Rosemary White Beans

Rosemary White Beans

  • Prep Time: 24 hrs
  • Total Time: 25 hrs 50 mins
  • Servings: 8
  • About This Recipe

    “from Tom Douglas’s book, and I love it. How can something so simple taste so wonderful.”

    Ingredients

  • 2cupsdried white beans
  • 3/4 cupdiced bacon
  • 1cupchopped onion
  • 1teaspoonminced garlic
  • 4cupschicken stock
  • 4cupswater
  • 2tablespoonschopped fresh rosemary
  • 2tablespoonsunsalted butter
  • kosher salt
  • fresh ground pepper
  • Directions

  • Cover the beans with cold water and soak overnight in the refrigerator.
  • They will double in size so use a lot of water.
  • Heat the bacon in a large pot over medium heat, until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp, about 8-10 minutes.
  • Add the onions and cook 8-10 minutes until soft.
  • Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
  • Then add the chicken stock and water til simmering.
  • Drain beans of their water and add to pot.
  • Cook on medium heat until soft, about 1 1/2 hours.
  • There will be just enough liquid in the pot so it is frothy– if necessary turn up the heat to reduce the liquid.
  • Stir in the rosemary and butter, and season to taste before serving.
  • Reviews

  • “I made mine in my crock pot and used dried rosemary…deee-licious. Thanks, Gay!”

  • “I used Canadian bacon and left out the butter so as to make this okay for the South Beach Diet.Very simple but very tasty dish.Fresh rosemary in beans is something I never would have done.I will from now on.Thanks Gay.”

  • “My husband really loved the beans.You can also use the quick soak method instead of soaking the beans overnight.Place the beans in a pot, cover with two inches of water.Bring to a boil.Boil for 2 minutes.Cover and let stand for one hour.Great recipe, great flavors.I was looking for a new way to cook beans and this was it!Thanks!”

  • “This is a well written and easy to follow recipe.The changes I made were: I used the fast soak method, I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and I did not add the butter. Thanks Gay for a delicious new recipe! “

  • “I, too drained the bacon fat before sauteing the onion.I used the crockpot and didn’t need all the liquid since it doesn’t evaporate away as it would on the stovetop, probably half the amount called for.It cooked for about 5 hours in order to soften.We enjoyed the flavor.”

  • “Wow was this good!!I’ve had this recipe in my cookbook forever, and am I glad I finally tried it.Simple, delicious and actually elegant.I think this dish would compliment any roast meat.I served it with ham.I made it in my crock-pot also, and reduced the liquid from 8 cups to 6.I cooked it on high for about 6 hrs.I also omitted the butter, anddrained the bacon fat, since I’m trying to reduce the fat in our diets.I suppose turkey bacon would be a good alternative.Thanks for a really different side-dish.”

  • “I’m rereviewing this recipe. It has become one that I make over and over again. This recipe takes something that is a very simple dish and dresses it up into a special one. However, it does not take much effort to change ordinary white beans into this dish. After much thought, I have to change my review to five stars!”

  • “Excellent beans and so easy which I love.I followed the recipe with the exception of using 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary.Thank you for the recipe.”

  • “We are trying to reduce animal products a little and increase beans and legumes a lot.It isn’t always exciting. :)This recipe is a wonderful treatment of the beans and as you say…’how can something so simple taste so good?’I got lazy and used canned beans and of course reduced the time accordingly.They ended up softer than I would have liked but that was entirely my fault.The taste was there but next time I will go the dry beans route.Thanks for sharing!”

  • “I got Tom Douglas’s book after eating at his restaurants a couple of times,and I’ve made this more often than anything else in the book.It’s easy, yummy, and works with whatever herbs you have on hand. I skip the water when I make it, and just use chicken stock, so I don’t have to drain any of the flavor away at the end.”

  • “Wow. Incredibly simple. Indescribably good. Why aren’t more recipes like this?!Like some of the other readers I had to pour off some of the cooking water and will adjust next time. This is a real keeper. I will be making this often. Thank you, Gay.”

  • “We’ve served this a couple of times now, and both times, it’s been consistently delicious!There seemed to be a bit too much liquid (more like a soup than a bean dish), but we can easily adjust the amount of water.It’s still delightful, and is definitely in our list of repeat recipes!”

  • “I have used this recipe for years and years… never had anyone say less than, “These are the best white beans I have ever put into my mouth”… thanks for sharing it.”

  • “These were fabulous! Though I did cheat and used 2 15.5oz.cans of cannellini beans ( but only because our Colorado house is at 10,00 ft. and the dried beans would NEVER get done up there! 🙂 ). I used a 14.5 oz.can of chicken broth and followed the rest of the recipe. I served these with recipe #135923 for a truely delicious meal. Thanks for posting this,Gay.”

  • “A definite 5 star recipe, a wonderful, flavourful way to make beans! I followed the recipe exactly but ended up with way too much liquid when the beans were done, so I ladled about 3 cups out which I will freeze to use in another recipe. Next time I think I will use just one cup of water. We loved the flavour of the rosemary, I have a plant I am wintering indoors so I used fresh.We had some for supper with recipe #166050, a very tasty supper.Thanks for posting, I will be making them again.”

  • “These were yummy. I cooked the rosemary with the beans for the last 30 minutes. Do make sure you allow them plenty of time – the beans need to be really soft. Will make again.”

  • “I have made these twice now, for my white bean loving Southern gentleman. he loved them, suprisingly so did my very picky teenage daughter. Thanks for sharing this recipe.”

  • “The beans were simple to prepare and delicious. We grow rosemary in our backyard so it had an immediate appeal. My wife claims she hates white beans but found these acceptable. She says the rosemary is what made it for her. Thanks”

  • “A delicious way to prepare beans. I followed the recipe as written, and the beans went wonderfully with our roast pork loin. Thanks for sharing the recipe! “

  • “I agree, this is the best bean dish, ever!!!When I made it I put in whole sprigs of rosemary instead of chopped.Sometimes the rosemary loses it color when cooking.This way I take out the whole sprigs when it is finished and I still have all the taste.I served this with roasted halibut. Yum!!Thanks!”

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