• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Dips & Sauces
    • Pies & Breads
    • Soups & Stews
    • Appetizers & Sides
    • Mains
    • Cookies & Cakes
    • Desserts
  • Diets
    • Clean Eating
    • Dairy-free
    • Gluten-free
    • Low-calorie
    • Vegan
    • Vegetarian
  • Subscribe
  • Shop

Real Greek Recipes

menu icon
go to homepage
  • RECIPES
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • SHOP
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • RECIPES
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • SHOP
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Soups & Stews » Fasolatha - White Bean And Tomato Soup

    · By: Fotini · Published: Jan 4, 2019 · Updated: Jun 20, 2023

    Fasolatha - White Bean And Tomato Soup

    982 shares
    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video

    Fasolatha is one of the most favorite wintry comfort foods in Greece. It's a simple, healthy, easy-to-make white bean and tomato soup. Delicious and nourishing, all made from scratch using basic fresh ingredients.

    Fasolatha
    Fasolatha - Greek Bean Soup

    This old-fashioned Greek soup is made on the stovetop using dried white beans that have been soaked. We never cook using canned beans in Greece. In fact, I've never come across them in a grocery store either. Except for these giant beans that are already cooked in a tomato sauce.

    Table Of Contents
    • Why Dried Beans?
    • How Long To Cook Dried Beans?
    • Pressure Cooker Instructions
    • Slow Cooker Instructions
    • How To Make Thick Bean Soup
    • What To Serve With Fasolatha
    • Recipe

    We're very old-fashioned when it comes to cooking in Greece. And we truly believe, that something that's cooked from scratch, is always healthier.

    Why Dried Beans?

    It's best to cook this soup using dried beans because you get a much more nutritious, thick, and creamy soup. Dried beans have more nutrients (protein, fiber, iron, potassium, and magnesium) than canned beans. Plus they don't contain sodium. So you get to decide how much you add. Also, slowly cooking the beans from scratch means they release their starch into the soup. Yielding a thick and creamy soup.

    RECIPE TIP: The trick to tender beans is to simmer gently at a low heat covered.

    How Long To Cook Dried Beans?

    Dried beans sound like they need much time to cook, in fact, this is not true. Yes, it will take more than an hour but not hours. The important thing is to soak beans in water before cooking. This reduces their cooking time plus makes them more digestible.

    If you're using a quality bean label (meaning the beans aren't too old) then one hour of soaking before cooking is more than enough. You could soak overnight if you like but that's really not necessary. As the beans will cook way too quickly and start to break apart.

    For this recipe, we're cooking the beans for 1 and 40 minutes on the stovetop.

    White Bean And Tomato Soup
    White Bean And Tomato Soup

    If you don't have that much time to spare, you can always cook the beans in a pressure cooker. Just until they get tender and then finish off on the stovetop, along with the rest of the ingredients for the soup. This will take you less than an hour. Or you can use a slow cooker and just put it in and leave it to cook on its own for a couple of hours.

    Pressure Cooker Instructions

    1. Bring beans to a boil along with 2-3 liters of water in a cooking pot.
    2. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then drain beans in a strainer.
    3. Add beans along with 1 liter of water (or vegetable stock) in a pressure cooker and cook for about 35 minutes. Release the steam open and check beans if they're tender.
    4. Add remaining ingredients and simmer over medium to medium-high heat while stirring occasionally until the soup thickens.

    Slow Cooker Instructions

    1. Bring beans to a boil along with 2-3 liters of water in a cooking pot.
    2. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then drain beans in a strainer.
    3. Add the beans along with the remaining ingredients for the soup and 6 cups of water to the slow cooker.
    4. Cook for about 8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.

    Other Traditional Greek Legume Soups:

    • -Ancient Greek Lentil Soup
    • -Vitamin-Packed Lentil Tomato Soup
    • -Greek Chickpea Soup With Lemon & Oregano

    How many times I've woken up on a cold & rainy wintry morning to hear someone in the family say -Now that's a day for some Fasolatha!

    I don't know what is it with this soup that makes it feel so comforting. Maybe it's that nice and thick texture that's so perfect for dipping your bread in. Or maybe it's your body saying -Thank you for such a healthy and nutritious meal on such a bad day.

    Whatever it is, it's one of the best and most nourishing meals to have.

    How To Make Thick Bean Soup

    To make a really thick Fasolatha you need some REAL extra virgin olive oil. If it's a good quality olive oil it will help thicken the soup. Extra virgin olive oil has a thick consistency that when slowly cooked, gives a soup a velvety thick texture. For best results, stir the soup often from the time you add the olive oil to it.

    Here's a quality Greek extra virgin olive oil you can use. See also my post explaining how to skip fake olive oils.

    Easy White Bean Soup
    Easy White Bean Soup

    What To Serve With Fasolatha

    Now here's the best part of this delicious white bean soup recipe. The side dishes. Traditionally a Greek Fasolatha is served along with some salt-cured fish like sardines. This tradition goes way back to Ancient Greece.

    Ancient Greeks used to make a salty sauce out of the innards of cured fish and use it to flavor all of their legume soups. Today we simply serve the salt-cured fish drizzled with olive oil and vinegar, as a side dish to this soup.

    Fasolatha is also served with Feta cheese, olives, or even raw onions. In the Northern parts of Greece, you may even see this soup served with spicy Greek sausage. Since nothing goes better with beans than sausage!

    Whatever you choose don't forget some rustic bread for dipping and a generous sprinkle of freshly ground pepper on top!

    SIMILAR RECIPE

    Greek-White-Bean-Soup-Recipe

    Greek White Bean Soup With Garlic & Lemon

    A lemony version of Greek Fasolatha that's equally delish but also serves as the perfect base to incorporate some bacon, sausage, or your fave greens into it. Instructions for this are in the post. As well as instant pot + slow cooker recipe instructions!

    Recipe

    Fasolatha-Greek-Recipe

    Fasolatha - White Bean And Tomato Soup

    Fasolatha is a white bean and tomato soup with a nice and thick texture. All made from scratch using fresh ingredients.
    3.76 from 505 votes
    Print Pin
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Greek
    Keyword: Dinner, gut-healing foods
    Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 2 hours hours
    Total Time: 2 hours hours 5 minutes minutes
    Servings: 5
    Calories: 458kcal

    Ingredients

    • 500 grams /17.6 dried Cannellini beans (or other small white beans)
    • 2 ½ liters (10 cups) boiling hot water (or half water and half vegetable stock)
    • 160 grams (1 large) onion finely chopped
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 2 carrots sliced ½ cm (¼ inch thick)
    • 150 grams (1 + ½ cups) chopped celery (include some of the leaves as well)
    • 150 grams (medium-large) extra ripe tomato hand grated, skin discarded
    • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
    • 160 ml (⅔ cup) extra virgin olive oil + a bit extra to serve with
    • freshly ground pepper
    • OPTIONAL: hot red pepper flakes or 1 small chili pepper

    Instructions

    Prepare The Beans:

    • Soak beans in plenty of water for about 1 hour at room temperature.
    • Half fill a large cooking pot with water and add the beans. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then drain beans in a strainer.
    • Don't rinse with cold water as this will make their skin come off.

    Cook The Beans:

    • Place beans back in a cooking pot. Pour in 10 cups (2 ½ liters) of boiling hot water or vegetable stock. Add the bay leaf, and onion. Season with salt and bring to a boil.
    • Drop heat to low and simmer covered for about 1 hour.
    • Add the tomato paste, grated tomato, celery, carrots, and tomato paste. If using a chili pepper add it at this point as well. Season with ground pepper.
    • Raise heat to medium and simmer covered for 30 minutes more. Giving it a stir every 10 minutes or so.
    • Then raise heat to medium-high (keep it on medium if on a gas stove). Stir often until the soup thickens (see note 1 below).
    • Let the soup stand for 15 minutes partly covered before serving to bring out its flavors and thicken even further.
    • Serve with a drop of raw extra virgin olive oil, plenty of freshly ground pepper, and hot red pepper flakes if you want it spicy.

    Video

    Notes

    Note 1: If you want the soup extra thick and creamy, take a spoonful of the soup with a ladle and blend in a small food processor or add to a blender. Blend until smooth and mix it back into the soup.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1serving | Calories: 458kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 24g | Sodium: 70mg | Potassium: 696mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 4512IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 3mg
    Tried this recipe?I would love to see! Mention @real_greek_recipes or tag #real_greek_recipes!

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...

    • Black Eyed Peas Soup With Sausage
      Black-Eyed Pea Soup With Greek Sausage
    • Tomato-Carrot-Soup
      Healthy Tomato-Carrot Soup (Vegan, Gluten & Dairy Free)
    • Gigantes-Plaki
      Greek Butter Beans Recipe (Gigantes Plaki)
    • Greek-Fasolakia-Ladera
      Greek Green Beans Stew (Fasolakia Ladera)

    More Soups & Stews

    • Greek-Pork-Stew-Recipe-With-Green-Beans
      Pork Stew With Green Beans
    • Healthy-Lemon-Chicken-Stew-With-Vegetables
      Lemon Chicken Stew With Vegetables
    • Stewed-Eggplant-In-Tomato-Sauce-Recipe
      Stewed Eggplant In Tomato Sauce
    • Traditional-Greek-Trahana-Soup-With-Feta-Cheese
      Trahana Soup With Feta Cheese

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Geri says

      October 02, 2019 at 3:56 am

      This soup ended up being bland and basically all oil! I even used broth instead of water. Will not make again sorry

    2. Jacob says

      September 27, 2019 at 9:54 pm

      Simple, clean and rich! My family and I thoroughly enjoyed this soup. Thank you so much for the recipe. Your revithosoupa recipe was stellar as well. Take care and thanks again.

    3. Courtney says

      September 06, 2019 at 1:06 am

      Not remotely enough tomatoes in this recipe to look like the image or be able to be called a predominately tomato soup. I had to add 3X, the amount. Not impressed with the ratio of items and lack of spices.

    4. Ashley says

      August 29, 2019 at 8:33 am

      I tried this recipe and it was very bland. It tasted like water and oil. I ended up having to add other herbs and using stock cubes in exchange for the large amount of water used which I’m sure is the reason the soup was bland. It has a nice aroma in general but I had to add a variety of spices to really enjoy it.

      • Angie says

        September 23, 2019 at 12:17 am

        You have to boil it more so it will be more velvet like sauce with bean not water with tomatoes

    5. Sydney says

      May 21, 2019 at 10:33 pm

      Can you do this recipe with canned white beans instead?

      • [email protected] says

        May 22, 2019 at 11:45 am

        Never tried it myself but I think you can!

    6. Angla says

      May 09, 2019 at 12:54 am

      Made this soup, I did add a few fresh herbs from my garden that just enhanced flavor. It was very good, served with a warm crunchy sourdough garlic bread! Cant wait to try the butter beans!!

      • [email protected] says

        May 13, 2019 at 11:35 am

        Crunchy sourdough garlic bread? You just made my stomach growl! Love the idea of fresh herbs as well.

    7. Cynthia Cassidy says

      April 21, 2019 at 1:56 am

      I thought it was bland also with out any seasoning. I added about a tablespoon of Old Bay Seasoning...perfect add!

      • Marie says

        April 27, 2019 at 7:12 pm

        39g of fat per serving?!?!? Is that a typo?

    8. Caitlin says

      April 15, 2019 at 1:57 am

      My husband and I made this and really enjoyed it. My opinion is that homemade, whole food is healthiest. I think if you're craving more salt there is always the option of pairing with a salty fish; which I believe she suggested.

      Thank you for the post. I'll enjoy exploring your site and trying a few more recipes.

      • [email protected] says

        April 15, 2019 at 10:23 am

        Thank you, Caitlin. That's my opinion too and it's how most traditional Greek recipes are like. Nice to hear you enjoyed it 🙂

    9. Carol says

      April 13, 2019 at 1:46 am

      I'm afraid we found this to be very bland, which I'm not used to with Greek food. I doctored it up and it ended up fine. Sorry but this recipe as is didn't win us over.

      • [email protected] says

        April 13, 2019 at 9:58 am

        That's all right. Glad you found the way to bring flavor to your liking 🙂

    10. Mimi says

      April 04, 2019 at 1:04 pm

      Looks delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipes and tips for slow cooker❤️

      • [email protected] says

        April 05, 2019 at 1:56 pm

        You're welcome Mimi 🙂

    11. Frances says

      April 02, 2019 at 1:40 am

      How much is 150g olive oil in volume measurements (tbsp, cups etc)?

      • [email protected] says

        April 02, 2019 at 10:15 am

        It's about 1 cup.

      • Anonymous says

        April 02, 2019 at 5:23 pm

        250 gr is a cup

    12. Lindsay says

      March 30, 2019 at 7:15 pm

      Why do you recommend grating the tomato? Mine just became a juicy mess

      • [email protected] says

        April 02, 2019 at 10:16 am

        Because this way you get all the juice and flesh without the skin (that you would get if you were to use a blender).

    13. Kari says

      March 24, 2019 at 11:44 pm

      Are the nutritional facts for the whole pot of soup? It just seems like a lot of fat and carbs per serving.

      • [email protected] says

        March 28, 2019 at 10:52 am

        Just for one serving. There is plenty of olive oil used in this recipe. And every 100 grams of olive oil contain about 883 kcal. It is not an unhealthy fat though and it is not the same as consuming animal fat. As for the carbs, it's from the beans that also contain 132% of recommended daily dosage of fiber. So again they're healthy carbs not the same as carbs coming from bread for example.

    14. Judy M says

      March 02, 2019 at 10:53 pm

      790 calories?!
      30 grams of fat Where does the sugar come from?
      A serving?
      Please explain.
      TY

      • [email protected] says

        March 03, 2019 at 11:06 am

        Olive oil has a high amount of calories. But they come from a healthy fat that your body is actually going to burn. There are 150 grams of extra virgin olive oil used in this recipe. If you divide it to 4 servings that's how you get the 30 grams of fat. As for the sugars other than refined sugar, there are also natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables like in the tomatoes for example. That's what it's referring to.

      • Katherine LeRoy says

        April 30, 2019 at 8:17 pm

        My thoughts exactly! I was certain a mistake had been made and that was the amount of calories and fat for the whole pot of soup. I keep coming back to this beautiful recipe but just can’t fathom having a bowl of soup that high in calories. I’m sure it’s delicious.

    15. Heather says

      February 23, 2019 at 2:52 am

      No seasonings for this soup?

      • [email protected] says

        February 23, 2019 at 10:21 am

        Nope. The olive oil, tomato, and veggies give so much flavor to this soup that doesn't need any.

    Primary Sidebar

    My-Picture-Sidebar

    Hi, (or Yiasou as we say in Greece)

    I'm Fotini and cooking is my job as well as my passion. I love making healthy, homemade dishes completely from scratch + sharing them with you...

    More about me →

    Popular Greek Dishes

    • Lamb-Souvlaki-Recipe
    • Greek-Horta-Recipe
    • Greek-Baked-Feta-Dip-With-Tomatoes
    • Bekri-Meze-Greek-Recipe
    • Greek-Beef-Giouvetsi-Recipe
    • Authentic-Greek-Potatoes-Recipe

    see more ⮕

    OTHER POSTS YOU MAY LIKE...

    →10 Greek Recipes To Give A Vegan All The Protein And Energy He/She Needs 

    →How To Make Grape Molasses (reduced grape must)

    →How To Dye Eggs With Onion Skins

    →How To Tie A Roast (easy tutorial with pictures)

    →What Is Olive Oil And Everything You'll Ever Need To Know About It

    Footer



    back to top ⬆

    • About
    • Contact
    • Recipe Index
    • Privacy Policy
    • Shop
    • Resources

    Sign Up!

    Never miss a recipe. Subscribe to our Newsletter and get our top 10 recipes! GO →

    Join Us For More...

    sharing facebook icon
    sharing pinterest icon
    sharing-instagram-icon
    sharing twitter icon

    No AI, Copyright © 2021 Real Greek Recipes on the Brunch Pro Theme