Authentic foul (ful) mudammas recipe, made with hearty, creamy fava beans and loaded with flavor from ground cumin, fresh herbs, and a zippy lemon garlic sauce with hot peppers! Don’t worry, the sauce is not spicy, but it adds just the right kick. I use a shortcut in this quick fava beans recipe. Serve it with warm pita bread and sliced veggies. Or turn it into a big vegan feast with sides like tahini, hummus, and roasted cauliflower! Read through for all the tips.
Foul mudammas, pronounced “fool mudammas,” is a popular vegan dish throughout the Middle East and the Levant, but it is actually considered Egypt’s national dish.
Along with falafel and koshari, foul mudammas–also known as ful medames–is the daily grub of the Egyptian people. A humble but tasty vegan meal made of fava beans and served for late breakfast, lunch or even dinner.
Growing up, my family often had little meals of falafel and foul (short for foul mudammas) dinners. It’s about time, this Egyptian girl tells you a bit about a childhood favorite.
What is foul mudammas?
Foul mudammas is basically stewed fava beans (or broad beans), typically seasoned with a little ground cumin and finished with good extra virgin olive oil. Egyptians serve with warm pita bread and jazz it up with lemon juice, fresh veggies and herbs.
There are many ways to dress up this creamy, hearty fava bean porridge or dip. I like my foul mudammas with a spicy kick, so I make a special lemon and garlic sauce with hot chili peppers (although the lemon tames the peppers quite a bit, so it’s really not that spicy but adds a great kick!)
Before we get to this foul mudammas or fava bean recipe, let’s cover a couple of basics…
What are fava beans? And where to find them?
Fava beans may not be as familiar to you as black beans or kidney beans, for example. But they are an ancient legume and have been a part of the Middle Eastern kitchen and the Mediterranean diet since the 4th century!
Like many beans and legumes, fava beans are an excellent source of fiber and provide protein and iron.
And as far as texture and flavor, favas are one of the tastiest, meaty bean varieties around–creamy, buttery texture and a lovely, nutty flavor.
Fresh fava beans, also known as broad beans, come in bright bean pods and can be used in many beautiful spring salads and dishes. Sadly, fresh fava beans have a super short season, so you are more likely to find them dry or canned.
To make this foul mudammas recipe, I take a short cut by using canned fava beans. You can find them near other canned beans or the international section at your local grocery store. Otherwise, find canned fava beans via Amazon (affiliate): California Garden Fava Beans and Cortas Fava Beans.
You can also make foul mudammas from scratch, starting with dry fava beans, that’s how my parents used to make it.
Some grocery stores have dry fava beans in the bulk section near things like chickpeas. A couple of options available online: Hunza Fava Beans or Bob’s Redmill Fava Beans, which are a bit larger but can be used in the same way (affiliate links).
Ingredients for this recipe
There are four simple components to this foul mudammas recipe:
1. Fava beans (canned or dry?)
For this recipe, you’ll need to use canned or already cooked fava beans. I am using canned fava beans here for a short cut (2 cans of fava beans or 3 cups).
But, if you want to make foul from scratch, you can start with 1 cup dry fava beans. You’ll need to soak the beans overnight. Drain fully, then cook in plenty of water for about 1 hour or so until tender (see recipe notes.)
2. Seasoning & lemon garlic sauce with chili peppers
The flavor makers in this recipe are decidedly Mediterranean. We start with a pinch of fragrant ground cumin, which adds great depth and aids with digestion.
But the bold flavors in this simple fava bean stew come from a spicy sauce made with crushed garlic, chili peppers and fresh lemon juice.
Don’t worry, this foul mudammas recipe is not necessarily spicy. The lemon juice tames the spicy peppers pretty well, so the sauce actually adds enough of a kick without being overwhelming.
3. Extra virgin olive oil
May seem like a small component of this recipe, but you’ll need a generous drizzle of quality extra virgin olive oil. The EVOO will add flavor and provide that velvety finish to the stewed fava beans. I used Early Harvest Greek extra virgin olive oil
4. Fresh toppings
I love adding a good bunch of fresh parsley and some diced tomatoes on top. Some people like adding chopped onions, but I prefer to serve green onions on the side.
How to make foul mudammas: Step-by-step
Starting with canned or already cooked fava beans, there are three simple steps to make fava beans: warm up the beans and smash them, add flavor, top with fresh veggies.
1. Heat, mash and season fava beans
Remember, you are starting with canned or already cooked fava beans. Drain fava beans and place in a deep skillet or saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat with about 1/2 cup of water. Season with a little kosher salt and ground cumin (cumin adds depth here, but it also helps digestion.) Remove from heat.
Using your potato masher or the back of a fork, mash the beans (you don’t have to mash every single bean, but just do your best to mash them some so they’re nice and soft)
2. Add spicy lemon-garlic sauce and extra virgin olive oil
Using a mortar and pestle, smash garlic and green chili peppers. Add lemon juice and mix.
Tip: the lemon juice tames the chili peppers quite a bit, so this sauce adds a good kick to foul mudammas but it is not overwhelmingly spicy. Just the perfect balance.
Pour the spicy sauce over the fava beans and stir. Add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (I used Early Harvest Greek extra virgin olive oil)
3. Add fresh toppings
Top the foul mudammas with fresh parsley, diced tomatoes, and a few slices of hot peppers, if you like. Serve with a side of warm pita bread (see more about how to serve it below.)
How to serve it?
You can call it foul for short! Foul mudammas is best served with warm pita bread. You can add sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh green onions and olives to go along.
Foul mudammas is a meal on its own, so you certainly don’t need to add much else. But, you can turn it into a big Middle Eastern vegan feast by adding falafel and sides like tahini sauce (which you can easily drizzle on top); hummus; or baba ganoush!
I love making pita sandwiches with foul mudammas and slices of roasted eggplant or cauliflower.
Leftovers
You can refrigerate foul mudammas (that’s been seasoned and jazzed up with fresh toppings) in a tight-lid glass container for about 2 days (maybe 3 at most). Bring to room temperature and enjoy with pita bread.
If you have cooked fava beans that are plain, those can last in the fridge a couple more days. Be sure the fava beans are fully cooled before storing in the fridge.
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Foul Mudammas (Egyptian Fava Beans)
Ingredients
- 2 cans plain fava beans, 13 to 15 ounces each can (see notes if using dry fava beans)
- ½ cup water
- Kosher salt
- ½ to 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 to 2 hot peppers, chopped (jalapenos will work here)
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 large lemon, juice of
- Extra virgin olive oil, Early Harvest
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1 tomato, diced
To Serve:
- Warm pita bread
- Sliced tomatoes
- Sliced cucumbers
- Green onions
- Olives
Instructions
- In a cast iron skillet or saucepan, add the fava beans and ½ cup water. Warm over medium-high heat. Season with kosher salt and cumin. Use a potato masher or fork to mash the fava beans.
- In a morter and pestle, add the hot peppers and garlic. Smash. Add in juice of one lemon and stir to combine.
- Pour the garlic and hot pepper sauce over the fava beans. Add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Top with chopped parsley, diced tomatoes, and a few slices of hot peppers, if you like.
- Serve with pita bread, sliced veggies and olives.
Video
Notes
- To make Foul Mudammas from dry fava beans: Start with 1 cup of dry fava beans. Soak in plenty of water over night (beans will expand in size.) Drain and discard soaking water. If you like, peel the beans and discard the hard skin. Place beans in a large pot or saucepan, and add plenty of water (about 5 cups or so.) Bring them to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover part-way and let simmer for about 1 hour. Drain and discard water. Proceed with foul muddamas recipe above.
- Where to find fava beans? Fava beans are available in many grocery stores near other canned beans or particularly in the international section. You may also find dry fava beans in the bulk section near chickpeas. Otherwise, find canned fava beans via Amazon (affiliate): California Garden Fava Beans and Cortas Fava Beans. For dry fava beans: Hunza Fava Beans or Bob's Redmill Fava Beans, which are a bit larger but can be used in the same way (affiliate links).
- Visit Our Online Shop to browse our all-natural and organic spices, including cumin, and quality extra virgin olive oils including Greek Early Harvest EVOO!
Nice dish. I cooked the beans in chicken broth, which I added (1/4 cup) to the dish plus more garlic and lemon. Also added a bit of hot sauce for extra spice.
Delicious and easy! Thank you, Suzy! I will be making this regularly.
Great to hear! Thanks, Jodi!
Delicious! The pepper, garlic, lemon addition was perfect.
Very nice although I will next time make it more garlicky chilli like as it wasnt quite enough for me, but otherwise spot on , all family liked it.
Got inspired by the bean dish email and was bored with my usual eggs on toast for breakfast so I did ful mudammas on toast with an egg on top and it was delicious!
It was great! I added a bit more cumin, garlic and salt
Is that right for the protein content of the recipe? It says 0.9 Gm. Did you mean 9 Gm?
Hi, Theresa! Thanks for pointing that out. We’ll go in and take another look at the nutrition facts.
Hi, I have your beautiful cookbook and am excited to try this recipe.
Is it necessary to peel fava beans? I am soaking the dry beans but am seeing different advice all over the place as to whether peeling is necessary.
Hi, Sara. For this particular recipes, we haven’t found it necessary to peel the fava beans. Enjoy!
This recipe is great, and saved me from ruining a batch of fava beans! I was attempting to make a fava bean falafel for the first time, soaked one pound of dried beans for ~26 hours, and was peeling them but not having much luck. The beans were a bit on the old side, so I thought I’d cook them for 15-20 minutes and see if that helped. Well, they were TOO cooked for falafel at that point.
I cooked the beans for a bit longer and pivoted to this recipe, doing some guess work on amounts/ratios but using the same ingredients, and it turned out great. I think I ended up using 1 1/2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp kosher salt, 4 cloves of garlic, juice from 1 1/2 lemons, a serrano and a jalapeño. The garlic/pepper topping is delicious and perfectly balanced, I want to put it on all bean preparations forever moving forward. Excited to try more recipes from this blog!
Great recipes! I need to get serious about lowering my cholesterol and Mediterranean is the way to go for me. My niece married a wonderful Egyptian man and dinners with his mother are a divine culinary feast! I have a Palistinian friend did not grow up on butter and I’m learning to substitute olive oil every time for butter. My goal is to keep my saturated fats under 13 grams/day. I wish the nutritional info provided a breakdown of total fats so I could monitor my saturated fat grams. I will put in the extra work as you have created a great resource for healthier cooking without charging a membership fee. So sad but true, it seems that I cannot access the American Heart Association or the Mayo Clinic recipes without paying a membership fee. Thank you for not profiting off of people trying to improve their health.
Hi, Kathy! Thanks so much for your kind words! We’re thrilled to hear that you find the recipes on our website helpful. It’s wonderful that you’re taking steps to lower your cholesterol…the Mediterranean way of eating is fantastic choice for promoting heart health. It’s unfortunate that some platforms require membership fees. Here at The Mediterranean Dish, it’s important to us to provide free resources to make info accessible to everyone on their journey to better health. We’re so glad to have you as a part of our community!
muy buena receta
Do I drain the fava beans
Hi, Ann! Yes, you want to drain the fava beans here. Enjoy!
Perfect thank you
The protein content (0.9 g) seems very low for a dish made with beans. Is this correct?
Thanks
Judy
Hi, Judy. Thanks for pointing that out. We’ll take another look. The nutritional information for this was calculated using our older program, which might be the reason. We are working to update all of all older recipe cards… just takes some time.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing! Can you let me know what chili pepper you used here? It looks like a GUAJILLO CHILI PEPPERS
Hi, Sandra. Suzy typically used jalapenos in this recipe. Hope you give it a try!
Apologies, I meant serrano peppers. (not “GUAJILLO CHILI PEPPERS) I proceeded with Jalapeño and it was amazing.
Love the recipe. Having a hard time finding Fava beans. What would be a good substitute, or where to buy a can at the big chain stores?
Hi, Nick! You can click here to find them on Amazon.
Hi! What’s a substitute for the fava beans? Thanks!
Hi, Dené! We’ve found pinto beans to work well with this recipe if you can’t find fava beans.
Interesting thing, there are more types of broad beans, in my country typical are broad beans with big seeds. The variety with small seeds like on your picture is considered horse bean / field bean and is used either as cover crop or its seeds are harvested to feed animals. When I saw them as kid / teen on the fields, I always eyed them, wondering, whether they’d be edible or not, but when I asked people, they always said it’s only for animal consumption, not for humans. This variety has smaller seeds, probably making harvesting harder, but it also always seemed more immune to diseases and pests, so I assumed it’s more ancient / wild variety. 🤔
Then as adult I checked its nutritional contents and it turned out field beans have even higher protein content than broad beans. I prepared them and they were tasty, though really pain in the butt to get out of the pods, comparing to the bigger variety. I had also some canned fava beans from the Turkish store and didn’t notice any difference between fava beans and field beans I had, both were smaller than broad beans, but equally tasty. 🤤
Now I keep wondering whether it’s the same or not. Btw broad beans are here mostly eaten while young, when their seeds are still green, and they are frozen / preserved in that state, I never saw them offered as ripe dried beans, like it’s the case with pea, chickpeas, beans or another legumes. Before getting to know other cuisines I didn’t even think they could be eaten like that, the mature seeds were reserved for next year to sow.
I don’t blame older people for avoiding smaller variety / varieties, though, and calling it animal food. The post WW2 trauma is still present among generations born just before, during the war or shortly thereafter and due to food shortages people ate whatever they could and many of them pass down that trauma onto next generations. For the same reason the rutabaga aka swede aka Swedish turnip is still considered animal food here and many people literally shudder when someone mentions wanting to eat it. 😅 Meanwhile swede makes perfect mash, alone or with potatoes, is as filling as them and has this delicious taste of cruciferous vegetables, it’s as if I put cooked broccoli or cabbage into potato mash.
Ful mudammas is nice recipe, very filling and perfect for this time of the year. 😍 I usually either omit hot peppers or add them to my own plate, due to my close family getting sick after eating too spicy food.
Hi, Luna! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and give us all a bit of an education. Very interesting info :).