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sea beans on a plate with a bowl of lemon butter for dipping
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4.48 from 17 votes

Sea Beans Recipe

Sea beans (also known by a wild array of other names, including salicornia, samphire, saltwort, glasswort, sea asparagus, pickleweed and marsh samphire) pairs well with fish and shellfish, and also with eggs.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time2 minutes
Total Time7 minutes
Course: Sides
Cuisine: American
Keyword: glasswort, marsh samphire, picklweed, salicornia, saltwort, samphire, sea asparagus, sea beans, sea beans recipe
Servings: 4
Calories: 70kcal
Author: Carolyn Gratzer Cope

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces (142 grams) sea beans
  • 2 tablespoons (28 grams) butter
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

  • Bring two inches of unsalted water to a boil in a medium pot.
  • Rinse the samphire well and add it to the boiling water for two minutes.
  • Drain into a colander.
  • If you would like the samphire to retain a brighter green color and slightly crisper texture, you can shock it in a bowl of ice water and drain again.
  • Melt the butter and stir in the lemon juice. See below for serving options.

Notes

  1. Depending on the maturity of the sea beans, they may or may not have an inedible woody interior that runs partway up each piece. Whether they do will determine your serving options. If they don't, you can toss them with butter and lemon and serve as a side dish. If they do, serve them as a starter with the lemon butter on the side as a dipping sauce, and pick them up by hand to nibble on. As an alternative to lemon butter, they're great dipped in hollandaise.
  2. Sea beans are great at room temperature or even chilled, so you can cook them up to 24 hours or so in advance and keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. Make the lemon butter right before serving.
  3. Once blanched, they also freeze well. Place in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet until frozen, then transfer to an airtight container or zip-top bag and freeze for up to a year. As with all frozen foods, texture will soften a bit when defrosting.
  4. For a vegan and dairy-free version of this dish, it's okay to dispense with the butter altogether or swap in a vegan butter.
  5. I first published this recipe here back in 2011. I've updated the recipe and the post for clarity.

Nutrition

Calories: 70kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Fiber: 0.5g