Protein Powerhouse: 8 Lupini Beans Recipes You Need to Try

You may have noticed more recipes that call for lupini beans are popping up on vegan food blogs and social media channels. Lupini beans are high in protein, which makes them a good addition to a plant-based diet.

Lupini beans are yellow legumes about the same size as lima or fava beans. They are often used in dishes from Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Latin America, per Shape. The beans are typically pickled in brine to help cut down on their bitterness.

According to the USDA, lupini beans have almost twice the amount of protein as chickpeas. There are about 16 grams of protein in lupini beans (100 grams), compared to about 9 grams of protein in chickpeas (100 grams) per the USDA.

If you are looking to add lupini beans to your diet, here are eight recipes we’ve gathered for you to try. Just remember to use lupini beans that have been soaked in salt water, such as Brami's lupini beans, as this helps remove their bitter taste and alkaloids, which can be "mildly toxic," per Nutrition Advance.

Lupini beans, cornflour, coconut oil, and dried instant yeast are the main ingredients for this vegan cheese recipe by @keto_vege. Just blend the lupini beans with water to make a "smooth paste," mix in the rest of the ingredients, and then refrigerate in a cake time for two hours. The final product has the consistence of cream cheese.

This recipe comes from Brami, the above-mentioned Italian food company that sells lupini beans, lupini bean dip, and pasta made with lupini beans. The main ingredient in this taco salad recipe is Brami's Chili & Lime lupini beans, which are air fried for about 10 minutes until golden brown. To keep this taco salad vegan, it incorporates vegan cheddar cheese, but you can also enjoy it without the cheese.

This Italian lupini bean salad from Plant Based with Amy can be served as a side dish, appetizer or main dish. The lupini beans are combined with baby spinach, whole-grain Dijon mustard, and olive oil to make a tasty, nutritious salad. A pinch of pistachios on top give it additional protein and extra crunch.

On a cold winter day, there's nothing better than warm, spicy bowl of chili. This vegan chili with lupini beans from Keto Vegetarian Recipes packs a powerful protein punch. It it also low in carbs. Hemp seed hearts are used instead of meat, but cauliflower rice will also work.

If you are looking for a side dish for your chili, try out these spicy lupini bean fritters, also by Keto Vegetarian Recipes. You can use the leftover hemp seeds from the chili for these fritters. Put the beans, hemp seeds, zucchini, and onions in a blender with seasoning and combine to make the "dough" for your fritters.

This salad from Lord Byron's Kitchen is perfect for asparagus lovers. It can be served cold or at room temperature. After blanching the asparagus, combine it in a bowl with lupini beans, rice, green onions, and parsley. Top with a dressing made with olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, vegan Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.

Ceviche is traditionally made with raw fish, but this plant-based recipe from Wild Greens & Sardines substitutes lupini beans for the fish. Just mix the beans together with red onion, tomato, habanero pepper, cilantro, lime juice, orange juice and olive oil, and then serve with chips.

Making lupini bean hummus is relatively easy, per the recipe from Yum Vegan Food. Just blend the beans together with garlic, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt — and a pinch of cayenne pepper, if you want a little kick.