Fava Bean Dip (Fava Hummus)

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: Dried fava dip.

This fava dip is a popular mezze in Turkey, which is also called “fava” in Turkish. It is often served with several other mezze dishes including Turkish fritters, haydari, authentic hummus, 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. 

Jump to:

• Why Should You Make This Recipe?
• About The Ingredients
• Alternative Add-Ins
• How To Make
• Fresh Fava Bean Version
• How To Store
• Expert Tips
• Serving Suggestions
• FAQs
• More Dip Recipes
• 📖 Recipe

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 is a perfect appetizer to serve at parties. 

About The Ingredients

This fava hummus recipe doesn’t require many ingredients. And unlike a traditional hummus, this one is made without tahini. 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 canned fava beans, 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. 
• Fresh dill: The slightly tangy flavor of dill is a nice addition to this broad bean dip. It is the herb that is traditionally used in this Turkish recipe. We have never seen a fava served with another herb. But you can always experiment and try it with 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 of 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.

How To Make

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. Check out how to prepare fava beans for cooking to learn more tips about this process.

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 mixture 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 olive oil, fresh dill and red pepper flakes 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.

How To Store

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.

Expert Tips

• Don’t skip peeling the skin of the beans. These are thick and not great to eat. 
• We cook dry fava beans and onions together in this recipe. That’s why we pour 3 cups of water into the pot. The beans will absorb it.
• If you are using canned fava beans, don’t use water when cooking them with onions. Cook them together for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• If you already have some cooked dry fava beans in the fridge or freezer, you can add them directly into the pot and cook with onions. Cook them for 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Serving Suggestions

• You can top your dip with some finely chopped red onions and tomatoes. 
• We love to serve this fava bean dip accompanied by pide bread, pita bread or lavash.
• Also we love to serve it as a part of mezze platter along with fresh salads like spicy ezme, shepherd salad and piyaz salad.

FAQs

More Dip Recipes

• Beetroot Hummus
• Beetroot Dip
• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• Babaganoush without Tahini
• Red Lentil Dip
• Hummus without Tahini
• Green Olive Tapenade

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