This simple vegan butter beans curry is as easy as it is delicious! The creamy butter beans go perfectly with the lemon-spiked coconut curry sauce. This might just be my favorite beans and rice recipe.

The flavor powerhouse to any great curry is built up in the aromatics. For this dish I use ginger, garlic, shallots, cumin, turmeric, and curry leaves. Some of the spices listed below can be hard to find, but this recipe is very adaptable. A decent quality curry powder or garam masala can replace the turmeric, clove, and cumin seed.
I usually like to serve this dish with some basmati rice or naan bread and a simple cucumber salad to round out a full dinner.
Key Ingredients
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Shallot
- Red Chili
- Tumeric
- Cumin
- Curry Leaf
- Lemon
- Coconut Milk
- Butter Beans
Ingredient amounts found below.
Instructions
Variations
Curry leave can often be found dried at a specialty spice store or online. Some good substitutions though would be lemon zest or lime leaf.
If you have the time and effort to cook dried butter beans (large lima beans), by all accounts go for it! Cooking beans from scratch can be a long process but is very rewarding. I usually stick to canned butter beans though to keep it simple.
Top Tip
For most curry recipes I like to use full fat coconut milk. Low fat coconut milk tends to separate more when cooked, plus full fat makes the sauce more creamy and luscious.
Other Curries
Looking for some other curry recipes to try? Check these out,
Butter Beans Curry
Nutrition
Ingredients
- 1 " ginger, (sliced)
- 4 cloves garlic, (peeled)
- 1 shallot, (sliced)
- 2 thai red chilies, (sliced or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper)
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, (ground)
- 1 teaspoon cloves, (ground)
- 1 teaspoon asafoetida, (optional)
- 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
- 2 curry leaves, (optional, or 1 lemon zested)
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 14 oz full fat coconut milk
- 28 oz canned butter beans, (large lima beans)
- 1 lemon, (juiced)
- cooked long grain rice
- lemon wedges and fresh mint, (for serving)
Instructions
- To start add the ginger, shallot, garlic, and red chilies to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Heat a large pan to medium heat and add the oil, cumin, cloves, asafoetida, turmeric, and curry leaves. Stir until very fragrant, about 30 seconds. Then add the tomato paste and and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
- Stir in the coconut milk and butter beans and simmer for 20 minutes to let the flavors combine. Then, Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon into the curry and serve with cooked long grain rice, fresh mint or cilantro, and lemon wedges.
Video
Did you make butter beans curry? Rate the recipe above!
Follow Redwood Kitchen on social media!
If you like this recipe be sure to comment or subscribe below for more great recipes!
Food Safety
- Cook meat to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Leave a Reply