The best wine pairings with beans

Pulses such as beans are a good friend to the vegetarian winelover - their rich, mealy texture provides a similar foil as meat to a hearty full-bodied red.

They are of course also served with meat in dishes such as cassoulet and fabada and also pop up in soups and salads.

In general I think reds work better than whites - bean dishes tend to be quite hearty and often spicy: as with pasta it depends more on the seasoning of the dish than the kind or shape of the bean.

Here are my suggested wine pairings for 10 of the most popular bean recipes taking account of the other dishes that usually accompany them (I’m excluding green beans here which rarely dictate a match on their own account.)

I wouldn’t say the wines you drink with them have to be grand (although if they're on the plate as a side as in lamb with flageolets - they could be*) so don’t fret too much.

A Pauillac, for example.

The 10 best wine pairings for beans

Chile con (or sin) carne

Any hearty fruity red works well with a chilli. Try a zinfandel or a malbec

6 of the best pairings for chilli con carne

Cassoulet

Cassoulet comes from south-west France so it makes sense to drink a wine from the region - my favourite is Marcillac but you could try a Madiran or almost any Languedoc red

6 of the best wine pairings with cassoulet

Fabada (image © Food Via Lenses)

A robust spicy pork and bean stew from northern Spain which includes chorizo and morcilla. I’d go for an inexpensive Rioja or Ribera del Duero with it but mencia would work well too.

Tuscan sausages with beans

A similar but less spicy dish from Tuscany that is just perfect with Chianti

The best food pairings for Chianti and other Tuscan sangiovese

Bean burgers

Less about the beans, more about the spicing, sauce and sides. I’d probably go for a slightly lighter red than I would with a meaty burger - say a medium bodied southern French red but a juicy red from almost anywhere would work. A good gamay? Absolutely

Six of the best pairings for a burger

Black bean soup

Quite like chilli con carne when it comes to wine although there are all the fancy toppings by way of sour cream, avo, coriander and lime to contend with which might make you inclined to drink a lighter, maybe Portuguese, red like a Dao. Honestly it’s more of a beer dish though. A really nice lager or a Negro Modelo would do it for me. (Here's the recipe if you fancy making it!)

Refried beans

Rarely served on their own so it’s much more about what you’d be inclined to drink with a Mexican or Tex Mex. Again I’m thinking beer but zinfandel would be a good bet or, if there’s chicken involved and bright flavours like lime and coriander on the plate, a fruity white like a sauvignon blanc. Refried beans are generally a side show.

Wine, beer and other pairings with Mexican food

Tonno e fagioli (tuna and bean salad)

I’d definitely go for a dry Italian white with this classic tuna and bean salad - something like a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi

What’s the best match for tuna?

Mixed bean salad

Most likely to be part of a spread of other summery dishes so you’d be unlikely to go wrong with a rosé. On the other hand if you have a warm salad with a very assertive dressing like this purple sprouting broccoli with flageolet beans with preserved lemon mayo you might want a crisp white like an albarino.

Baked beans

A strong cup of black tea is by far and away the best option so far as I’m concerned but a fruity red like merlot would be fine. Bear in mind beans are quite sweet so could make a lighter, drier red taste a bit stripped out.

What food to pair with Malbec

Malbec has become so popular it may have become one of your favourite red wines but what are the best kind of dishes to pair with it?

Given most of the bottles we see come from Argentina, steak might seem the obvious answer but there are lots of other dishes it would work with too. In the Cahors region of south-west France for example it might well be paired with a cassoulet.

Generally it’s a full-bodied, generous wine which goes well with meat-based dishes but suits grilled and roasted vegetables too. It can also handle a bit of spice - try it with a chilli con carne or a kebab

Food pairings with malbec

Young, fruity malbecs

*Smoky cured beef

*Beef empanadas

*Charcuterie, especially flavourful terrines

*Chilli con carne

*Spaghetti and meatballs

*Spaghetti bolognese (made British/American-style rather than a classic Italian ragu)

*Pasta with blue cheese sauce and broccoli (as you can see from this Match of the Week)

*Fajitas

*Beef burritos

*Burgers (OK, that’s steak, I know!)

*Medium hot lamb curries like rogan josh

*Kebabs

*Roast or grilled aubergine

*Dishes with beetroot such as a salad of smoked eel, beetroot and horseradish.

Heavyweight malbecs (more expensive, full-bodied malbecs of 14%+)

*Steak, obviously and . . .

*Roast beef or venison

*Barbecued lamb, beef or pork - it particularly suits smokey, chilli-based rubs

*Lamb tagines with prunes

*Beef teppanyaki

*Steak and hot game pies

*Aubergine bakes

*Farmhouse cheddar

*Dark chocolate (a controversial one, this but some people argue that a ripe lush Malbec works well with a chocolate dessert. Not totally convinced myself.)

More rustic styles of malbec such as Cahors and Cot

*7 hour braised leg of lamb

*Lamb shanks

*Braised beef stews or shortribs especially with smoked bacon (Malbec’s also a good wine to add to a stew)

*Pot roast pheasant

*Duck confit

*Cassoulet and other pork and bean dishes

*Flavoursome sausages with garlic e.g. Toulouse sausages

*Cheeseboards (barring lighter cheeses like goats cheese and stinkier ones like Epoisses. As Evan Goldstein points out in his excellent book Daring Pairings, Malbec works surprisingly well with more mellow blues like Barkham Blue or Stilton - though not, I think, with Roquefort)

See also 10 Argentinian wine pairings that don’t involve steak