Sun dried tomatoes are a fairly expensive ingredient, but I think this Sun Dried Tomato, Kale, and White Bean Skillet perfectly demonstrates how higher priced ingredients, when properly combined with less expensive ingredients, can still be used to make affordable recipes. This warm and flavorful skillet is a super fast dish that is almost like a warm salad. It’s great served with a piece (or two) of crusty garlic bread, or even a fluffy piece of naan.
But be warned, this recipe is a fiber powerhouse, so if you have a stomach that is sensitive to fiber, you may need to skip this one. 😅
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
More Toppings, Please!
There are a lot of fun places you could take this sautéed kale and white bean skillet. I’m trying to cut back on cheese a bit, but if I wasn’t, I’d probably sprinkle a little Parmesan, feta, or even goat cheese into this skillet. MMmmm. If money wasn’t an object, I’d probably sprinkle a few pine nuts on top, too! I wanted my dish to be vegetarian, but if that’s not an issue for you, I would suggest adding bacon or crumbled Italian Sausage!
Can I Substitute the Kale?
If you’re not into kale, you can definitely use spinach, but I’d stir it in right at the end because it wilts quickly.
Is This a Side Dish or Main Dish?
Either one! It’s quite filling on its own, so it makes a great vegetarian main dish. Or, if you serve it in smaller portions, it makes a really hearty side. You can serve this next to something like Baked Ziti, Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin, or Balsamic Chicken and Mushrooms.
Sun Dried Tomato, Kale, and White Bean Skillet
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 15oz. cans cannellini beans, drained ($1.38)
- 1/2 7oz. jar sun dried tomatoes in oil ($2.14)
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 6 oz. fresh kale, chopped* ($1.60)
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the white beans. Roughly chop the sun dried tomatoes. In a small bowl, combine 2 Tbsp of the oil from the jar of sun dried tomatoes with the apple cider vinegar, basil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Set the dressing aside.
- Add the olive oil and minced garlic to a large skillet. Sauté the garlic over medium heat for one minute, or just until it begins to soften and becomes fragrant.
- Add the chopped kale and 2 Tbsp water to the skillet. Stir and cook over medium heat until the kale has wilted.
- Add the drained beans and chopped sun dried tomatoes to the skillet with the kale. Continue to stir and cook until the beans are heated through. Lastly, drizzle the dressing over the skillet and stir to combine, and add salt to taste. Serve warm.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Sautéed Kale and White Beans – Step by Step Photos
For this recipe, I used half of this 7 oz. jar of sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, including some of the oil. I’ll probably use the rest next week either in a pasta salad or on a pizza. :) Begin by removing half of the tomatoes and roughly chopping them.
Then use 2 Tbsp of the oil from the sun dried tomatoes to make a vinaigrette. Combine 2 Tbsp of the oil with 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/4 tsp salt, some freshly cracked pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Also rinse and drain two 15 oz. cans of cannellini beans.
Add 1 Tbsp olive oil and two cloves of minced garlic to a large skillet. Sauté the garlic over medium heat for about one minute, or just until it starts to get soft and fragrant. Add 6 oz. fresh chopped kale and 2 Tbsp water to the skillet, and continue to sauté until the kale is wilted (only about 3-5 minutes). The water helps steam and wilt the kale.
Once the kale has wilted, add the drained white beans and chopped sun dried tomatoes. Stir to combine and continue to cook over medium heat until the beans are heated through (only a few more minutes).
Finally, drizzle the vinaigrette over the skillet, stir to combine, add salt to taste, and serve.
This dish is particularly delicious served with garlic bread or a piece of naan. :)
DELICIOUS!!! Oh wow — SO easy and SO tasty. Also leaves you room to play around and throw in other ingredients (I had a 1/2 an onion I needed to use and thew it in.) Also, a very visually appealing dish. It looked just like it did in the pictures!
1 Tip: If beans sometimes upset your stomach or give you gas like they do me, I found that 1/2 of a can was plenty for the above recipe — not too much, not too little. Thanks Budget Bytes!! :D
Can’t wait to try this! I just ran out of apple cider vinegar though. Any recommendations for what acid I can use as a replacement?
You could use lemon or lime juice.
Just tried out this recipe, subbing lemon juice for the ACV. It turned out delicious! The sundried tomatoes really add such a great flavor. And I love how fast and easy this recipe was! I will definitely be making this again!
This is so delicious! Not vegetarian, but running low on supplies. Googled white beans and kale. Didn’t have garlic, but garlic powder. Will keep on my rotation even when we can find chicken and fish!
How long can this dish keep in the refrigerator? I’m thinking of meal prepping. :)
Hi Mateo! We recommend 3-5 days is best for storing. Anything over that we recommend freezing. Enjoy!
Good recipe and it works! I thank you!
Laslo
I was surprised this recipe has 20 g of fat per serving. Where is it coming from?
The nutrition data provided is calculated using all ingredients listed on the recipe card, including any ingredient listed as optional. Keep in mind that recipes that involve marinades, breading, salad dressings, oil for frying, or salt for cooking pasta and potatoes may be skewed because some of these ingredients will be discarded and not included in the final edible portion.
Made this tonight.. visually appealing and very yummy!!
I just made this recipe and served with vegan chickpea flour omelette – absolutely delicious! Instead of dried basil I used oregano.
Thank you for your great ideas! As a vegan on a budget I do really appreciate your content!
Keep your amazing work up 💚
Thank you for being here Aleksandra!
Beth I love your recipes! I made this as my first real recipe for No Meat November, and it was sooo good! I swapped the kale for spinach and added a fried egg on top. This is the first time I’ve ever cooked with white beans, and they were kind of gummy in the can (which seemed odd to me) but after a good rinse they cooked up beautifully. 5/5 keep posting vegetarian dishes ❤️
Thank you Josie!
This is one of my favorite recipes to make! I make the beans from dry in my pressure cooker rather than use canned to save a little money and get my preferred flavor and texture. A weeknight time commitment meal I would serve to guests
That’s wonderful Cliff!
Just had this for dinner and loved it! I added some mushrooms in with the garlic at the beginning because I had them in the refrigerator and I love mushrooms with kale. It was very good and I’ll be making it again! Thank you!
So good to use what you have on hand! Thanks Judy!
We LOVED this exactly as written!!! Thank you for an easy quick delicious dinner.
Happy to hear it Lisa!
Super Amazing! We didn’t change a thing and LOVED it!
I used white wine instead of water, and was very happy with this quick and easy one skillet meal.
I couldn’t find your email address, but I wanted to let you know that not only do I LOVE this recipe and have shared it with my family, but I did a Pintesting post on it! Please take a look on my blog to see the results. We make this almost once a week – it’s so good!
Thank you! I appreciate it! ❤️
There was way too much vinegar. My husband and I couldn’t even finish our plates :(
I’m tempted to try this again without the dressing.