How To Prepare Fava Beans (Fresh & Dried)

You can find fava beans fresh in spring but you can find them dried, canned and frozen all year long. No matter if they are fresh or dried, fava beans, aka broad beans are full of protein, fiber, potassium, and magnesium. And they have a unique buttery and earthy flavor. So you should include them in your everyday diet. 

But first, know that there has to be some preparation before you can cook fava beans. In today’s post, we will show you the steps of how to shell fresh and dried fava beans. We hope you find them helpful.

Jump to:

• Do I Need To Shell Fava Beans?
• How To Shell Fresh Fava Beans
• How To Shell Dried Fava Beans
• How To Store
• How to Use
• FAQs
• Other Bean Recipes
• 📖 Recipe

Do I Need To Shell Fava Beans?

Fresh broad beans are very special as their season is very short. Buy some once you see them at farmer's market. You can cook them whole when they are very young with soft and bright green pods and tiny beans inside them. Just like we do in our Turkish fava beans with tomatoes.

To prepare young whole fava beans, you don’t need to pod or shell the beans. Just cut off the ends and pull the thin string if there is any. As these are very young, they probably have no strings at all. Then you can cut them into two or three. We always add some lemon juice on them before cooking. This will prevent them from turning into a blackish color. You can use them in soups or stews.

As the season gets close to end, it’s better to remove the beans inside pod because their pod gets inedible(bitter and tough). Also you had better peel those beans before cooking for the best result and this requires another step.

As for dried fava beans, they already come without pods but still have to be shelled. Their skin is really thick and chewy, so we don’t want them in our dish. 

In conclusion, we need to shell both fresh and dried broad beans. The only exception is for young green favas that can be eaten with their pods.

How To Shell Fresh Fava Beans

Preparing fresh broad beans is very easy but takes a bit of time. That being said, the whole process is worth the trouble as broad beans have a mild, buttery and creamy taste when they are double shelled. Now let’s learn how to shell fresh green fava beans. We will be using 2 pounds of fresh fava bean pods here, which yield about 1 cup of shelled fava beans.

1. Pod the beans. You can easily do this with a knife. Cut off one end and pull the tiny string down. This will open up the seam on the pod and you will see the beans inside. If you can’t unzip the seam with this method, you can just tear it open with your hands. Remove the beans from the pod by pushing them with your thumb and forefinger. Transfer them into a bowl.

2. After all of the beans are removed, make a small slit on the side of each bean. This is an optional step that will make peeling the tough skin much easier.
3. Blanch the beans. We use mom’s easy method for this. Fill a saucepan or a bowl with boiling hot water. Add in salt and mix. Throw the beans with a slit into this hot salty water (not over the heat). Let them soak for 10 minutes, drain and rinse under cold water.

Alternative blanching method: This is a more common method that is used for blanching any vegetable. Bring a pot of salty water to a boil. Add the beans into the boiling water and cook for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Then, using a slotted spoon, immediately transfer these beans into a bowl of ice water. Let them sit there for about 5 minutes and drain. 

4. Peel the outer skins. Take a bean between your fingers and gently squeeze the bean to remove it from the tough skin. If you cut a slit on each bean before blanching, it is super easy. But if you haven’t done so, you can use your nail to start the peeling and then pop them out of their skin. 

5. Use them in your dishes. Add these in your salads, pasta dishes, soups, stews or on your toasts. If you want an easy side dish, learn how to cook fresh favas with olive oil. 

Tip: If you buy frozen fava beans from the store, they are probably peeled and you won’t need any of those steps above. 

How To Shell Dried Fava Beans

Dried fava beans can be found all year round. They are very much like chickpeas in terms of texture and taste when they are cooked.

They are already podded, but still we need to peel their skin before using them in recipes. So let’s learn how to prepare dried fava beans for cooking. We will be using 1 pound (450g) dried beans here, which yields about 1 and ½ cups peeled beans.

1. Soak the beans overnight. This is a method used for all dried beans. Put the dry fava beans into a large bowl or pot and fill it with water. Let them sit at least 6-7 hours or overnight. 

After overnight soaking, you will see that the beans have absorbed moisture and got larger in size. This will help them cook quicker. 

Quick soaking method: If you don’t have time for overnight soaking, you can use this method. But it still requires about 1 hour. Put the beans into a pot and fill it with water, covering by 6-7 inches of water. Bring them to a boil, let simmer for 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Let them sit covered for 1 hour.

2. Drain and rinse. After soaking the beans, drain and rinse them well. Discard the soaking water.
3. Peel their skin. Pinch each bean with your thumb and forefinger, it will easily pop out of the skin. You can use your nail to start the peeling as you do when peeling fresh favas. 

4. Cook them. As they are not fully cooked, shelled beans require a cooking process now. Put them back into the pot. Fill the pot with water. You can use 7-8 cups of water for 1-2 cups of peeled beans. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 40-50 minutes or until tender. They should be tender but not mushy. Drain and let them cool.

5. Use them in your cooking. Our favorite dish with them is dried fava bean dip. You can also add them in soups or stews. 

Tip: If you buy canned fava beans, they are probably peeled and you won’t need the steps above. Just drain and rinse them and use in your cooking. If split dried fava beans are what you have, you should soak them in the same way described above, but don’t need the peeling step. Split fava beans are already peeled, so they are a great time saver. 

How To Store

You can store both shelled fresh and dried fava beans in the fridge for up to a week or freeze them for up to 6 months. Make sure that they cool completely. 

To freeze the beans, resealable freezer bags are the best. You can measure 1 or 2 cups of beans in each bag. When ready to use, thaw them in hot water and then use in recipes. 

How to Use

• Make a fava dip, which is very much like hummus. 
• Add them in your salads like piyaz or black-eyed pea salad.
• Throw them in lentil soup.
• Add them in your rice pilaf or bulgur pilaf.

FAQs

Other Bean Recipes

• Turkish Bean Stew
• Turkish Bean Salad Piyaz
• Braised Green Beans with Tomatoes
• Black Eyed Pea Salad

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