Lupin Cheese

Lupin cheese is a deliciously salty and savory vegan cheese made from Lupin beans. This versatile cheese can be used as a dip, antipasto, or salad topping instead of a regular soft cheese spread. To prepare it, you must strain the beans, rinse, and drain several times to eliminate the bitter taste. Then, combine the beans with a few other ingredients in a blender and blend to a smooth consistency, all in about 10 minutes!

What are Lupin beans?

Lupin beans, also known as lupini beans, are not typically found in the vegetable section of most supermarkets, but you will find them in most health food stores. They are the second-highest protein-containing bean after soya beans. Secondly, they also have the lowest carbohydrate content in the bean world, making them great for weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight. 

Lupini is a distinct variety of yellow beans similar to broad beans but smaller. Traditionally, lupini beans were found in the Mediterranean. However, they have now made their way across the world to North Africa, Europe, and even AustraliaThese beans are pretty bitter in their naturally occurring form and are often pickled in brine to take out the bitterness and rinsed for several days. Lupini beans are typically enjoyed as a snack in the above countries, usually with beer or black coffee.

In Portugal, Lupini is known as tremoços and as altramuces in Spain. Lupini is also prevalent in Northern Africa. The Arabic name in Egypt is “termes,” and they commonly eat it as a snack, particularly during the national festival of Sham el- Nessim national festival in Egypt. Customarily Italians add olives to the preparation, lending a salty flavor to lupin beans, creating an ideal blend of flavors commonly available at most Italian markets/delis and Middle Eastern shops.

In their naturally occurring form, these beans are remarkably bitter. These require a tedious process of soaking and washing to remove certain toxins by pickling them in brine to take out the mild bitterness. Much salt is necessary to remove the toxins during preparation, thus making the bean taste rather salty. Customarily Italians add olives to the preparation, lending a salty flavor to lupin beans, a perfect blend of flavors commonly available at most Italian markets/delis and middle eastern shops.

You can buy the lupini beans in their dry state and do the brining, soaking, and processing yourself. However, this is quite tedious and water-intensive to remove the bitter flavor. Avoid trying this at home. I did and had to get rid of the whole batch. It takes a lot of work to get the process right. Alternatively, you can buy a prepared jar of brined lupin beans, which will have already been soaked and washed several times to make it ready for consumption. 

The lupini beans have a thin layer of skin providing high fiber exceptionally protein-rich. While most people take out the skin, if you are counting on the high protein content of lupini beans, I recommend that you don’t hull your beans and leave them and use them as-is. With our lupini cheese spread, leaving the skin on won’t make any difference in taste, except the texture will be slightly coarse.

Let’s now jump right into the recipe!

Print Recipe

Lupin Cheese

Spread – Dadaji Fusion Recipes

By SS Shiva – Serves: 5 - 6

Prep Time: 10 min Total Time: 10 min

Nutritional Benefits: Lupin beans are a nutritional powerhouse. They contain three times more protein than quinoa, three times more antioxidants than most berries, and a lot of fiber and potassium. With lupins being very rich in nutrients such as iron, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and zinc, they are actually low in calories and carbs. In addition, they are an amazing source of zeaxanthin and polyphenols that prevent oxidative damage and phytosterols that lower cholesterol. Lupin beans also contain all the 9 essential amino acids making them a perfect plant-based protein source.

Ingredients

• 2 cups lupin beans, pre-brined
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 tbsp black Himalayan salt
• 1 cup extra-virgin coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika powder
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup basil or coriander leaves, finely chopped

Instructions

1

Rinse and strain the beans three times if you bought them in a prepared jar.

2

Place all ingredients into a strong blender and blend until very smooth.

3

You will need to stop the machine several times, scrape down the rough paste on the sides, and push the crushed beans back into the center to blend again until you achieve a smooth consistency.

4

Place the smooth paste into a bowl and serve garnished with a sprinkle of paprika powder.

5

You can serve it with crackers or bread, or better still spread it onto a sandwich or roti or use it in salads

Nutrition

• 356 Calories
• 6g Carbohydrates
• 36.9g Fat
• 1.3g Fiber
• 2.1g Protein
• 31.5g Saturated fat
• 736mg Sodium
• 0.3g Sugar

Notes

STORAGE: This will stay fresh for up to a month and stored in an air-tight mason jar in the refrigerator/at room temperature.