Air fryer crispy butter beans with garlicky greens
Butter beans air-fried until crisp outside and creamy inside, piled over lemony garlic spinach and showered with parmesan, a high-protein dinner for two in 25 minutes.
- 25 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $4.11 a serving
- 640 calories
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 2 cans butter beans, drained, rinsed and patted very dry
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 package baby spinach
- 1 lemon, halved
- ½ cup grated parmesan
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 640 calories, 30 g protein, 69 g carbs and 29 g fat, and costs about $4.11 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the beans with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the garlic powder, smoked paprika and ½ teaspoon salt.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Dolly’s tip: The drier the beans, the crisper they get. Pat them well.Air fry at 400°F for 15 to 18 minutes, shaking the basket every 5 minutes, until and on the outside.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Timer: 16 min
Dolly’s tip: A few may split open. Those are the crunchiest ones.Meanwhile, heat the rest of the oil in a large over medium heat. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook 1 minute, until the garlic is pale .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heat
Add the spinach a handful at a time with of salt, stirring until it all , about 3 minutes. Squeeze in half the lemon.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Divide the greens between two plates and pile the beans on top.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
or sprinkle the parmesan over everything, add some black pepper, and serve with the rest of the lemon.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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