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

Fasolatha - White Bean And Tomato Soup

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.

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.

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

Bring beans to a boil along with 2-3 liters of water in a cooking pot.
Cook for 3-4 minutes and then drain beans in a strainer.
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.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer over medium to medium-high heat while stirring occasionally until the soup thickens.

Slow Cooker Instructions

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

Other Traditional Greek Legume Soups:

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.

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 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