This easy white bean bruschetta is a simple mixture of creamy white beans, juicy lemon, sweet caramelized onion, and woodsy thyme. It gets spooned over hearty slices of crusty bread, then finished with a sweep of goat cheese and a whisper of fresh garlic.
Festive holiday recipes don't have to be elaborately crafted or overly thematic. I say that holiday entertaining can be as simple as a platter of creamy white bean bruschetta. Light yet flavorful. Special yet simple. And when served alongside delicate flutes of prosecco or sparkling cider, the effect is perfectly cozy.
Bruschetta is transitionally made with a topping of chopped tomatoes, but it doesn't always hit the soulful, twinkly high note that the holiday season calls for. So I took these in a direction more fit for festive winter celebrations, using creamy white beans, woodsy thyme, and a pop of winter citrus.
It all rests atop rustic slices of crusty bread that are lightly grazed with garlic and a swoosh of fresh goat cheese, as white as a fresh snowfall.
These hearty bites are perfect for a holiday cocktail party or New Year's Eve snack spread. Or, serve alongside steaming bowls of soup to round out a meal on a chilly day.
ingredients for white bean bruschetta
ingredient notes & swaps
- Sweet onion varieties like Vidalia onion have a naturally high sugar content that helps them to caramelize. This means you don't have to cook them as long to coax out their natural sweetness, and their rich flavor pairs really nicely with white beans, garlic, and goat cheese.
- Options for rustic bread include things like Italian semolina, ciabatta, or sourdough. The idea is to choose a bread that has some crunch and texture to support your flavorful white bean topping, so avoid soft white or fluffy breads here.
- As for white beans, I personally love canned navy beans for this bruschetta recipe. They are small, soft, and creamy and have a buttery, nutty flavor. Cannellini beans are an excellent alternative. You could also use great northern beans, although they may have a more grainy texture.
- When shopping for goat cheese, look for the very soft, creamy white cheese packaged in a log shape. Also known as chèvre, it has a silky texture and pleasant tang that will give each slice of bruschetta a flavorful foundation.
lemony white bean bruschetta recipe
This easy white bean bruschetta is a simple mixture of creamy white beans, juicy lemon, sweet caramelized onion, and woodsy thyme. It gets spooned over hearty slices of crusty bread, then finished with a sweep of goat cheese and a whisper of fresh garlic.
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 16-ounce loaf rustic bread - enough to yield about 20 slices
- ½ of a Vidalia onion - enough to yield ¾ cup finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled
- 1 15.5-ounce can white beans - enough to yield 1 ¾ cups
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 ounces chèvre goat cheese, at room temperature
Instructions
- Prep your ingredients. Start by slicing the bread into approximately ½-inch thick slices. Finely chop the onion, pick the thyme leaves, zest and juice the lemon, and peel the garlic clove.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until soft and caramelized. Remove from heat.
- Drain the beans and rinse them under cool running water. You see how the beans get all bubbly and foamy when you start running water on them? You want to rinse all that foam off. Once clean, toss them into a bowl along with the cooked onion, thyme leaves, lemon juice, lemon zest, and the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir and taste; the amount of seasoning you need will depend on whether or not your beans are salted. Adjust as needed.
- Toast your bread slices. I spritz mine with a little oil and put them under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, flipping halfway through. You can also toast them in a regular toaster of course, or you could even grill them!
- Gently rub the warm bread sliced with the peeled garlic clove. The key word here is gently, as aggressively grinding the garlic into the bread (as I have been known to do 🙃) will make your bruschetta taste overwhelmingly garlicky.
- Spread each piece of bread with a thin layer of room temperature goat cheese.
- Top each piece with your white bean mixture and garnish with a bit more fresh thyme, salt, cracked black pepper and/or olive oil as you like!
Notes
• For the creamiest texture, spread the goat cheese right before serving, as it tends to dry out if done too early.
• This recipe is highly adaptable! If you want more or less topping on your bruschetta, simply make more or less of the mixture and top your bread with it as desired. You can also use more or less goat cheese to taste.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: holiday, Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 pieces
- Calories: 232
- Sugar: 2.1 g
- Sodium: 374.1 mg
- Fat: 9.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.8 g
- Protein: 8.3 g
- Cholesterol: 9 mg
dig in!
Enjoy & let me know what you think 🌙 💛
