Red Pepper Harissa Butter Bean Dip

Name: Red Pepper Harissa Butter Bean Dip
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed; 1 large roasted red pepper (I used canned); 2 tbsp tahini; 2 tsp harissa paste (add less or more to taste); 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 tsp fresh lemon zest; 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice; 1 clove garlic, grated or minced; A small handful of parsley, stems removed; ¼-½ tsp fine sea salt; For serving: finely chopped parsley, harissa paste, ground sumac (optional)

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This Red Pepper Harissa Butter Bean Dip is spicy, flavorful, and so creamy! Serve it as an appetizer with toasted baguette, crackers, or crudités, or spread it on sourdough bread topped with a fried egg for breakfast! The dip is vegan, gluten-free, and so easy to make in just 10 minutes.

A white bowl with bright orange butter bean harissa dip garnished with chopped parsley, harissa paste, and sumac with a slice of toasted baguette scooping up the dip with more baguette slices around the bowl.

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Why You'll Love This Harissa Butter Bean Dip
Ingredients
Variations and Substitutions
Step-by-Step Instructions
Tips & Tricks!
Serving Suggestions
Storing
FAQs
Similar Dip Recipes
📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love This Harissa Butter Bean Dip

Packed with flavor - Rose harissa paste is the star of the show here. It adds a ton of flavor and just the right amount of heat! Roasted red pepper gives the dip its bright red color, and butter beans with tahini make it creamy without any dairy!

Quick and simple - The recipe has 9 simple ingredients, and you can have it ready in just 10 minutes! It's really just a matter of adding everything to a food processor and letting it do all the work! You can serve it right away or chill it in the fridge.

Vegan and gluten-free - I've made both a White Bean Dip and a Roasted Red Pepper Dip before, but I wanted to keep this one fully vegan. The dip is made creamy with just beans, tahini, and olive oil, and it's all it needs!

Ingredients

Butter beans - Butter beans, also called Lima beans, are rich, buttery, and creamy. They're bigger than cannellini and softer, so they're perfect for blending. I used canned beans because they make the dip super quick and easy. You can always cook your own beans if you prefer. Look for canned beans that only have water and sea salt, and/or kelp as the ingredients.
Roasted Red Pepper - I chose store-bought roasted peppers as well. Roasting your own peppers is really easy, but the jarred ones are just so convenient. Plus, they have a specific flavor that I really like in this dip! I buy mine by weight at a local market.
Harissa paste - My all-time favorite is this Belazu Rose Harissa Paste. It's a mix of paprika, red chili peppers, oil, garlic, salt, chilli, dried spices, rose petals, and lemon juice. It has a ton of flavor, it's spicy, but not too much. Every brand will be different, so I always recommend using less and then adding more to taste.
Tahini - A little bit of tahini makes the dip creamier and adds flavor. You could always swap it for sunflower seed butter if you can't eat sesame seeds. See below for other substitutes.
Extra virgin olive oil - A little bit of olive oil adds flavor and makes the dip extra luscious. You don't need much, so use a good-quality, flavorful olive oil.
Fresh parsley - A small handful of fresh parsley adds a ton of flavor. I highly recommend fresh herbs here, not dried parsley.
Lemon - You'll need both lemon juice and lemon zest for this recipe. I recommend using organic lemons for zesting whenever possible and freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor.
Garlic - One clove of garlic adds all the flavor you need! I recommend grating it to make sure it's really blended in. And don't worry, it won't taste like raw garlic unless you add too much, but Roasted Garlic or garlic powder are also an option if you prefer. If you roast the garlic, you'll need to add much more of it.
Sea salt - I always recommend either Himalayan pink salt or sea salt. This Vancouver Island fine sea salt is my go-to for all my recipes! I don't add any black pepper to this dip because the harissa already has enough spice.

Variations and Substitutions

Different white beans - If you don't have butter beans, you can use other white beans like navy beans, cannellini beans, or great northern beans.
Chickpeas - If you don't have any white beans, you can always use canned chickpeas instead! Just rinse and dry them and follow the rest of the recipe as it is written.
Sundried tomatoes - A great substitute for roasted red pepper are sundried tomatoes! I recommend the ones in a jar in oil, but you can use the dry ones too; you'll just have to soak them in hot water first for a few minutes.
Goat cheese - If you can't have tahini or you just want to make the dip extra creamy, you can add soft goat cheese or regular cream cheese to the food processor. It mellows the heat from the harissa a little bit and adds flavor. I did this with my Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip!

Step-by-Step Instructions

Add all the ingredients to a food processor.
Start by pulsing it and then blending until smooth. You may need to stop it a couple of times to scrape the sides with a spatula.
Add more harissa paste, salt, or lemon juice to taste if needed.
Serve garnished with finely chopped parsley, more harissa, and a little sumac if desired. Enjoy with toasted baguette, crackers, crudites, or on toasted bread.

A food processor with butter beans, red pepper, parsley, lemon zest, harissa, and tahini before and after blending.

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Tips & Tricks!

Harissa paste spice level can vary - Every brand has a slightly different flavor and spice level so I always recommend adding less harissa at first, blending, tasting the dip, and adding more if needed. It's always easier to add more, but you can't take it away!
The dip will thicken in the fridge - If you want the dip to be thicker, refrigerate it for 30-60 minutes before serving. That being said, I actually prefer it straight from the food processor, served at room temperature.

Serving Suggestions

As a dip - The best and easiest way to serve it is in a low bowl with a side of toasted baguette slices, crackers, chips, or crudites. I like to drizzle it with a little more of the harissa paste, olive oil, and sprinkle it with more fresh parsley and a little bit of ground sumac if you have it.
On toast - This dip also makes a delicious spread! Serve it for breakfast or lunch, spread on toasted sourdough bread, either on its own or with a fried egg on top. I also like to add the same garnishes I mentioned above, or some sliced avocado on the side.
Finger food - You can serve the dip spread on little crostinis (toasted baguette slices), or use it as a spread on finger sandwiches. It's delicious on focaccia!
In rice bowls or as a side - You can add it to rice bowls with grilled or roasted chicken, steak, or vegan protein, the same way you'd add hummus as a side!

Bright orange butter bean harissa dip garnished with chopped parsley, harissa paste, and sumac in a white bowl with a beige rim.

Storing

Store the dip in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. I don't recommend freezing it because the texture won't be the same after defrosting.

The dip will thicken slightly as it cools in the fridge.

FAQs

I made it too spicy. How do I fix it?

The best way to fix this is to double the rest of the ingredients and then adjust the harissa if needed too. Start by adding more butter beans and tahini, and then adjust the rest of the ingredients to taste. You could also add soft goat cheese or cream cheese to tame the spice instead.

Why is my dip too thin?

The dip is going to be softer straight from the food processor and will thicken in the fridge, but it shouldn't be runny like a sauce. It could be because you added too much lemon juice, tahini, or roasted red peppers. The easiest way to fix this is to add more beans.

A hand holding a slice of baguette with scooped up harissa butter bean dip that's visible behind it.

Similar Dip Recipes

Below are some of my favorite dips similar to this one. I highly recommend white bean dip if you have more butter beans (or other white beans) to use up! You can also head over to Dips and Spreads to see all the latest ones!

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Have you tried this Harissa Butter Bean Dip? Please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!

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