Gigantes Plaki Recipe (Greek Giant Beans Baked)

This gigantes plaki recipe is a comforting and traditional dish, where Greek giant beans are mixed with a rich tomato sauce, topped with fresh herbs and extra virgin olive oil, then baked to golden, crispy perfection! It’s a beautiful vegetarian dish that goes perfectly with a few slices of crusty bread!

If you're looking for other vegetarian or vegan Greek recipes, check out my Greek bean soup recipe, known as fasolada, or my hearty Greek lentil soup, called fakes.

Or, if you're in the mood for seafood, try my Greek shrimp with orzo recipe known as garides youvetsi, or my stuffed calamari recipe for a beautiful seafood dish in a light tomato sauce.

Jump to:

• Why you will love this recipe
• Overview of the key steps
• Watch the short video tutorial
• Ingredients
• Preparation
• Step-by-step Instructions
• Top Tips
• Serving suggestions
• 📖 Recipe

Why you will love this recipe

• Creamy, Buttery Beans: Use your favourite giant white beans and watch them become perfectly soft and tender as they bake, turning beautifully buttery. They soak up all the flavours from the sauce, making every bite melt in your mouth.
• Rich Tomato Sauce: What really elevates these Greek gigantes is the delicious sauce that’s thick, hearty, and packed with so much flavour! It’s warm, comforting, and perfect for mopping up with crusty bread.
• Vegetarian and Vegan Friendly: This is a naturally vegetarian recipe, and if you leave out the feta cheese, it’s completely vegan too. Great for Lent and Meatless Mondays, just like my fasolakia recipe! Or anyone wanting to enjoy a hearty main dish while skipping the meat.

Overview of the key steps

1. Soak and Boil the Beans: Soak the gigantes overnight (or the largest white beans you can find), then simmer them until tender but still holding their shape.
2. Make the Tomato-Based Sauce: Sauté onions, garlic, and veggies, then stir through tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and herbs to create a thick, rich tomato sauce.
3. Assemble and Bake: Add everything to a baking dish, add your parsley, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and bake until golden, crispy, and bubbling with flavour.

Watch the short video tutorial

Want to see exactly how it’s done? Watch my step-by-step video on how to make this delicious Greek dish from start to finish!

If you haven't already, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you never miss any of my new dishes.

Ingredients

Let’s take a closer look at what makes this classic Greek recipe so special! And as always, check the recipe card below for all the exact quantities!

Beans

• Greek giant beans: If you can find actual Greek gigantes beans locally in-store or online, that's great! But if not, just go for the largest white beans you can find. Ideally, use a dried option, but you can swap for canned beans to save time and skip the soaking and boiling steps.
• Substitutes: Where I am, I buy large lima beans from my local supermarket. If you can't find them, look for labels such as large/giant butter beans, or sometimes even elephant beans.

Sauce

• Extra virgin olive oil: We need a good amount here to sauté all the veggies and give the dish the best flavour.
• Red onion and brown onion: I like to use one of each for variety. If you prefer a sweeter flavour, just use two red onions instead. And don’t dice them too small, as leaving them a bit chunky gives the dish better texture and bite!
• Garlic cloves: No proper Greek comfort food is complete without garlic! I personally like it a little heavy, but feel free to scale it back if you want.
• Carrots and celery: Staples in gigantes plaki, and these add extra texture and subtle sweetness to the sauce.
• Tomato paste and crushed tomatoes: These come together to create that thick, rich tomato sauce we all love.
• Dried oregano, bay leaf, and cinnamon stick: These classic Greek touches add warmth and earthiness, making the sauce feel just like Yiayia made it!
• Vegetable stock: Go for a good quality stock to give the sauce that extra savoury depth and richness.
• Salt and black pepper: Simple but essential. These bring all the flavours together.

Baking and garnish

• Fresh parsley: This brightens up the whole dish and adds a fresh, herby finish that pops on top of the rich tomato sauce.
• Little more olive oil: Before baking, we add a generous drizzle of olive oil to boost the flavour and help everything turn golden and crisp.
• Crumbled Greek feta cheese (optional): For serving! The salty, creamy flavour pairs perfectly with the buttery beans and chunky tomato sauce.

Preparation

Before getting started, here’s what I recommend having organised:

• Soak the beans ahead of time: As they need around half a day to soak, do this the night before you start. That way, you speed up the process and can get straight into boiling and cooking.
• Chop your veggies: Coarsely dice your onions and garlic cloves, then slice the carrots, celery sticks, and chilli (if you're adding the heat like I do). That way, when it’s time to make the sauce, you’re just throwing everything straight in.
• Chop your parsley: Roughly chop your bunch of fresh parsley and set some aside to use as a garnish when serving.
• Oven-safe dish: I use a baking dish roughly 34cm x 23cm, but you can also use a casserole dish or a Dutch oven if you prefer. Just make sure it’s large enough to hold everything comfortably when you're at the baking stage.

Step-by-step Instructions

​Follow these simple instructions using the images with their corresponding step! If you get stuck, please watch my video for more help to bring this beautiful recipe to life!

Prepare the beans

1. Start by soaking the beans in a large bowl with plenty of water for 12 hours or overnight. During this time, the beans will absorb the water and expand in size, which softens them up and helps them cook evenly.
2. Drain and rinse the beans, then transfer them to a large saucepan. Cover the beans with fresh water, place over high heat, and bring them to a boil.
3. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover, and let them gently simmer until they are tender but still holding their shape, as they’ll continue cooking in the oven. Make sure to check them a few times while simmering, as depending on the type of bean, this can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes.
4. When ready, drain the beans and transfer them into a large baking dish, casserole dish, or Dutch oven, ready for assembly.

Cook the sauce

1. Begin by heating your olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
2. Add the chopped onions, garlic, and chilli (if you're using it). Sauté everything together, stirring occasionally, until the onions have softened and turned translucent.
3. Stir in the carrots, celery, and tomato paste, cooking for another 2 minutes. This gives the veggies time to soften slightly and allows the tomato paste to caramelise, bringing out its natural sweetness.
4. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, sprinkle over the oregano, salt, and black pepper, and give it all a good mix.
5. Add the vegetable stock, then drop in the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Stir everything together, bring it to a gentle simmer, and let the sauce cook for a few minutes. This helps the flavours come together and makes the sauce rich and hearty.

Assemble and bake

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C (fan forced) / 355°F.
2. Scatter ¾ of the chopped parsley over the beans in your baking dish, and then drizzle evenly with your olive oil.
3. Pour the tomato sauce mixture over the beans and gently stir everything together so the beans are fully coated in that rich, delicious sauce.
4. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour. Then remove the foil and continue baking for another 30 minutes, until the top is golden and slightly crispy.
5. Take out the bay leaves and cinnamon stick, then garnish with the remaining fresh parsley.
6. If you’d like, add some beautiful crumbled feta cheese over the finished dish before serving.

Top Tips

• Don’t overboil the beans: You want them tender but still holding their shape. If they cook for too long, they’ll turn mushy, and no one wants that! Cooking time can vary depending on the beans, so check them a few times as they go.
• Use what you have: This recipe is super flexible! If you’ve got spring onions lying around, swap them in for one of the onions. Got some capsicum (or bell peppers) that need using up? Dice them up and throw them into the sauce for extra flavour and colour.

Serving suggestions

To finish off this classic Greek dish, all you need is the following, and you’ve got yourself a feast!

• Crusty bread: This is a must with gigantes, in my opinion! I recommend using my easy bread recipe and having it cooking in the oven before you put the beans inside. There’s nothing better than tearing into fresh bread and soaking up that rich tomato sauce.
• Greek salad: Keep things simple with a traditional Greek salad that is just so refreshing! The crispy vegetables pair perfectly with the soft and buttery beans.

📖 Recipe