Beans and Greens Alla Vodka Recipe (2024)

If you infuse the red pepper flakes in the vodka for five minutes before using, you will get a more intense (yet not hotter) pepper flavour. Take a small sip beforehand to see exactly what I mean. (Chemically, you are allowing the alcohol to extract esters and capsaicin from the pepper before it evaporates over the burner.)

To make it vegan, substitute cashew cream for the heavy cream. To make your own, barely cover raw cashews in warm water for 30 minutes, then blend.

Evaporated milk. You could also mash some beans to thicken. My mom likes to puree an extra can of beans in the blender and add that instead of adding milk or cream. She does this for many sauces/soups. Delish and bonus: healthy.

My husband isn’t big on beans — or greens— but he loved this. I used chard. Added the diced stems with the tomato paste. Excellent!

ATK suggests finely cutting kale and rinsing it in warm water then dry in salad spinner. The cutting of the kale is what releases the bitter enymes/chemicals that people don't like. It really works and now I enjoy all the salads I never cared for before!

We made ours with spinach and it was amazing. I’m not a kale fan. It’s too bitter and firm for me. I find this recipe to be great as written. Just be sure to taste and salt as you go. My husband loved it.

Seriously, add chunks of salmon. The combination of ingredients given here- but no kale (so done with that…long ago), chopped spinach instead- with salmon make a fabulously hearty dish I’ve enjoyed for years.

I make my vodka sauce with coconut cream and it’s delicious. No heavy coconut taste and the sauce is nice and creamy without the dairy. Excited to make this!

Perhaps some crispy pancetta...yum.

This is so darn good. I love it exactly as written or riffed upon. Sometimes I add a bit of crumbled fennel sausage. It goes beautifully with the kale. Endless combos of legumes and veggies work. A favorite is chickpeas, cauliflower, lemon zest and pine nuts with a bit of oregano. I once made it with black beans, sliced red peppers and tequila instead of vodka. Threw in some shrimp for the final three minutes, finished with queso fresco and a squirt of lime and it was divine.

I'm with you on the chard stems; I added mine with the onion, like I do when I make a veggie scramble. It's such a waste to throw them away.

These are delicious! I used Rancho Gordo cassoulet beans and spinach for the greens. I made a vegan version with cashew cream and nutritional yeast. The sauce is lovely--rich and creamy! Will definitely make this again.

Cashew cream, or for extra richness, macadamia nut cream. (Or really any nuts you love.) Soak raw unsalted nuts in water and add to blender with a little water. Blend on slow until nuts are broken down, adding water as needed to maintain liquid consistency. Increase speed when mostly liquid to make the cream extra smooth.

Vegan or not, I think using cashew cream is even more delicious in a recipe like this.

Absolutely delicious! And so easy! Used chard and canned garbanzo beans. Only change made was to add a sprinkle of rosemary. Loved it!

Half the pepper flakes

Absolutely loved this. I don’t think we’ll go back to the pasta version. I used cooked, jarred beans (including the stock) and threw in a Parmesan rind for a little added depth. Toasted sourdough for mopping up the sauce essential!

Super easy and delicious. I cooked up a couple of slices of bacon and threw in the pot and used a bit of half & half with sour cream instead of heavy cream.

I made this exactly as written. It is wonderful.

A simple yet wonderful vegetarian dish. I'm sure it can be easily adapted based on what you might have on hand but ot is delicious as is

OK. I added some cubes of roasted butternut squash. As I was cleaning up, I just saw that I should have served it with Parmesan cheese. So I sprinkled some on a small left over portion, and it made all the difference, just about 4-star worthy. We also used spinach and arugula instead of kale.

This dish is positively delicious! I've made it multiple times and it never ceases to satisfy me. All you need is a crisp salad, some crusty bread and a few glasses of wine. It's filling and light at the same time.

This is nice, quick and simple.I used a can of butter beans and a can of cannellini beans. And a packet of frozen spinach, not a fan of kale either. Maybe the spinach ruined it but was still niceIt’s not something I will necessarily crave but as a quick throw together when you already have the things in your pantry well worth eating.

Loved this recipe. I recommend adding (at least) 2 tablespoons of oregano.

Delicious! Cooked my own beans from dried in chicken broth, bay leaf, Italian seasoning. Used all the beans and their liquid. I didn’t have vodka so just omitted it. Even with all these changes it was perfect. This was a meal prep recipe for me and my diabetic mom, we will eat it for lunch all week. Relatively low glycemic index for all of this. Yum!

This is soo good, cheap and healthy. I add one 19 oz can for better proportions. 2 is excessive.

So easy to make, so delicious, the coziest one pot meal - perfect for a cold and rainy night

Added chili flakes (Aleppo and Korean) to vodka to soak. Used butter beans and cannelloni beansUsed cashew cream for heavy cream. Serve with sourdough

I garnished with some homemade sourdough croutons and served over roasted spaghetti squash. Delicious!

A new winter staple for us! I made a double batch pretty much as directed, but with a combination of white navys and garbanzos, and, because I'm in MN and it's about -20º, the only kale I could find, a big bag of chopped green kale recommended for juicing. Good news, it's great with that kale and of course the sauce is pure magic. I'll try the recommendation of infusing the pepper flakes in the vodka next time. And hopefully some swiss chard!