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Tomato butter beans with toast with toasted seeds
youryum.com/recipes/tomato-butter-beans-with-toast-with-toasted-seeds · serves 4

Sweet tomatoes with a savoury seed crunch

Toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds add a dry, nutty crunch to the soft tomato beans and crisp sourdough.

  • Vegetarian
  • high-fiber
Maren Ashby in her kitchen, in a dark apron, looking away from the camera
By Maren Ashby · Writes and tests everything here
Published 28 August 2026
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Tomato butter beans with sourdough toast and toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds
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Prep
10 min
Cook
25 min
Total
35 min
Serves
4
Per serving
532kcal
Effort
Easy

Seeds give this dinner the texture it needs without making the bean sauce heavier. Pumpkin seeds puff and crackle in the pan, sesame seeds toast quickly, and cumin makes the whole topping smell like something you meant to cook rather than something you sprinkled on at the last second.

Make the finish first; the final texture depends on it staying distinct.

Toast the seeds before starting the beans, then tip them onto a plate. If they stay in the hot pan, the sesame will burn while you are still chopping the onion. Let them cool so they stay crisp.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

Tomato beans

Toast

Toasted seeds

Equipment

  • Wide saucepan
  • Small frying pan
  • Toaster or grill

Method

  1. Start the tomato base

    Warm the olive oil in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt, then cook for six to eight minutes until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic for one minute. Add the tomato paste and paprika and fry for 45 seconds, stirring constantly. It should darken slightly and smell sweet rather than raw.

    Let the sauce settle before you taste and adjust the salt.

  2. Simmer the beans

    Add the chopped tomatoes, butter beans and stock. Bring to a steady simmer, then cook uncovered for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes. The sauce should coat the beans and leave a slow trail when you drag the spoon across the pan. If it is still watery, give it another five minutes before seasoning.

    Do not let the pan boil hard. Butter beans have thin skins, and a rough bubble breaks them against the base of the saucepan. A quiet simmer leaves some whole and lets the sauce thicken around them. Stir from the outside towards the middle, where the heat is strongest, and scrape the tomato paste off the bottom before it catches.

    Hands stirring tomato beans in a wide saucepan before finishing

  3. Toast the bread

    While the beans simmer, toast the sourdough until the cut sides are deeply golden. Brush with olive oil while hot. Do not rush this part: pale bread goes soft as soon as the sauce touches it, while a proper crust stays crisp long enough for the first few bites.

    The bread should crackle before the sauce touches it, then soften slowly.

  4. Finish with the special topping

    Put the pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and cumin in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Shake often for three to four minutes, until the pumpkin seeds begin to pop and the sesame smells nutty. Tip onto a plate at once and add a pinch of salt.

  5. Serve while the textures are clear

    Spoon the tomato beans into warm bowls or onto a wide platter. Add the toast at the side and finish with the prepared topping described above. Serve straight away. The sauce should be thick enough to hold a bean on the toast without running across the plate.

Butter beans tomatoes toast and toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds arranged for cooking
Set out the beans, tomatoes, bread and finishing ingredients before the pan gets hot.

Why the toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds belongs at the end

Seeds continue cooking after the pan leaves the hob. That is why the plate matters. A hot pan can take a pale sesame seed to bitter in the time it takes to pour the beans into bowls.

Keep the topping coarse. Crushing it into a powder makes the sauce feel gritty and loses the contrast. Sprinkle it over the beans and toast just before eating so the oil from the seeds does not soften the bread.

Nutrition

Per serving, for 4 servings. Estimated from ingredient weights — it moves with the brands and cuts you actually use.

NutrientPer serving
Calories 532 kcal
Protein 20 g
Carbohydrate 71 g
Fibre 15 g
Fat 16 g

Source: Estimated from ingredient weights, USDA FoodData Central

Questions

Can I use sunflower seeds?
Yes. They toast a little faster than pumpkin seeds, so start checking after two minutes.
Can I make the seed topping ahead?
Toast it up to three days ahead and keep it sealed at room temperature. Add the salt after toasting.
What if the seeds do not pop?
Keep the heat medium and give them another minute. Small seeds may toast without popping; smell is a better guide than sound.

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