Gordon Ramsay’s butter bean salad is the herby one from Ultimate Home Cooking (2013). Canned butter beans go into a bowl with radishes, cucumber, tomatoes, celery, scallions, mint, parsley and pomegranate seeds. Then sumac, lemon and olive oil dress it, and squares of fried pita go in last. It takes about 15 minutes and serves 4.
He calls it Lebanese-inspired, and the beans and the pita are there for balance. In his words they “make a mellow counterpoint” to the sharp lemon, sumac and pomegranate, so every bite gets both soft and sharp.
Make it for a summer picnic or a barbecue next to grilled meats, the way the book suggests. Since the pita goes in at the very last moment, pack it separately and toss it through when you eat.
Gordon Ramsay’s Herby Butter Bean Salad with Crispy Pita
Course: SaladsCuisine: Middle EasternDifficulty: Easy4
10
minutes5
330
kcalGordon Ramsay’s butter bean salad recipe from Ultimate Home Cooking, with fried pita, radishes, pomegranate, mint and sumac. These amounts serve 4.
Ingredients
- For the salad:
2 large pita breads
olive oil
1 can (14 oz / 400 g) butter beans, drained
200 g (7 oz) radishes, trimmed and halved
2 to 4 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
1 cucumber, seeded and sliced
4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
4 celery stalks, finely sliced
small bunch of mint, leaves finely chopped
bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
seeds from 1 pomegranate
- For the dressing:
1 tablespoon ground sumac
juice of 1 lemon and zest of ½
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Pita: Slice the pita into strips, then cut across them to make squares about 2 cm (¾ inch). Heat a large heavy frying pan over medium heat and add a glug of oil. Fry the squares in a single layer, in batches if needed, until dark golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.
- Salad: Mix all the other ingredients in a large serving bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season to taste.
- Serve: Toss in the pita, mix it through and serve immediately.
Notes
- Calories are about 330 a serving, and the pita and the olive oil bring the most.
FAQs
What is sumac?
A deep red spice made from a dried, crushed berry, which he describes as “citrus-flavoured”. A tablespoon of it here works with the lemon to give the salad its sour edge.
It’s on his feta and watermelon salad from the same book too, which you’ll find on our watermelon salad page.
Can I use canned beans?
Yes, the recipe is built on them: one 400 g (14 oz) can of cooked butter beans, drained. In US stores they’re sold as butter beans or as large lima beans.
Why seed the cucumber?
The seeds hold most of the water. In his video for the prawn and cucumber salad he scrapes them out with a teaspoon so the salad doesn’t go soft as it sits.
That matters here, because the fried pita would soak up any water in the bowl.
How do I get the most juice from the lemon?
Roll it hard under your palm for a minute before you squeeze it. That’s his own tip, printed on the same page as this recipe, and it works for limes too.
Zaytouna Studio Team is the kitchen team behind Chef Ramsay Recipes. We cook Gordon Ramsay’s recipes from his cookbooks and videos in a home kitchen and write them up for yours, with US and metric measurements.