Creamy beans in tomato sauce simmered with burst cherry tomatoes, shallots and garlic, and studded with melted ricotta. A cozy, high-protein 30-minute skillet meal.
Jump to: ℹ️ Overview | 🛒 Ingredients | 📷 How To Make | 👩🍳 Recipe Tips | 🥗 Serving Suggestions | 📝Full Recipe Card | 🍽 More Tomato & Bean Recipes
At A Glance
- ⏱ Ready In: 30 minutes
- 🍽 Serves: 2 (easily stretches to 4 as a starter with bread)
- 🌱 Diet: Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, High-Protein
- 💪 Nutrition Highlights: High in plant-based protein and fiber from the white beans, plus calcium from the ricotta
- 🥕 Main Ingredients: Cherry tomatoes, shallot, garlic, white beans, ricotta, basil
- 🔥 Flavor Profile: Sweet, savory, and a little tangy, with pools of creamy melted cheese throughout
- 🧊 Meal-Prep Friendly: Keeps 3-4 days in the fridge, reheats beautifully on the stove
- 🥖 Best Served With: Crusty, buttered bread for scooping
Everybody needs more fiber in their life, and this pot of beans in tomato sauce is a genuinely delicious way to get it. It starts with a burst cherry tomato sauce – a little sweet, a little savory, and blitzed until silky – then the beans get to simmer right in it until they’re warmed through and soaking up all that flavor. Dollops of ricotta go in at the end and melt into these gorgeous creamy pockets throughout the dish.
Honestly, the best part is how versatile it is: ladle it into bowls like a stew, or pile it onto toasted sourdough for a rustic open sandwich. Either way, you can’t really go wrong, and with a full can of beans and a cup of ricotta, it’s surprisingly high in protein and fiber for how comforting it tastes.
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What You’ll Need
Here is what you’ll need for this beans in tomato sauce recipe. Find the full measurements in the recipe card below.
- Olive oil – for sautéing the shallot and garlic and adding richness to the sauce.
- Shallot – milder and sweeter than regular onion; a small brown onion works as a swap.
- Garlic paste (or minced garlic) – for a savory base flavor.
- Cherry tomatoes – the star of the sauce. I recommend cherry or grape tomatoes over regular tomatoes because their higher sugar content renders down into a deeply sweet, rich sauce. A mix of red and gold looks lovely if you can get them.
- Salt and black pepper – to season the sauce.
- Water – helps the tomatoes bubble and break down into a saucy consistency.
- White beans – cannellini or great northern beans both work beautifully; they bring plant-based protein and fiber. No need to rinse them after draining.
- Ricotta cheese – melted through in dollops for creaminess. Burrata, stracciatella or even cream cheese are all great swaps if you want something richer.
- Basil – some chopped through the sauce, plus whole leaves for garnish, for that fresh, herby lift.
How To Make Beans in Tomato Sauce
Find the full recipe and nutritional information below. Here are some handy step-by-step photos for how to make this dish.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the shallot and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.
- Add the cherry tomatoes along with 3-4 tablespoons of water. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally and gently pressing the tomatoes with the back of a spoon as they burst and break down. Add a splash more water if the sauce needs it.
- Reduce the heat to medium and blend the sauce with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Add the beans and chopped basil, then simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are warmed through and the sauce has thickened up.
- Stir in the ricotta and cook for another minute or so, just until it starts to melt into the dish.
- Garnish with torn basil and serve hot with crusty, buttered bread.
Recipe Tips
- Get the sweetness right: cherry or grape tomatoes give the best flavor here because they render down so sweetly. If you can’t find them, swap in a 14.5 oz (410 grams) can of fire-roasted tomatoes and skip the extra water.
- No immersion blender? A regular blender works too – just let the sauce cool slightly first and blend in batches.
- Cheese swaps: burrata or stracciatella make this even more indulgent if you want to switch things up from ricotta.
- Reduce waste: save the bean liquid from the can for another recipe, or stir it back into the sauce if you’d like it a little looser.
- Storage: keep leftovers tightly covered in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave before serving.
Serving Suggestions
This is one of those dishes that works just as well as a cozy dinner for two as it does as a shared starter. Ladle it into bowls and serve with plenty of crusty, buttered bread for scooping up the sauce, or spoon it straight onto toasted sourdough for an open-faced bruschetta-style bite. A simple green salad on the side rounds it out nicely if you want to make it a full meal.
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil 30 ml
- 1 medium shallot diced small
- 2 teaspoons garlic paste (or minced garlic) 10 grams
- 12 oz cherry tomatoes 340 grams
- ½ teaspoon salt plus extra to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3-4 tablespoons water 45-60 ml
- 1 can white beans 15.5 oz / 439 grams, such as cannellini or great northern beans, drained
- 1 cup ricotta cheese (or burrata, stracciatella, or cream cheese) 250 grams
- 1 tablespoon chopped or chiffonaded basil plus more whole leaves for garnish
Instructions
- In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil.
- Add the shallot and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened.
- Add the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.
- Add the cherry tomatoes and 3-4 tablespoons of water. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally and gently pressing the tomatoes with the back of a spoon as they burst and render down. Add more water if needed to keep a bubbly sauce.
- Reduce the heat to medium and use an immersion blender to blend the sauce until smooth.
- Add the beans and chopped basil, and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are warmed through and the sauce is bubbling and thickened.
- Stir in the ricotta cheese and cook for another minute or so, until it just begins to melt into the dish.
- Garnish with torn basil and serve hot with crusty, buttered bread.
Notes
Nutrition
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