Creamy Mustard Butter Beans With Smoked Ham Hock
These creamy mustard butter beans pack a serious kick of flavour & are full of tender chunks of ham hock & plenty of rich, buttery beans.
These creamy butter beans are hard to beat! They’re rich, buttery & packed full of flavour. Oh and they’re incredibly easy to make. What’s not to like?
To make this tasty side dish, we’re making a punchy mustard sauce with onions, garlic, creme fraiche, wholegrain mustard, stock & lemon juice then stirring through loads of butter beans, chunks of smoked ham hock & a good handful of spinach.
Creamy mustard butter beans go great with loads of different dishes, including roast chicken, grilled lamb chops & pan fried fish. Pretty much anything really. Though they’re especially good when served on a thick slice of buttered sourdough toast!
For more side dishes to try, take a look at our collection of sides! There’s lots to choose from here, from triple cooked chips, cheesy cornbread, mozzarella sticks, homemade slaw & loads more.
What You’ll Need
- Butter Beans – You’ll need 400 grams of drained (cooked) butter beans for this recipe. I used a jar of Bold Bean butter beans but any brand will work (make sure to check the drained weight on the tin!).
- Smoked Ham Hocks – I used my smoked ham hocks for these beans but unsmoked ones will work just as well. If you don’t fancy cooking your own ham hocks, you can buy cooked ham hocks from some supermarkets & butchers.
- Butter – A chunk of butter adds flavour & richness to these beans. Either salted or unsalted butter will work.
- Onions & Garlic – You’ll need a white onion for these beans, plus pretty much however much garlic you like! I used 3 cloves of garlic but feel free to use more if you’d like your beans to be extra garlicky.
- Stock – I used the “bean stock” that came with the jar of Bold Bean butter beans, which is the salted water that the beans were cooked in. Chicken or veg stock will also work though.
- Creme Fraiche – We’re using full fat creme fraiche in our sauce, for the richest flavour.
- Mustard – You’ll need wholegrain mustard for the sauce. I added 2 teaspoons into mine but feel free to add more into your sauce if you like.
- Lemon Juice – We’re adding a splash of lemon juice into the sauce, to cut through the richness of the creme fraiche & the saltiness from the ham hocks.
- Spinach – Stirring spinach through the beans gives them colour & a touch of sweetness. Make sure to cook the spinach until it is just wilted!
- Chopped Parsley – This adds colour to our beans!
How To Make Creamy Mustard Butter Beans
The full, printable recipe card for these creamy butter beans can be found at the bottom of this post! Here’s a quick rundown of the recipe…
- Veg Prep
To start, we need to finely dice a white onion & grate some fresh garlic. You’ll also need to drain your butter beans (keep the stock!) & finely chop some fresh parsley, which we’ll be using to finish the sauce. - Saute Onion
Next, we set a large pan over a medium heat, add in a splash of veg oil then once hot, we add in the diced onion with a pinch of salt then cook for 5-10 minutes, until soft. - Make Sauce
To make the sauce, we add butter & the grated garlic to the onions, cook for a minute then stir in creme fraiche, stock, lemon juice & wholegrain mustard. We then let the sauce cook for 2-3 minutes, to thicken slightly. - Add Beans & Ham Hock
Next, we add drained butter beans & pulled ham hock to the sauce then warm through over a low heat, for a few minutes. - Season
Now we need to season the sauce. As ham hocks tend to be fairly salty, the sauce won’t need much salt. Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper is needed though! - To Finish
To finish, we stir in spinach & chopped parsley then serve immediately once the spinach has wilted.
Serving Suggestions
These creamy butter beans are great eaten as they are, however they make a fantastic side to grilled lamb or pork chops, pan fried fish (especially salmon!) & roast chicken. You can even serve them on toast! I served mine with my pan roasted chicken thighs.
More Side Dish Recipes To Try!
- Dauphinoise Potatoes
- Caramelised Onion Gravy
- Pizza Oven Garlic Bread With Burrata
- Rice Krispie Fried Mozzarella Sticks With Hot Honey
- Cheesy Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread
- Tangy Apple Slaw
- Beer Battered Onion Rings With Buttermilk Ranch
If you have enjoyed this recipe for creamy butter beans, it would mean a lot if you could leave a review & rating. And if you’d like to stay up to date with future recipes, follow us on Instagram & TikTok!
Creamy Mustard Butter Beans With Smoked Ham Hock
Equipment
- Large Saucepan
- Microplane/Grater
- Juicer
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 White Onion (Finely Diced)
- 20 g Butter
- 3 Garlic Cloves (Grated)
- 150 ml Stock (See Notes)
- 250 g Creme Fraiche
- 2 tsp Wholegrain Mustard
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 400 g Drained Butter Beans (See Notes)
- 300 g Smoked Ham Hock (See Notes)
- 100 g Spinach
- 1 tbsp Finely Chopped Parsley
Instructions
- Set a large saucepan over a medium heat, add in the veg oil then leave to warm up for a minute or so.
- Add the diced onion into the pan with a pinch of salt then cook for 5-10 minutes, until soft. Make sure to stir the onions frequently!
- Next, add the butter & garlic into the onions, cook for another minute then stir in the stock, creme fraiche, mustard & lemon juice. Let this cook for 2-3 minutes, to thicken slightly.
- Add the butter beans & ham hock into the sauce then stir, to incorporate. Reduce the heat to low then cook for another couple of minutes, to warm through.
- Give the sauce a taste to check the seasoning, adding salt & pepper as needed then stir in the spinach & chopped parsley. As soon as the spinach has wilted, spoon the beans into bowls then serve immediately. Ham hocks tend to be fairly salty, so keep that in mind when seasoning the sauce.
