Giant lima beans slow-baked in a rich tomato sauce with garlic, onion, and herbs until tender and deeply flavored.
Gigantes plaki is a beloved Greek dish of large, meaty gigante beans (giant lima beans) baked slowly in a tomato-based sauce with onion, garlic, and herbs until the beans turn creamy and the sauce thickens into something rich and stew-like. This version adds a small spoonful of tamarind paste to the tomato sauce, a less traditional but complementary addition that deepens the sauce's tang in a way that plays surprisingly well with the dish's Mediterranean herbs. The technique for great gigantes plaki is baking, not just simmering on the stovetop -- the dry, even heat of an oven concentrates the tomato sauce and lets the beans absorb flavor slowly over an hour or more, developing a richness that stovetop simmering alone doesn't quite achieve. Using dried gigante beans, soaked overnight and parboiled until just tender before baking, gives a far better texture than canned substitutes like lima beans. Served warm or at room temperature with crusty bread and a drizzle of good olive oil, gigantes plaki is a staple of Greek meze spreads and vegetarian home cooking, hearty enough to serve as a main course on its own.
Serves 6
Drain the soaked beans and boil in fresh water 30-40 minutes until just tender but not fully soft. Drain and set aside.
Heat olive oil in an oven-safe pot over medium heat. Cook onion and carrots 8-10 minutes until soft, then add garlic and cook 1 minute.
Stir in crushed tomatoes, tamarind paste, oregano, bay leaf, and stock. Simmer 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Add the parboiled beans and salt to the sauce, stirring to combine. Cover and bake 45-50 minutes.
Uncover and bake 10-15 more minutes until the sauce thickens and the top begins to caramelize slightly at the edges.
Remove the bay leaf, drizzle with extra olive oil, scatter with parsley, and serve warm or at room temperature.
Parboil the beans until just tender, not fully cooked, before baking -- they'll finish softening in the oven and this prevents them from turning mushy.
Bake the dish uncovered for the final stretch so the sauce reduces properly and the top develops a bit of color.
Add a generous drizzle of good olive oil right before serving -- it's a hallmark of Greek bean dishes and adds real richness.
Skip the tamarind for a classic, traditional gigantes plaki flavor profile.
Add diced celery along with the onion and carrots for extra depth in the base.
Top with crumbled feta before the final uncovered bake for a richer, saltier finish.
Refrigerate up to 5 days; the flavor deepens significantly overnight. Freezes well up to 3 months. Reheat gently on the stovetop or in a low oven with a splash of water if needed.
Gigantes plaki is a classic dish from Greek regional cooking, especially associated with Macedonia in northern Greece where gigante beans are grown; 'plaki' refers to the slow-baked cooking method in a tomato sauce used across several Greek vegetable and legume dishes.
Yes, use 3 cans of drained large lima or butter beans and skip the parboiling step, reducing the covered baking time to about 25-30 minutes since they're already cooked.
Large lima beans or butter beans are the closest substitute in both size and texture, widely available at most grocery stores.
Yes, it's actually better made a day ahead -- the flavors deepen overnight, and it can be served warm or at room temperature, making it very practical for entertaining.
Per serving (340g / 12.0 oz) · 6 servings total
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