Fasolakia
Greek green beans braised slowly in olive oil with tomatoes, onion and potatoes until soft and sweet.
Photograph credit: FasolakiaPrasinaLadera (image of fasolakia on Wikidata Q12885736) by Robert Kindermann aka RobertK · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
The Method for Fasolakia
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Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion for 6 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minute.
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Add the tomatoes and water and bring to a simmer.
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Add the beans, potatoes, salt and oregano. Cover and cook gently for 30 minutes.
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Uncover and cook for 10 minutes more until the sauce is thick and the beans are very soft. Stir in the parsley.
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What Can Go Wrong
- Cook the beans until completely soft.
- Use plenty of olive oil.
- Uncover the pan at the end to thicken the sauce.
- Let the dish cool a little before serving.
Common Substitutions & Variations
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
- Fresh herbs work in place of the dried oregano at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.
About This Recipe
Cook them far longer than you think you should. That is the opposite of most green bean advice, and the key to fasolakia, where the beans are braised until they are silky and sweet, not crisp.
The Greek dish is a stew of green beans, potatoes, tomatoes and onion, with olive oil in generous amounts. The oil is not a garnish; it carries the flavour and gives the sauce its body. Do not trim the oil. The dish is traditionally called lathera, meaning cooked in oil.
Start with the onion and garlic, add the tomatoes and a little water, then the beans and potatoes. Simmer gently, with the lid slightly open so the sauce thickens. After 40 minutes the beans should collapse when pressed and the potatoes should be soft enough to break.
Serve warm, not hot, with crumbled feta and bread. It is even better the next day. Flat or round green beans both work, and older, larger beans suit the long cooking best.
On the Table Alongside
Feta · Crusty bread · Olives · Grilled fish
Keeping Fasolakia
Keeps in the fridge for 4 days. Good warm or cold.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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