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You are here: Home / Cooking Times / b) 30 - 60 mins / Butter Bean Salad with Avocado, Pesto and Pumpkin Seeds

Butter Bean Salad with Avocado, Pesto and Pumpkin Seeds

26th April 2017 - By Michelle Minnaar
This post may contain affiliate links.

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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.

Salad Butterbean

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!

Butter Beans Cooked

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:

  • Walnuts
  • Pine nuts
  • Hazelnuts
  • Almonds

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.

Elements Salad

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:

  • French bean, tomato and pistachio salad
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Butterbean Salad

Butterbean Salad with Avocado, Tomato and Pesto


★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

  • Author: Michelle Minnaar
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 2 1x
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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

  1. 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.

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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Butterbean Salad

P.S. This post is sponsored by Studio B.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Fiona says

    27th April 2017 at 9:53 am

    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.

    Reply
  2. Tracy Nixon says

    27th April 2017 at 10:18 am

    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!

    Reply
  3. Lorraine Stone says

    27th April 2017 at 10:48 am

    Anything I can make with reduced priced food is great. Look out for bargains, make salads, wraps and stews.

    Reply
  4. Ritchie says

    27th April 2017 at 10:56 am

    Big stews or curries that last several days.

    Reply
  5. Louis Perera says

    27th April 2017 at 11:40 am

    beans on toast

    Reply
  6. amy bondoc says

    27th April 2017 at 11:40 am

    i make alot of soups and have them for a few days!

    Reply
  7. stuart hargreaves says

    27th April 2017 at 12:24 pm

    BOILED ONIONS AND CARROTS

    Reply
  8. Jen Schofield says

    27th April 2017 at 12:37 pm

    I make a lot of things in bulk like chilli

    Reply
  9. Farhana Chowdhury says

    27th April 2017 at 12:51 pm

    Ramen

    Reply
  10. laura banks says

    27th April 2017 at 12:51 pm

    we batch cook alot and freeze stuff much cheaper

    Reply
  11. Tracey Peach says

    27th April 2017 at 3:34 pm

    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

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  12. Ren says

    27th April 2017 at 4:06 pm

    Delicious recipe and a couple of great competitions to enter here – thanks Michelle for sharing.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  13. Phillipa ODonovan says

    27th April 2017 at 6:01 pm

    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!

    Reply
  14. Kara Harrison says

    27th April 2017 at 6:15 pm

    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.

    Reply
  15. Barbara Knight says

    27th April 2017 at 6:28 pm

    Soups – cheap, easy, can be varied in so many ways.

    Reply
  16. Solange says

    27th April 2017 at 10:32 pm

    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.

    Reply
  17. sofie says

    28th April 2017 at 8:15 am

    Quiches, where I put lots of veggies ansd cheap cuts of meat

    Reply
  18. [email protected] says

    28th April 2017 at 9:30 am

    What a unique and fantastic competition – and vibrant delicious salad. Win-win 😉

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  19. Camilla Hawkins says

    28th April 2017 at 4:43 pm

    Love this salad, never thought to use pesto in a salad:-)

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  20. Kavey says

    30th April 2017 at 7:22 am

    Butter beans are a family favourite, so I think this salad is one we’d all enjoy. Love how fresh and colourful it is.

    Reply
  21. leanne weir says

    2nd May 2017 at 3:25 pm

    We freeze a lot of food so as not to waste much at all

    Reply
  22. Hassni says

    4th May 2017 at 9:22 am

    Stirs fries – noodles or rice – using left overs.

    Reply
  23. adeinne tonner says

    8th May 2017 at 10:58 am

    We end up eating lots of soup to try to save!!

    Reply
  24. Tracey Belcher says

    10th May 2017 at 12:35 pm

    Lots of one pot meals in the slow cooker – always a great way to use up left overs

    Reply
  25. Rich Tyler says

    10th May 2017 at 12:44 pm

    Lots of pasta dishes, cheap, filling & quick 🙂

    Reply
  26. susan hoggett says

    17th May 2017 at 12:25 pm

    hearty stews and casserole with plenty of veggies, and slow cooking so you can buy cheaper cuts of meat.

    Reply
  27. Maxine G says

    17th May 2017 at 10:32 pm

    anything with pulses tend to be cheap, so falafels and veggie burgers are economical but super tasty too if you add lots of spices!

    Reply
  28. Elizabeth Cooke says

    27th May 2017 at 3:16 pm

    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

    Reply
  29. Elizabeth Cooke says

    27th May 2017 at 3:18 pm

    Subscribed, your food is mouthwatering!

    Reply
  30. Katy Malkin says

    29th May 2017 at 1:16 pm

    Big deep veggie cottage pies frozen in portions! Throw all the leftover veg in.

    Reply
  31. Emma Davison says

    29th May 2017 at 7:35 pm

    Soups, pasta dishes and stewa

    Reply
  32. Jo C says

    29th May 2017 at 8:58 pm

    I still rave about the food I ate in Sri Lanka over 15 years ago! Fab prize thanks x

    Reply
  33. Claire Derry says

    29th May 2017 at 9:21 pm

    Pasta and jacket potatoes with veggies from the garden

    Reply
  34. Lesley says

    30th May 2017 at 8:14 am

    Vegetable Chilli and then freeze lots of portions.

    Reply
  35. Diana says

    30th May 2017 at 9:27 am

    Chicken and barley stew, slow cooked curries with cheap cuts of beef 🙂

    Reply
  36. Catherine B says

    30th May 2017 at 1:37 pm

    Basics pasta, tinned tomatoes and kidney beans!

    Reply
  37. ellie spider says

    30th May 2017 at 1:58 pm

    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 🙂

    Reply
  38. Helen Garner says

    30th May 2017 at 9:40 pm

    I make meals in bulk like chilli or lasagne that I can freeze and make last for a few meals

    Reply
  39. Natalie Crossan says

    31st May 2017 at 12:00 am

    Stir fry noodles xxx

    Reply

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