This Gordon Ramsay butter bean salad mixes tinned butter beans with crispy fried pitta, radishes, cucumber, tomatoes, pomegranate seeds and handfuls of fresh mint and parsley, all dressed with sumac and lemon. It takes about 10 minutes and is closer to a Lebanese fattoush than anything you would normally call a bean salad.
In Ultimate Home Cooking, Ramsay says the trick to making teenagers eat salad is “packing it full of carbohydrates.” The crispy pitta and butter beans together give enough substance for a lunch, not just a side. He pairs it with pomegranate molasses spatchcock quail.
The sumac is the ingredient most people skip, and it is the one that makes the whole thing work. It adds a fruity, citrusy sourness that lemon juice alone cannot replicate. A tablespoon sounds like a lot, but it disappears into the salad and ties everything together without tasting of any single spice.
Gordon Ramsay Butter Bean Salad
Course: Salads, Sides4
servings10
minutes5
minutes15
minutesFrom Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Home Cooking, this Lebanese-inspired butter bean salad combines crispy fried pitta bread, fresh herbs, pomegranate seeds and sumac with a simple lemon dressing. A 10-minute salad with real substance.
Ingredients
2 large pitta breads
Olive oil
1 x 400g tin butter beans, drained
200g (7 oz) radishes, trimmed and halved
2 to 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
1 cucumber, deseeded and sliced
4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
4 celery sticks, finely sliced
Small bunch of mint, leaves finely chopped
Bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
Seeds from 1 pomegranate
1 tbsp ground sumac
Juice of 1 lemon and zest of half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Fry the pitta: Slice the pitta breads into strips, then cut across to make 2cm squares. Heat a glug of olive oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over medium heat and fry the squares in a single layer (in batches if needed) until dark golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and season with salt.
- Mix the salad: Put the butter beans, radishes, spring onions, cucumber, tomatoes, celery, mint, parsley, pomegranate seeds, sumac, lemon juice and zest into a large serving bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Toss and serve: Add the crispy pitta squares, toss everything together and serve immediately. The pitta softens quickly, so do not dress the salad until you are ready to eat.
FAQs
How does this compare to Ottolenghi’s butter bean dishes?
Ottolenghi pan-fries butter beans until crispy brown and tops them with feta, sorrel and sumac. His approach treats the beans as the crispy element. Ramsay does the opposite: the beans stay soft and creamy, and the fried pitta provides all the crunch. Both use sumac, but Ramsay’s version is a proper composed salad while Ottolenghi’s is more of a warm side dish.
Where do you buy sumac in the UK?
Most large supermarkets stock ground sumac in the spice aisle now, usually near the za’atar and ras el hanout. Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco all carry it. If yours does not, Middle Eastern grocers sell it cheaply in larger bags. A tablespoon per salad means a single jar lasts months. There is no real substitute: lemon zest is the closest but misses the fruity depth.
Can you use chickpeas instead of butter beans?
Yes, and it pushes the salad closer to a traditional fattoush. Chickpeas are firmer and nuttier, so they hold up better if the salad sits for a while. Butter beans are creamier and softer, which Ramsay chooses deliberately because they contrast with the crispy pitta. Cannellini beans also work if that is what you have in the cupboard.
What should you serve butter bean salad with?
Ramsay pairs it with his pomegranate molasses spatchcock quail from the same book. It also works alongside grilled lamb koftas, barbecued chicken, or shawarma. For a salad spread with Middle Eastern flavours, serve it with his caprese salad and some flatbread for a lighter lunch that covers three different textures.
How do you get the pomegranate seeds out?
Cut the pomegranate in half across the middle, not through the stem. Hold each half cut-side down over a bowl and whack the back firmly with a wooden spoon. The seeds fall out in seconds. Pick out any white pith that drops in. One medium pomegranate gives you more seeds than you need for this salad, so scatter the rest over yoghurt or porridge the next morning.
Does butter bean salad keep well?
The salad base without pitta keeps overnight in the fridge and the flavours actually improve as the sumac and lemon soak in. But the pitta must be fried fresh each time because it goes soft within an hour of being added. Store the base and pitta separately, then combine just before serving. This makes it a good option for packed lunches if you keep the pitta in a separate container. For more quick salads from his cookbooks, browse the full guide.
