Bean Casserole with Baby Potatoes
Kidney beans, ground beef, and halved baby potatoes in a tomato sauce thick enough to coat a spoon. The whole thing builds in one pan: onion, garlic, and a trio of spices go first, then beef and diced tomatoes join for a 10-minute covered simmer that cooks the potatoes through and lets the sauce reduce.
Corn and kidney beans drop in at the end to keep their snap. One plate, 459 kcal, 32g of protein, and 12g of fiber — most of it from the kidney beans sitting at the bottom of the bowl.
Kidney beans, ground beef, and halved baby potatoes in a tomato sauce thick enough to coat a spoon. The whole thing builds in one pan: onion, garlic, and a trio of spices go first, then beef and diced tomatoes join for a 10-minute covered simmer that cooks the potatoes through and lets the sauce reduce.
Corn and kidney beans drop in at the end to keep their snap. One plate, 459 kcal, 32g of protein, and 12g of fiber — most of it from the kidney beans sitting at the bottom of the bowl.
Ingredients
- onion 0.5
- garlic 1 clove
- bell pepper 1
- baby potatoes 0.25 pound
- kidney beans 2.5 ounce
- corn 2 ounce
- olive oil 0.5 tablespoon
- oregano, dried 1 teaspoon
- ground cumin 0.5 teaspoon
- paprika (ground spice) 1 teaspoon
- 96% lean ground beef 3 ounce
- diced tomatoes 7 ounce
- water 2 tablespoon
Method
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Finely chop the onion and mince the garlic. Dice the bell pepper and halve the baby potatoes. Rinse the kidney beans and corn in a colander with cold water.
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Heat the oil in a pan. Sauté the onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the bell pepper, baby potatoes, oregano, cumin and paprika. Cook for another 2 minutes.
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Then add the ground beef along with the diced tomatoes and water.
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Let everything simmer gently for 10 minutes with a lid on the pan. In the last 3 minutes, add the corn and kidney beans, stir, and heat briefly. Season with salt and pepper.
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Serve the bean dish with the baby potatoes on a (deep) plate.
Add the corn and kidney beans only in the last 3 minutes. Ten minutes of simmering turns canned kidney beans to mush and makes corn chewy. Late entry keeps both their texture and gives the casserole contrast against the soft potatoes.
Garlic sautéed in oil with tomatoes converts lycopene into Z-isomers the body absorbs up to 8.5 times more effectively than the all-E form found in raw tomatoes (Graziani et al., 2019, DOI: 10.1039/C8FO02283F). This casserole runs that exact sequence: garlic in olive oil first, then diced tomatoes for a 10-minute simmer.
Why This Works
Behind this recipe
Is 32g of protein enough for dinner?
Research on per-meal protein use found the body can build muscle from at least 40g in a single sitting, and possibly more. At 32g, this casserole covers most of that window. If you need more, an extra ounce of ground beef or a side of Greek yogurt closes the gap without changing the recipe.
Where does the 12g of fiber come from?
Mostly the kidney beans — 70g of canned kidney beans delivers roughly 4-5g of fiber on its own. The rest comes from the bell pepper, baby potatoes, corn, tomatoes, and onion combined. Pooled trial data from 62 studies found that higher fiber intake independently predicted greater fat loss, and 12g from a single meal puts a serious dent in the daily target.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I swap the ground beef for a plant-based alternative?
The recipe works with any ground protein that holds its shape during a 10-minute simmer — turkey, chicken, or plant-based crumbles. The macros will shift depending on the swap, so check the label to see where the new version lands. The kidney beans add their own protein regardless of what ground meat goes in.
