Cheesy bean roast

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Cheesy bean roast - a seriously delicious vegetarian Christmas dinner or Sunday lunch option for people who aren't into nut roasts!

In case I didn’t offer enough vegetarian Christmas dinner ideas for you the other day, here’s one more – a crispy, cheesy bean roast. Nut roasts are a pretty standard option for us vegetarians at Christmas time, but if you don’t like nuts, or you’re allergic to them, I imagine you’d be a bit stuck. So this cheesy bean roast is a similar idea, but it’s nut-free. Hooray!

Cheesy bean roast - a seriously delicious vegetarian Christmas dinner or Sunday lunch option for people who aren't into nut roasts!

The base of this cheesy bean roast is made from beans (obviously) – both whole beans, and a tin of refried beans. They give a ton of flavour to the bean roast, so make sure you use a brand you love. I use these ones (Amazon UK* / Amazon US*) and I love love love them. They look a bit like cat food, but they taste amazing. They have a little spice to them, but not enough that they’d disturb the usual balance of a Christmas dinner.

In the past I’ve tried a supermarket’s own version of refried beans, and they were truly revolting – so make sure you know you like whichever ones you’ve chosen before building your bean roast around them!

Then you just need to add some grated cheese, oats, and a grated courgette (zucchini), and you’re basically done. The courgette melts right into the mixture and you can barely detect it once it’s cooked, but I like to think it’s adding some extra nutrition.

Cheesy bean roast - a seriously delicious vegetarian Christmas dinner or Sunday lunch option for people who aren't into nut roasts!

You could cook your cheesy bean roast as more of a loaf if you like, but I think it works best cooked in a thinner layer. The top gets nice and crispy, and it stays softer underneath. The crispy top is the best bit in my opinion, so I say the thinner the better (within reason!).

Cheesy bean roast - a seriously delicious vegetarian Christmas dinner or Sunday lunch option for people who aren't into nut roasts!

Add some Brussels sprouts, roast potatoes, bread sauce (recipe coming soon!), and whatever other veggies you fancy, and this cheesy bean roast will give you the perfect vegetarian Christmas dinner.

Cheesy bean roast - a seriously delicious vegetarian Christmas dinner or Sunday lunch option for people who aren't into nut roasts!

Cheesy Bean Roast

A wonderful alternative to nut roast, with several tasty kinds of beans and plenty of cheese.

If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!

4.93 from 13 votes
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories:
Author: Becca Heyes

Ingredients

  • 80 g butter, melted (~ 1/4 cup when melted)
  • 65 g (~ 1/2 cup) plain flour
  • 65 g (~ 1/2 cup) rolled oats
  • 400 g tin kidney beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
  • 400 g tin black beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
  • 435 g (~ 1 1/3 cups) refried beans
  • 150 g cheddar cheese, grated (~ 1 1/2 cups when grated)
  • 1 small courgette (zucchini), grated
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
  • Spray oil for greasing

Instructions

  • Add the melted butter to a large mixing bowl, and add the flour and oats. Mix well, then add the remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly until well combined.
  • Lightly spray a suitably sized roasting tin with oil, and add the bean roast mixture. Spread it into an even layer (you don’t need to smooth out the top – any craggy bits will get nice and crispy!). Bake at 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F) for around 45-60 minutes, until browned and crispy on top.

Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.

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Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/6 of the recipe.

* This post contains a couple of affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I will receive a tiny (tiny!) referral fee, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for the support!

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19 Comments

  1. Hi Becca
    I made this cheesy bean roast for my wife on Saturday . My daughter is moving house and is cooking lots of meals to freeze and asked me to cook some for vegetarians.
    My wife’s comments were that is quite nice but that the bean mixture was a bit too smooth and we both thought it could do with some tomato in it. I don’t usually cook veggie recipes without herbs but I didn’t add any to this so it seemed a it missing. If I do it again I will omit the refried beans and substitute another sort and perhaps add a tin of tomatoes.4 stars

    1. Thanks for the feedback David! To be honest the refried beans add a lot of flavour to this recipe, and form the basis of holding everything together, so I think you’ll end up with a very different result if you omit them. A tin of tomatoes will also make the mixture a lot more liquidy so it won’t set into a loaf in the same way. Might be worth finding a different recipe to adapt if you weren’t too keen on this one :)

  2. Thank you for sharing this vegetarian Christmas dish. I am actually looking for one so, this is just perfect.
    I am excited to try this.

  3. Oh bum! I bought a fancy pants nut and mushroom roast from Sainsbury’s yesterday and I have just seen this recipe. Looks really easy and tasty; I shall stash it in my memory banks for another day.5 stars

  4. You, my good woman, are a genius! This was just what I needed for something to serve on the 25th. We’re having Husband’s family over this year to subject them to a Danish Christmas, and as we celebrate on the 24th, we wanted to be able to give them a few more English Christmas-y things on the 25th as well. Something that would be a bit festive to eat and would go well with the Christmas pudding they’re bringing. I just had no idea what to serve, but I think this sounds just about ideal! (Generally I tend to think of the whole thing as ‘fusion Christmas.’ :p)

  5. I love your posts and recipes. I’m totally going to make this my next day off. My roommate and I are accidental vegetarians5 stars