Fasolada-Greek white bean soup

Fasolada also known as Fasolatha is a delicious, vegan white bean soup from Greece. It's made with some very basic ingredients but is full of flavors. This classic Greek soup is considered one of the National dishes of Greece.

History of Fasolada

Fasolada is an Ancient Greek dish, which was served as a sacrifice to the Greek God Apollo at the Pyanopsia festival. The literal meaning of Pyanopsia is - the day of bean soup.

The legend has it that while sailing from Athens to Crete to kill the Minotaur (a demon with the body of a man but the head and tail of a bull), Theseus (King of Athens) stopped at the island of Delos. There he promised Apollo that if he wins the battle, he will return and offer olive branches decorated with fresh fruits to thank him.

As promised, after winning the war, Theseus returned to the island. However, after such a long journey nothing much was left on the ship so Theseus's companions gathered everything they could find and cooked a delicious stew which is now known as Fasolada.

What's needed to make fasolada?

For this fasolada recipe, you will need the ingredients shown below:

Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions

• White beans: Just like Indians, Greeks also prefer cooking their dried beans from scratch instead of using canned beans. So, to make fasolada try using dried white beans to get that perfect taste and creaminess. However, that's a time-consuming process, and if you don't have enough time to do that use canned beans.
• Onion: I have used brown onion, white or red onion can be used too.
• Lemon: Use both juice and zest for extra lemony flavor.
• Tomato paste: It gives a rich tomato flavor to fasolada.
• Fresh herbs: Dill tastes the best in this soup, you can also use fresh parsley, rosemary, or cilantro
• Seasonings: I have used paprika, dried oregano, salt, bay leaf, and black pepper to season this Greek soup. You can use seasonings of your choice like basil, chili flakes, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, or onion powder.
• Olive oil: Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil as it's a key ingredient in this recipe.

The full details of all the ingredients and nutritional information are shared in the recipe card.

How to make(step-by-step process)?

To make this delicious Greek bean soup, just follow the simple step-by-step process given below:

Step 1: Wash dried white beans and soak them in water for 7-8 hours.

Step 2: After 7 hours, discards the water in which the beans were soaked and rinse them again. Keep the rinsed beans aside.

Step 3: Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot. Add chopped onion, carrot, celery, and minced garlic.

Step 4: Cook until the onion turns translucent.

Step 5: Add bay leaf, paprika, oregano, and tomato paste.

Step 6: Saute for a minute.

Step 7: Add white beans.

Step 8: Saute for another minute.

Step 9: Add vegetable stock.

Step 10: Mix and cover the pot. Cook covered on medium heat for around an hour or until the beans are cooked.

Step 11: Keep checking and stirring in between to make sure that the beans are not sticking to the pot and there is enough liquid in the pot.

Step 12: Take around a ladleful of white beans from the pot and put it in a grinding jar. Add lemon juice, remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, and black pepper. You can also add lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper, directly to the pot and use an immersion blender to blend a portion of the soup directly inside the cooking pot.

Step 13: Allow the beans to cool down a bit and then make a paste.

Step 14:  Add the bean paste to the pot.

Step 15: Cook the soup for another 8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Step 16: Garnish with chopped dill. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Your delicious classic Greek soup-Fasolada is ready to be served.

How to serve fasolada?

Serve this hearty soup hot or warm with your choice of crusty bread, kalamata olives, or some feta cheese on the side.

You can also serve Fasolada soup with a salad like classic Greek Salad, Greek potato salad, Fattoush, or Greek orzo feta salad.

Or, just serve some grilled vegetables or these baked potato wedges with it.

Storing, freezing, and reheating tips

Allow the leftover fasolatha to reach room temperature and then transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate and consume within 4 days. This soup tastes even better the next day.

Greek white bean soup also freezes well. To freeze, transfer to batch size, freezer safe, containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

To reheat, if the soup is frozen, thaw it first. Transfer to a cooking pot and add some hot water or vegetable stock, reheat on the stovetop until heated well. Check and readjust the seasoning because you added extra liquid while reheating.

You can also reheat it in the microwave. To do that, transfer the soup to a microwave-safe bowl. Add some hot water or stock to adjust the consistency. Stir and put the bowl in the microwave. Microwave for around 2 minutes. Take out the bowl and stir the soup. Put the soup back in the microwave and reheat until evenly heated.

Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions

• Soak the beans for a minimum of 7 hours and make sure that the water is at least 2 inches above the level of the beans. The beans grow in size after getting soaked in water. If you don't add enough water, they will come out of the water after a few hours and then won't get soaked properly.
• To fasten the process of soaking the beans, soak them in hot water.
• Before making the white bean paste, allow the beans to reach room temperature. Since we are also adding olive oil and lemon juice to the paste, the beans will reach room temperature quickly.
• Traditionally, this soup is made with a lot of olive oil but I have added it in moderation. If you want, you can use more olive oil.
• Flavor the soup with the seasonings of your choice.
• If you prefer slightly spicy soup, add chili flakes to it.

Frequently asked questions

More easy vegan bean soup recipes

If you enjoyed this simple bean soup and looking for some more bean soup ideas then don't miss to check out the following vegan bean soup and stew recipes on this blog:

1. Vegan black bean soup
2. Greek chickpea soup
3. Vegan Minestrone soup
4. Moroccan spiced chickpea and sweet potato soup
5. Cannellini bean soup
6. Kidney bean stew

More vegetarian Greek recipes

Want to explore more vegetarian recipes from Greek cuisine? The following recipes are worth trying:

1. Greek orzo salad with feta
2. Watermelon feta salad
3. Greek spaghetti
4. Tzatziki
5. Greek potato salad
6. Greek spinach rice
7. Baked lima beans with feta

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