Creamy Lemon-Garlic Butter Beans

My weeknight comfort food bracket is already pretty stacked (looking at you, sticky sesame chickpeas!), but this creamy butter bean skillet is a serious contender. Swimming in a luscious lemon-garlic sauce flecked with spinach, these butter beans will be a hit at your dinner table any day of the week.

The sauce:
The base of this creamy sauce is actually a combination of water and liquid from the bean cans, with just a touch of cream to round it out. When draining the beans, you may find some broken or mashed bean bits in the bottom of the can: Make sure to include these in the sauce along with the whole beans, since they’ll also help to naturally thicken that sauce. If the sauce seems to be getting too thick (especially after adding the spinach), just add in 1 to 2 Tbsp. water to loosen it up again.

The magic of this sauce’s flavor lies in the balance of two powerhouse flavors: lemon and garlic. In testing, I found that 6 cloves of garlic were just right to stand up to the punchiness of the lemon. If you’re not a fan of strong lemon flavors in your sauces or are concerned that it might be too tangy for you, I recommend starting with only 1 Tbsp. lemon juice (in addition to the zest) and adding the remaining lemon juice to taste.

Storage:
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. To reheat, add 1 tsp. water to the beans before microwaving or reheating over low heat on the stove.

Made this recipe? Let me know how it went in the comments below!