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Dips are always a good thing to eat, isn’t it? This Butter Bean Zucchini and Eggplant Dip recipe is everything I love in a recipe: healthy, delicious, and easy! You can eat them with carrots, cucumbers, crackers, tortilla bread, naan bread..so many possibilities! And of course, it is homemade and a lot healthier than the store-bought ones – no weird stuff inside it!
One of my favorite dips to take as a snack is Classic Hummus and some varieties of it, such as the Hummus with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Basil. It is a simple dish, which has as star ingredients chickpeas (or garbanzo beans) and tahini.
So, I was thinking what if instead of chickpeas, we had a different bean and added some veggies on it? Butter beans or lima beans, just like chickpeas, are very mild in taste and they have a nice texture, so I chose them to be my base. And I really like zucchini and eggplant, as they go well with almost everything. These 2 with rosemary add a Mediterranean taste to dishes.
So why not add them to the dip and make a Mediterranean-tasting dip? Could this possibly work and be tasty? And my friends, the answer is yes, it tastes amazing!
I really encourage you to give it a try, especially if you like zucchini and eggplant.
Butter Bean Zucchini and Eggplant Dip Recipe Ingredients
A little bit about the ingredients I used for this recipe. The exact measurements are described in the recipe form below.
Butter bean: This is the base of the recipe. For this recipe, I used the canned ones, but of course, you can make yours from scratch. You can use a different type of bean as well if you prefer, it should work just fine.
Zucchini: I used one big zucchini for this recipe.
Eggplant: I used one big eggplant for this recipe.
Garlic Clove: I used only one big garlic clove for this recipe. It helps with the seasoning.
Onion: I used one big yellow onion for this recipe. It helps with the seasoning.
Tahini: You need 100mL of tahini for this recipe, so choose a good one.
Olive Oil: I used only 1 tablespoon for the recipe and a bit more to drizzle on top of the dip once it was ready to garnish and add a bit of extra moisture.
Black Pepper: I just used a teaspoon for seasoning.
Rosemary: I used a tablespoon for this recipe, and also for seasoning. I used it during the veggies preparation but you can also add it later when we add all the ingredients to the food processor.
Salt: Just a little bit to enhance the flavor.
Baking soda: This one is needed for cooking the beans, to help them to be softer, just like we did for the hummus recipe. Only one teaspoon is needed.
How to make Butter Bean Zucchini and Eggplant Dip
This is a very simple and healthy recipe, although it requires a bit of cooking prior to adding it all to a food processor. But don’t worry, it’s not hard at all!
First, we are going to start with the bean preparation, since it has to boil for a while. If you are cooking yours from scratch, though, just make sure to cook them until they are very soft. If you are using canned ones, open the can, wash the beans, and cook them with the baking soda for about 20 minutes or until they are very soft.
In the meantime, while the beans are cooking, we will prepare the veggies. Cut the zucchini, eggplant, and onion into pieces and them to a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Add salt pepper and rosemary. The veggies should shrink to about half of their size, be very soft, and look a bit brown/golden.
Once the beans and the veggies cool down a bit, we will add them to the food processor. We will add tahini, olive oil and grate the garlic clove and add to it. We will blend it until it is very smooth, fluffy, and creamy.
And it’s done!
You can garnish as you prefer. I added a drizzle of olive oil and a tiny bit of chili flakes to add a bit of spice and color.
You can eat it with some carrots, cucumbers, crackers, tortilla bread…you name it! Or you can add it as a side dish if you prefer.
I hope you like it!
Homemade Butter Bean Zucchini and Eggplant Dip
Healthy and delicious homemade dip for you to enjoy with carrots, cucumbers, crackers, tortillas bread or simply as a side dish.
- 1 can (about 230g butter beans)
- 1 zucchini
- 1 eggplant
- 1 onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon rosemary
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 100 mL tahini
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Beans preparation
If your using canned beans, discard the liquid and wash the beans before boiling.
Boil the beans with the bicarbonate for about 20 minutes or until they are very soft.
Discard the water and let the beans cool down.
If you are cooking the beans from scratch, cook them until they are very soft.
Veggies preparation
Wash the zucchini and eggplant and cut them in pieces. Peel the onion and cut it in pieces.
In a fry pan add olive oil and fry the zucchini, eggplant and onion. Add salt, pepper and rosemary. Rosemary can be added in the dip preparation step instead, if you prefer.
Fry them until they shrink to half of their size and are darker in color. Let them cool down.
Dip preparation:
Add tahini, the beans and the veggies in a food processor. Grate the garlic clove and add it to the mixture. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Blend it until you obtain a creamy, fluffy and smooth cream.
Garnish as you prefer.
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