Fasolada

Ingredients

Beans

• 500 gdried white beans, soaked overnight
• 1.5 litreswater

Base

• 150 mlextra virgin olive oil
• 2onions, chopped
• 3carrots, sliced
• 2 stalkscelery with leaves
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 400 gtinned tomatoes
• 1bay leaf
• 1 tspdried oregano

To finish

• salt and black pepper
• more olive oil

To serve

• olives
• feta
• raw onion
• bread
• lemon

Directions

1. Drain the soaked beans, cover them with fresh water, boil hard for 5 minutes and drain again.
2. Cover with the 1.5 litres of fresh water and simmer for about 40 minutes, until nearly tender.
3. Add no salt yet. Salt early keeps bean skins tough no matter how long you go on cooking them.
4. Meanwhile soften the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in the olive oil for a full 15 minutes.
5. Use far more olive oil than feels reasonable. Fasolada is a ladero, a dish cooked in oil, and the oil is an ingredient rather than a cooking medium.
6. Add the tomato paste and fry for 2 minutes, then add the tinned tomatoes, bay leaf and oregano.
7. Tip the vegetables into the beans and simmer for a further 30 to 40 minutes, until the beans are completely soft.
8. Crush a ladleful of beans against the side of the pot and stir them back in to thicken the broth.
9. Season with salt and pepper only now.
10. Take it off the heat and pour over a generous slug of raw olive oil.
11. Let it stand for at least 20 minutes before serving. It is better warm than hot, and better still the next day.
12. Serve with olives, feta, raw onion and bread, with lemon to squeeze over.
13. It was once called Greece’s national dish, and it is eaten right through the Orthodox fasting calendar when meat is forbidden.

Technique

• The raw oil poured on at the end is not a garnish. Greek cooks add oil twice and the second addition is the one you taste.
• Celery leaves rather than just the stalk. They carry most of the flavour.
• Feta on the side rather than in the pot, since the soup itself is meant to stay lenten.

Substitutions

• Cannellini or haricot beans, both of which behave well.
• Tinned beans, added at the vegetable stage, which cuts the cooking to 20 minutes.

Variations

• With a whole dried chilli in the pot.
• Made thicker, closer to a stew, which is the winter version.
• With smoked paprika, which is not Greek and is very good.

History

A soup made from white beans, tomato, carrot, celery and olive oil, documented across Greece for many generations and often described as Greece’s national dish, reflecting the country’s strong tradition of legume-based cooking, particularly significant during Greek Orthodox Christian fasting periods when meat is traditionally avoided. Its simple ingredient list, relying on a handful of vegetables and beans simmered together in olive oil, reflects a broader rural Greek culinary tradition of building substantial, satisfying meals from inexpensive, widely available agricultural staples. Fasolada remains one of the most essential and commonly eaten dishes across Greek households, valued as an affordable, nutritious and deeply comforting everyday meal.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fasolada?

Fasolada is a soup & stew from Greece: white bean, tomato and olive-oil soup. A soup made from white beans, tomato, carrot, celery and olive oil, documented across Greece for many generations and often described as Greece’s national dish, reflecting the country’s strong tradition of legume-based cooking, particularly significant during Greek Orthodox Christian fasting periods when meat is traditionally avoided. Its simple ingredient list, relying on a handful of vegetables and beans simmered together in olive oil, reflects a broader rural Greek culinary tradition of building substantial, satisfying meals from inexpensive, widely available agricultural staples. Fasolada remains one of the most essential and commonly eaten dishes across Greek households, valued as an affordable, nutritious and deeply comforting everyday meal.

How long does Fasolada take to make?

Fasolada takes 15 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Fasolada?

Yes, within limits. Cannellini or haricot beans, both of which behave well. Tinned beans, added at the vegetable stage, which cuts the cooking to 20 minutes.

What is the most important thing to get right in Fasolada?

Use far more olive oil than feels reasonable. Fasolada is a ladero, a dish cooked in oil, and the oil is an ingredient rather than a cooking medium.