As much as I love making gourmet recipes and challenging my culinary skills, I also love simple meals like this Creamy White Beans with Kale and Wild Rice. When I’m not eating leftovers from recipe testing (which, to be honest, is very often), I gravitate towards fuss-free meals like this.
Plus, this meal is healthy, vegan, gluten-free, and has no added oils, but it’s still creamy and flavorful. Best of both worlds!
Oh, and if you are into beans more generally, be sure to check out my round-up of 40 fantastic bean recipes from around the internet.
Why this recipe will become your new go-to weeknight dinner
Easy. This recipe is so easy to make that even the most beginner cook can make it! Plus, you likely already have most of these ingredients in your pantry!
Quick to make. Including prep time, the beans and kale take about 30 minutes total. And during that time, you can have the wild rice cooking. You can easily cook the wild rice in your Instant Pot or on the stove before starting on the beans and kale.
Wholesome. This recipe is packed with plant protein and fiber, and is vegan, gluten-free, and has no added oils. It’s the kind of nourishing meal you can eat every day of the week!
Creamy. Despite being wholesome, these beans get so creamy and dreamy, so it feels like a comforting hug in a bowl.
Ingredient Rundown
Cannellini Beans. They are one of the creamiest beans that are widely available in canned form. I absolutely adore them. If you cannot find them, you can substitute another white bean, but the end result won’t be as creamy.
If you also love cannellini beans, my Creamy White Bean and Kale Soup with Gremolata is a must-make!
Aromatics. I opt for my go-to onion + garlic combination, and the softened onions pair nicely with the creamy sauce. I also add fresh thyme, which brings a subtle woodsy yet floral, sweet yet peppery taste.
Lite coconut milk. The lite coconut milk enhances the natural creaminess of the cannellini beans and turns this into a delightfully saucy dish.
Miso paste. A little white miso paste goes a long way towards boosting the savory flavors in this dish. Typically, I rely on building a lot of flavor in savory dishes through sautéing aromatics in oil, but since this recipe is oil-free, I wanted to amp up the flavors in another way.
Tomato sauce and tomato paste. The tomato sauce helps thicken the sauce up a bit, while the tomato paste brings a concentrated tomato flavor. Both ingredients also help tame the coconut flavor of the coconut milk, so that this recipe doesn’t taste like coconut (I promise!).
Lacinato / Tuscan Kale. To bring in some extra nutrition, I throw in a generous amount of shredded kale. If you find it hard to incorporate leafy greens into your diet, this creamy dish is a great way to “sneak” them in.
Wild Rice. I serve the creamy white beans and kale over wild rice, and wild rice’s earthiness is a nice complement to the creaminess of the beans. Plus, the heft of the wild rice gives this plant-based dish a substantial feel, making it feel like a hearty main course.
How to make Creamy White Beans and Kale
If you follow my recipes, you know that I am definitely not oil-free, as I think oil is often necessary to achieve the right texture and to bring out certain qualities in food. For instance, it’s crucial in browning vegetables, as well as creating light and fluffy cakes.
That said, I am totally open to experimenting with oil-free cooking where possible. And I made a special effort to keep this recipe oil-free because I get a fair amount of requests for oil-free recipes.
Typically, I would sauté the aromatics (in this case, onion, garlic, and thyme) in a bit of olive oil, but here the use of a nonstick pan + salt + water to make oil unnecessary.
First, dice the onion and mince the garlic and fresh thyme leaves.
Then heat a deep nonstick pan over medium heat. Once the pan has heated up, add the diced onion (no oil) and cook for just a minute. Add a bit of salt to help release the natural moisture (and flavor) from the onions. Then, to prevent onions from burning, add in the water. That way, the onions get cooked in a hybrid sauté/steam method.
Typically, I do love to get some browning on the onions to maximize flavor, but there is plenty of flavor in the rest of this dish that I felt comfortable with this method. Of course, if you prefer to cook with oil (or don’t have a nonstick pan and are worrying about it burning), I’ve included a modification in the recipe.
Tips for Making this Recipe
To keep things efficient, start cooking the wild rice before you cook everything else. There are stovetop and Instant Pot instructions for wild rice in the recipe below.
While cooking wild rice doesn’t require much work, it does have a relatively long cook time compared to most grains. It’ll take about 45 minutes depending on your cooking method. So if you want to keep dinner under 30 minutes, you have a few options
- (a) use another grain with a shorter cook time (e.g., farro or quinoa)
- (b) slop these creamy beans on top of a hearty whole grain baguette or a baked sweet potato!
Substitutes for this Recipe
Wild Rice. As mentioned above, you can serve the creamy white beans over any grain you like, but I really liked it over wild rice. If you want to use wild rice but it’s a bit too earthy for your taste, try a blend of wild rice and brown rice.
Coconut Milk. If allergic to coconut, you can try another creamy plant-based milk, such as cashew milk or oat milk. Just be sure to use the unsweetened + plain variety.
Miso paste. If you don’t have miso paste, you can add a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and/or a teaspoon of tamari with a tablespoon of tahini.
That’s all I have to say about this easy yet flavorful recipe for Creamy White Beans with Kale and Wild Rice, so I hope you’ll enjoy it! If you make it, be sure to leave me a comment below with your feedback and tag me with your recreations on Instagram!
Creamy White Beans with Kale and Wild Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup (~180g) wild rice (I used a wild rice + brown rice blend)
- 1 1/2 cups (360 mL) vegetable broth or water for Instant Pot method (use 3 cups (710 mL) vegetable for stovetop method)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1/3 cup (80 mL) water*
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced
- 1 (13.5-ounce/400 mL) can “lite” or reduced-fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon white or yellow miso paste
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 (15-ounce/440g) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon hot or sweet paprika (not smoked)
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes (add more to taste if you want it spicy)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt + more to season
- Black pepper to taste
- 6-8 cups (400-540g) shredded Tuscan (lacinato) kale, tough stems removed
Instructions
- Make the Wild Rice (Instant Pot method):Add the wild rice and 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth to the inner pot of the Instant Pot. Secure the lid and select the Pressure Cook/Manual setting for 25 minutes. Allow a natural pressure release and drain off any remaining liquid.
- Make the Wild Rice (Stovetop method): Place the wild rice and 3 cups of vegetable broth in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and cover. Simmer for 40-45 minutes, or until the kernels have burst open. Drain off any remaining liquid.
- While the rice is cooking, make the Creamy White Beans and Kale. Heat a deep nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and a pinch of salt and stir together for 1 minute. Then add the water and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the onion softened and the water is mostly evaporated.
- Add the garlic and thyme leaves to the pan. Stir frequently for 2-3 minutes to prevent the garlic from burning.
- Stir in the coconut milk, miso, tomato sauce, tomato paste, cannellini beans, cumin, paprika, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and coat all the beans in the sauce. Then add the kale and stir again to incorporate.
- Bring the bean mixture to a simmer. Continue to cook at a simmer for 10 minutes until it has thickened and is creamy.
- Serve the beans and kale on top of the cooked wild rice.
Notes
I just made this for the third or fourth time. I love it. This time I replaced the kale with spinach because we happened to have a lot we needed to use, and I served it with quinoa instead of rice for the same reason. I like spinach better than kale, so I knew that would be good. I’m neutral about quinoa but I enjoyed the texture with this. I think next time I’ll eat it in half a roasted acorn squash, which, again, has been sitting around waiting too long. :) Oh, I also used full fat coconut milk because that’s what I had so it was even creamier! Yum!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Michele! It’s awesome to hear you love the recipe :)
This was delicious, way more kale than it looked like in the photo but very tasty. Much better than it looked. Curious how it’s 28g of protein though.
Would make again.
Hi Sam, we’re so happy you loved the recipe! And as for the protein calculation: Per serving this has: 6g protein in the wild rice, 15.5g protein in the beans, 3g in the kale and the other few grams come from the other ingredients combined. Remember, this is always an estimate, so if you want the most accurate calculations we always recommend calculating these values yourself!
Would it still taste good if I used pinto beans? All I have on hand are kidney & pinto beans! Which would be a good swap?
Hi Emily, sorry for the late response!
From Nisha: “I think kidney beans would be a better swap flavor wise (though I have to admit, I myself don’t like kidney beans; if you like them, I think the flavors would be more harmonious with kidney beans than with pinto beans).”
This was shockingly good – my partner and I both agreed one of our best suppers – and super low key cooking. I used curly kale as that is what was in the garden, substituted smoked paprika -otherwise followed recipe. Delicious pantry meal. We had leftover beans but no rice so I mixed in the remaining tomato sauce and served with pasta the following day for lunch – also delicious. Thank you for such an excellent recipe!
Thanks for sharing, Heather! It’s great to hear you found the recipe shockingly good! :)
I accidentally used smoked paprika instead of regular and it was still great. The beans had good depth of flavor to them. I do feel the dish overall is lacking texture though. I ended up serving it with toasted baguette slices and it was a great accompaniment.
Hi Diana, we appreciate the feedback! We’re glad you enjoyed the recipe overall :)
This is delicious and easy!! It will easily make the weekly rotation at our house.
Awesome, Mary. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
This was fabulous, creamy, and comforting! Easy to follow and the family raved. My six year old cleaned his bowl – thank you!
Great flavor and feels healthy! Took me longer than I expected, but I would make it again!
We’re thrilled you enjoyed it, Eric!
Actually so good. I was skeptical about the wild rice combo but it works so well! Also cooked my own beans but dang would be so quick and easy with canned beans. Thanks!
Awesome, Emily. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Absolutely delightful meal. I made it without the rice and we loved it. Thank you.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Ildiko! It makes us happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe.
So delicious – will make this all season long. I would love more butter bean recipes like this!
We’re over the moon to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Alison. Thanks for your kind words!
This turned out so lovely! I added a bit extra miso and some nutritional yeast- it surprisingly creamy and so nice for Autumn weather! 🍁
We appreciate your feedback and support, Samantha. Thank you for leaving a review!
What tomato sauce is used in this recipe?
Hi Kay, it can be found in the canned tomato section of the grocery store. It is literally called “tomato sauce” and it’s essentially pureed tomato in a can.
I made this exactly as written really enjoyed it. Easy, economical and very tasty. A great weeknight meal with leftovers for lunch. Easily feeds four adults.
We appreciate your feedback and support, Julie. Thank you for leaving a review!
My kid who is often picky at this right up and said she loved the “adventure rice” and partner who is often unsure about vegan recipes said it was her fave thing I’ve made in months. I loved it too! I cooked my own white beans and I think they turned out a little drier than canned beans so if I made it again, I’d add a bit less cooked bean (I did it by weight) and see if I can get a bit creamier texture. The coconutty miso gravy on the beans was too good.
We’re over the moon to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Adele. Thanks for your kind words, and we hope you get the recipe just right next time!
Surprisingly, I found all ingredients listed at my local grocer and so went ahead and followed recipe exactly as written. OK, maybe I added heaped tbsp miso and heaping tsp cumin (love both). I did all prep early so that at 6 pm it took just 15 minutes to throw together. Very tasty especially with the rice. Thanks all, this will be a regular addition.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Robin! It’s great to hear you truly enjoyed the dish.
These beans and rice are savory and comforting, and the leftovers are amazing. We can’t find kale right now, so we add spinach at the end after the sauce has thickened. It’s a new favorite that we’ve been eating at least once a week. Thank you!
Hi Karen, Thank you so much for such a fantastic review! Appreciate you taking the time!
Yet another great recipe from Nisha! With RPL’s recipes I’ve become a more confident, versatile and, I think, better cook. I trust Nisha’s recipes because they’re always delicious. I’ve enjoyed trying new, to me, ingredients – white miso in this recipe. This was super quick and easy to make, really rich and nuanced in flavor. I used 100% wild rice cultivated in northern Minnesota. You can’t beat it as a base for this recipe!
Thanks for your lovely review, Rose! Nisha’s recipes and videos have definitely helped me become a better cook as well! I’ve passed the message to Nisha :)
This was soooo yummy. My husband actually ate it and he doesn’t eat things like that, he had 2 bowls. Will definitely be making again, thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Nicole! It makes us happy to know that you two enjoyed the recipe.
So good! And easy. It seems you can’t go wrong in making any RPL recipe!
Thank you for your lovely comment, Rose! It makes us happy to know that you enjoy the recipes.