Gigantes plaki are what lands on a Greek table when someone says “beans”: large, creamy white beans that come out of the oven standing in a tomato sauce that is almost half olive oil. Not a stew, not a leftover side — a dish in its own right, eaten warm with bread and feta, and better on the second day than on the first.
The name is literal: gigantes means giants. The beans are about twice the size of normal white beans and keep their shape while cooking, turning floury and creamy inside. That is exactly what makes them right for this recipe — smaller varieties collapse into mush in the sauce.
Serves 6 as a main course, or as part of a meze table for 8. 20 minutes of work, soaking overnight, 1 hour of cooking, 70 minutes in the oven.
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 500 g | Dried giant beans (gigantes, also sold as Spanish giant beans or judión) |
| 1 | Bay leaf (for the cooking water) |
| 3 | Onions, halved and cut into strips |
| 2 | Carrots, sliced |
| 2 sticks | Celery, sliced |
| 5 | Garlic cloves, sliced |
| 800 g | Chopped tomatoes (tinned, good quality) |
| 2 tbsp | Tomato purée |
| 150 ml | Extra virgin olive oil |
| 1 tsp | Sugar |
| 1 tsp | Dried oregano |
| 1 bunch | Dill, chopped |
| 1 bunch | Flat-leaf parsley, chopped |
| ½ tsp | Bicarbonate of soda (in the soaking water, helps with older beans) |
| — | Salt, black pepper, optionally 1 dried chilli flake |
Soak the beans in plenty of cold water with ½ tsp of bicarbonate of soda for 12 hours. They double in volume, so use enough water. In a hurry: boil the beans hard for 5 minutes, turn off the heat and leave them standing in the hot water for 1 hour. It works, but the beans soften less evenly.
Pour off the soaking water, cover the beans with fresh water (about 5 cm above them), add the bay leaf and simmer gently for 35–45 minutes, until they can be crushed with a spoon but still have their skins intact. Skim off the foam now and then. Contrary to the old kitchen myth, salt in the cooking water is not a problem — acidity is, which is why the tomatoes only go in afterwards.
Important: judge the cooking time by the age of the beans. Beans from last year’s harvest need 15 minutes longer. If they are still hard after 50 minutes you have ended up with old beans — the only thing that helps is to keep cooking, and next time to buy from a shop with turnover.
Heat 100 ml of olive oil in a large roasting tin and sweat the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in it for 10–12 minutes, until the onions are translucent and slightly sweet. Stir in the tomato purée, fry it for 1 minute, then add the chopped tomatoes, sugar, oregano, chilli and half the herbs. Reduce uncovered for 10 minutes, season with salt and pepper.
Add the drained beans to the sauce and fold them in gently rather than stirring — otherwise the skins burst. If the sauce does not just cover the beans, top it up with the bean cooking water. Drizzle the remaining 50 ml of olive oil over the top. The oil floats on the surface and runs slowly into the beans as they bake; that is exactly how it should be.
Seal the roasting tin with foil or a lid and bake at 180 °C for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 40–45 minutes, until the sauce has reduced, the surface has taken on colour and the oil bubbles at the edge. If the sauce dries out too fast, add a splash of water — gigantes should be juicy, not dry.
Take it out of the oven, scatter the remaining herbs over it and leave it for 20 minutes. Serve warm, with dark bread and a piece of feta. Reheated the next day in a pan with a splash of water they are even better.
Gigantes plaki is a dish in which the oil is not fat but an ingredient. 150 ml for six portions sounds like a lot; some of it stays in the tin, some is taken up by the beans, and the rest forms the layer that keeps the tomato sauce from drying out in the oven. Less oil here does not mean lighter, it means drier.
In flavour terms this recipe needs an oil with body: the beans are mild, the tomatoes are acidic, and something has to stand between them and hold both together. A medium to robustly fruity oil with a stable pressing works here for over an hour of oven heat without going flat.
For this recipe we use the 1-litre bottle of Koroneiki — a dish that comes to the table regularly through the winter half of the year does not need a special bottling, it needs a bottle you can unscrew without thinking about it.
Four days in the fridge — they get better every day. Frozen in portions they keep for 3 months; on thawing the beans lose some bite, which barely shows in a sauce. Eaten cold they are a good meze component, but you should drizzle a little oil over them first.
In Greek and Turkish food shops, in well-stocked supermarkets in the international aisle, and online. Trade names: gigantes, Spanish giant beans, judión de la granja. Normal white beans work flavour-wise but fall apart more easily.
Usually the harvest year: beans that have sat on the shelf for two years never soften, however long you cook them. The second reason is acidity — tomatoes or lemon may only go in once the beans are done. Bicarbonate of soda in the soaking water helps with old beans.
Yes, if you are using dried beans — 12 hours, at least 8. The quick method (5 minutes boiling, 1 hour standing) is a compromise you can taste: the beans go soft on the outside and stay slightly grainy inside.
Both are right. Traditionally they come to the table without cheese, with feta served alongside. As a main course, the feta crust is the more filling version.
500 g of dried beans come to about 1.1 kg after soaking. For six people as a main course that is generous; as a meze component it serves eight to ten.
