There is no better way to celebrate the arrival of spring than making a gorgeous butter bean salad with avocado, pesto and pumpkin seeds. I know that the weather hasn’t quite caught up with the spring season.
If the weather is not there, why not enjoy spring in spirit? The butter bean salad with avocado, pesto and pumpkin seeds will create a wonderful harmony in your mouth, that will leave you craving for more.
It’s extremely easy to prepare as you only mix all the ingredients together. What I love about this recipe, is that you can make it even healthier by either mixing your own pesto or throwing in other types of sauces.
If you are saving up and on a shoestring budget, then check out this lovely butter bean salad recipe. It's vegan, cheap and super healthy.
If pushed, avocado can be omitted and cucumber used instead although you'll be missing out on the essential fatty acids which is so good for you!
Butter beans
No, there isn't any butter in butter beans. I just had to state the obvious. Outside UK butter beans are also referred to as lima beans.
You can eat butterbeans in their fresh state or in their dried, but soaked and cooked, state. Fresh butter beans are green!
Mature butter beans are dried and white. The latter is the most commonly used. I encourage you to try the fresh butter beans but they are very hard to come by.
If you are cooking the dried butterbeans, be careful not to overcook them. Otherwise this recipe would turn into a rather mushy salad.
who ate them first?
As you may have guessed, this butter bean salad with avocado, pesto and pumpkin seeds recipe heroes the butter beans! Did you know that butter beans actually come from South America?
They have been around since 2000 B.C. and have been a part of the diet of the ancient people living in the Andes. The traditional techniques that the ancient people used to prepare butterbeans are roasting, boiling and drying.
Would you believe that they even used to paint dried beans and create pendants out of them? Fascinating!
Over time, the beans became popular in the North. Soon people started eating butter beans all the way up in Mexico and North America. Once the beans arrived in North America, people started to export them to Europe.
substitutes
If you are not so keen on using butterbeans in your salad, try using chickpeas as a substitute. Furthermore, you roast them in the oven to give them until crispy.
Roasted chickpeas are an excellent substitute to consider for the butterbean salad with avocado, pesto and pumpkin seeds.
Needless to say that you can consider all the other types of pulses, for example lentils. Even green beans would work!
Avocado
I think avocado is a lovely addition to this butter bean salad. Its creamy and nutty flavour will complement the sweetness given by the butter beans.
Trust me, you’ll get addicted to this tasty combination, and will soon wish that you’d made a larger batch! The avocado has a large amount of those “good fats”.
The fatty acids are very healthy, and will supply you with energy all day! If you don’t want to include the pesto, you can create an avocado sauce.
Take a fork and mush up the avocado. Season the avocado mixture and stir in with other ingredients very gently!
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Pesto
Obviously, you can use the traditional pesto alla Genovese. Very easy to make and delicious. However, this is not the only pesto you can use.
There are various types of pesto you can use for the butterbean salad. This is what ultimately gives this recipe a twist. It’s versatile and easy to make.
Have you ever made your own pesto before? I’ve made a delicious avocado pesto. If avocado is not your thing, why don’t you try making the watercress pesto? The watercress will freshen up your butterbean salad.
Substitutes for pesto
Firstly, I love pesto. In fact, any type of pesto, but there are some other options you can consider. I love hummus as well.
I’ve made a roasted carrot hummus recently, and I think it would be a nice substitute. It would make the butterbean salad with avocado, pesto and pumpkin seeds recipe a little but sweeter. Besides, who doesn’t love hummus?
Lastly, if you want to keep things simple, then I would recommend using a traditional vinaigrette. Take some mustard, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, seasoning and whisk until smooth.
This French style vinaigrette is a must in France and is practically present in almost every side salad.
Nuts and everything that crunches
I suggested using pumpkin seeds. They are very aromatic and oily. If you don’t fancy pumpkin seeds, you can also consider the following:
It's totally up to you and also depends on what you have in your cabinets. On the other hand, if you love pumpkins seeds, try experimenting with pumpkin seed oil instead of using the pesto.
It has a very specific flavour, but it’s becoming increasingly popular. Try it out and leaves a comment.
Cherry tomatoes
I wouldn’t add any other types of tomatoes other than the cherry tomatoes. The other types of tomatoes are too soft and have a high water content, which makes them not suitable for the butterbean salad.
However, I do encourage you to include other types of veggies. Examples include pepper, broccoli, etc. The options are endless and you can pick whatever you feel like.
Usually when I have cherry tomatoes in my fridge, I prepare the cherry tomato salad. If you like butter beans you'll love this white bean dip recipe.
Enjoy your salad and let me know how it worked out for you! For more salad inspiration, see:
Print📖 Recipe
Butterbean Salad with Avocado, Tomato and Pesto
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
- 400g (1 can) cooked butter beans
- 20 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 avocado, peeled and chopped
- 45ml (3 tbsp) pesto
- 15ml (1 tbsp) pumpkin seeds
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together and serve.
Notes
- You can substitute the butter beans with different pulses of your choice.
- You can make a big batch of the salad but keep the avocado out until the last moment before serving.
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 378
- Sugar: 18.7 g
- Sodium: 113 mg
- Fat: 16.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 49.2 g
- Fiber: 15.8 g
- Protein: 14.3 g
- Cholesterol: 3 mg
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P.S. This post is sponsored by Studio B.
Natalie Crossan
Stir fry noodles xxx
Helen Garner
I make meals in bulk like chilli or lasagne that I can freeze and make last for a few meals
ellie spider
pasta sauce - we make up a big batch in bulk loaded with tinned toms, mixed beans, chopped peppers, onions and mushrooms, freeze in batches and then just heat it up as needed - my sister and niece are vegan so we always leave it meat and dairy free for freezing so if they join us we always hav somethign to do 🙂
Catherine B
Basics pasta, tinned tomatoes and kidney beans!
Diana
Chicken and barley stew, slow cooked curries with cheap cuts of beef 🙂
Lesley
Vegetable Chilli and then freeze lots of portions.
Claire Derry
Pasta and jacket potatoes with veggies from the garden
Jo C
I still rave about the food I ate in Sri Lanka over 15 years ago! Fab prize thanks x
Emma Davison
Soups, pasta dishes and stewa
Katy Malkin
Big deep veggie cottage pies frozen in portions! Throw all the leftover veg in.
Elizabeth Cooke
Subscribed, your food is mouthwatering!
Elizabeth Cooke
Cooking affordable dishes on mass, for example doing big pots of pasta bake or ratatouille then you can freeze lots of portions! It's also convenient for a busy week
Maxine G
anything with pulses tend to be cheap, so falafels and veggie burgers are economical but super tasty too if you add lots of spices!
susan hoggett
hearty stews and casserole with plenty of veggies, and slow cooking so you can buy cheaper cuts of meat.
Rich Tyler
Lots of pasta dishes, cheap, filling & quick 🙂
Tracey Belcher
Lots of one pot meals in the slow cooker - always a great way to use up left overs
adeinne tonner
We end up eating lots of soup to try to save!!
Hassni
Stirs fries - noodles or rice - using left overs.
leanne weir
We freeze a lot of food so as not to waste much at all
Kavey
Butter beans are a family favourite, so I think this salad is one we'd all enjoy. Love how fresh and colourful it is.
Camilla Hawkins
Love this salad, never thought to use pesto in a salad:-)
kellie@foodtoglow
What a unique and fantastic competition - and vibrant delicious salad. Win-win 😉
sofie
Quiches, where I put lots of veggies ansd cheap cuts of meat
Solange
Invest in a slow cooker. Stews and casseroles are cheap to make and go a long way when trying to feed a family on a budget. Steamers are also a good option as they use very little electricity.
Barbara Knight
Soups - cheap, easy, can be varied in so many ways.
Kara Harrison
I've just purchased my first home, but whilst saving we ate things like bean chillis or lentil curries. I find pulses go really far for the amount they cost.
Phillipa ODonovan
I make a huge pot of lentil bolognaise, like 20 portions, and freeze it for the days where I have no time to cook. It's too tempting to order a pizza sometimes, if I know I have lentil bolognaise in the freezer I'm good!
Ren
Delicious recipe and a couple of great competitions to enter here - thanks Michelle for sharing.
Tracey Peach
I have to cook budget meals every day I cook things like stews or pies that can be bulked out with potatoes or beans & keep the left overs for the next day
laura banks
we batch cook alot and freeze stuff much cheaper
Farhana Chowdhury
Ramen
Jen Schofield
I make a lot of things in bulk like chilli
stuart hargreaves
BOILED ONIONS AND CARROTS
amy bondoc
i make alot of soups and have them for a few days!
Louis Perera
beans on toast
Ritchie
Big stews or curries that last several days.
Lorraine Stone
Anything I can make with reduced priced food is great. Look out for bargains, make salads, wraps and stews.
Tracy Nixon
I make alot of soups, casseroles and stews which I freeze. I often but, eg mince, chicken, sausages, meats, when they have been reduced because they are fresh and are almost up to their sell by date, then I cook them in a stew/casserole/soup and freeze!
Fiona
We did this a lot when we bought our first house. One of the cheapest but nicest was a lovely salad, or omelette and wedges.