Fava Bean Dip

Do you love fava beans, also known as broad beans? If this is a new ingredient for you, you might first want to learn more about what fava beans are and our dry broad beans recipe.

Fresh fava beans can be found only in spring but dry fava beans are at the markets all year round. If you have fresh fava beans on hand, then you should check out our basic fresh fava bean recipe and whole fava beans with tomatoes. Today, we are sharing one of our favorite dips: Egyptian fava bean dip.

This fava dip is a popular mezze in Turkish and Arabic cultures too. In Turkey, it is often served with several other mezze dishes including Turkish fritters, haydari, babaganoush and cacik.

We need to make a clarification here. There is a dip with the same name “fava” in Greek cuisine but it is not made with fava beans. Greek fava is made with yellow split peas. It is absolutely super tasty too, but you should just know that Greek fava aka Santorini fava is not made with fava beans.

Why Should You Make This Recipe?

• If fava beans are new to you, this dip is a great dish to include them in your diet.
• You can make it ahead of time, keep it in the fridge and serve when you are ready.
• It makes a great spread in sandwiches and wraps or on pita bread.
• It is a perfect appetizer to serve at parties.

About The Ingredients

This fava beans hummus recipe doesn’t require many ingredients. And unlike a traditional hummus, this one is made without tahini and has a lighter taste. As we love the mild taste of the broad bean itself, we keep the dip really simple. Let’s move on what we need to make an easy fava bean dip.

• Dried fava beans: We use whole large dry fava beans for this fava dip recipe. But you can use small beans too. Both types need to be soaked before cooking. There is still another type of dry fava beans at markets: Split fava beans. They are already peeled and cracked. So you won’t need to peel them after soaking. If you don’t have time for soaking, then you might prefer buying pre-cooked canned broad beans (foul mudammas), but they are not always available.
• Onion: The sweetness of sauteed onions go very well with the earthy flavor of fava beans.
• Lemon juice: It gives a nice tangy flavor. You know lemon is often used in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dips like this one.
• Olive oil: Use a generous amount of it; both when cooking onions with beans and when serving. You can drizzle it with extra-virgin olive oil right before serving.
• Red pepper flakes: Use it to add a little heat to your dip. You can substitute paprika for it if you want.
• Fresh dill: The slightly tangy flavor of dill is a nice addition to this broad bean dip. You can leave it out or experiment and try fresh mint or parsley.

Alternative Add-Ins

• Garlic: If you are a fan of garlic, add a clove into the food processor with the other ingredients. Alternatively, you can chop a few cloves garlic and add them into the pan to cook with onions and the beans. Then you can blend them together.
• Cumin: You can add ½ teaspoon ground cumin in the mixture when blending everything in the food processor.
• Nuts: You can toast some walnuts or pine nuts in a pan and top your dip with these.
• Lemon zest: It could be another refreshing touch on the topping.

Step-By-Step Instructions

This is an easy fava dip recipe but you need some time to prepare the dried fava beans unless you are using canned fava beans.

1. Prepare the fava beans. Soak dried fava beans in a large bowl for 6-7 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse them well.
2. Peel their skin off by pinching each bean between your thumb and forefinger. You will have about 1 and ½ cups shelled beans. Put them aside.
3. Heat olive oil and cook the chopped onions in it.
4. Add in shelled fava beans and pour 3 cups of hot water over them. Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat. Let it simmer covered until the beans are tender. You might need to add extra water if all water in the pan is absorbed but the beans are still not tender enough. Remove from the heat.
5. Add in lemon juice, salt and finely chopped fresh dill and put them in a food processor. Pulse until creamy. If the fava beans puree is too thick and it is hard to pulse, add a little cold water. Start with 1-2 tablespoons of water and check if more is needed to have a creamy texture.
6. Refrigerate at least for 30 minutes before serving and serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, fresh dill and red pepper flakes or paprika on it.

Fresh Fava Bean Version

So you might be asking: Can I use shelled fresh fava beans to make this dip? Of course you can. Then you won't need to soak the beans at all. You can just cook them with the onions. Then pour the water over them. Use 1 cup water for 1 cup shelled fresh fava beans and cook covered over low heat until tender. Then follow the rest of the recipe as described.

If you make the recipe with fresh favas, adding some crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese in the dip or on the top would be great too.

If you are not sure how to shell fresh fava, please check out our post about preparing fresh fava beans, which shows how to discard the pods and peel the skin of the beans.

Storage

You can keep this broad bean dip in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It is better to garnish it with olive oil, fresh dill and red pepper flakes when you are ready to serve.