blasting it on high is what turns the sauce grainy. In the microwave, short bursts with a stir in between work best.

Why Did My Cottage Cheese Sauce Turn Grainy? Too much heat is almost always the cause. Once cottage cheese gets too hot it starts to separate, and the smooth sauce breaks into tiny grains. Keep the burner at medium-low, stir gently, and take the pan off the heat as soon as the beans are warm. The other two things to check are blending time and the type of cottage cheese. A sauce blended for only a few seconds starts out slightly grainy before it ever hits the pan. Low-fat cottage cheese is more prone to splitting than full-fat.

Nutrition