A quicker Fasolada (Greek Bean Soup) makes for a delicious and satisfying weeknight dinner. You’ll love the bold Greek flavors in this vegan and gluten free white bean soup with garlic, onions, celery and a generous drizzle of good Greek extra virgin olive oil. This Fasolada recipe takes a bit of a modern approach–a little shortcut makes all the difference!
Fasolada
Fasolada is a popular Greek bean soup, occasionally referred to as the national food of the Greeks!
The star ingredients in this simple bean soup are: white beans, celery, and extra virgin olive oil–in fact, a healthy amount of quality extra virgin olive oil makes all the difference.
Some variations of Fasolada include carrots and tomatoes. And if you want to stick with tradition, you’ll want to start with dry white beans, soaked overnight.
But this recipe is simplified and takes a more modern, quick-n-dirty approach!
The key difference in this Fasolada recipe is in using canned beans in place of dry white beans. Needless to say, this small change shaved off a few hours of soaking time, immediately transforming Fasolada into a weeknight recipe.
Yes, we take a shortcut here, but we don’t give up flavor. Absolutely not!
At the outset, I use a combination of onions, garlic, celery and bay leaf. Warm spices are stirred in to continue adding aroma and depth. Finally, a splash of zesty lemon juice and fresh parsley add brightness.
What to serve with Greek Bean Soup (Fasolada)?
When we eat fasolada for dinner, my family typically starts with a bright salad like this traditional Greek salad, or maybe even fattoush salad. No need for too many sides, just add some Greek olives and your favorite rustic bread.
If you love beans are are looking for more creations to try, don’t miss this Greek baked beans recipe, and be sure to check out our Best Bean Recipes roundup. 35 recipes for every occasion!
More recipes you may like:
Ribollita (Tuscan White Bean Soup)
Avgolemono: Greek Chicken and Lemon Soup
Kidney Bean Salad with Cilantro and Dijon Vinaigrette
Visit our collection of Mediterranean recipes and our top Mediterranean diet recipes.
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Easy Greek Bean Soup (Fasolada)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: serves up to 6
Description
A quicker Fasolada (Greek Bean Soup) makes for a delicious and satisfying weeknight dinner!
Ingredients
- Early Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 celery ribs, chopped
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 4 1/2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 3 15-oz cans cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- In a heavy pot like this one, heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the chopped onion, salt and pepper. Cook for about 4 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring regularly. Now add the garlic, celery, bay leaf, and oregano. Cook 5 more minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add broth, cannelini beans, cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper. Raise the heat and bring to a rolling boil for 3 minutes or so. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Ladle 2 cups of the soup into the bowl of a small food processor or blender. Blend, then return to the cooking pot. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Off heat, stir in about 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley. Transfer to serving bowls and top each bowl with another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, if desired. Serve with your favorite rustic bread.
Notes
- Recommended for this Recipe: Our Early Harvest extra virgin olive oil.
- Visit our store to browse our all-natural and organic spices, olive oils and bundles!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Greek
I’ll admit I’m not a big soup person, but my husband is going to be on a soft food diet soon so we are testing recipes. This is a winner! For such simple ingredients, I was so surprised by the layers of flavor. Will purée the husbands portion more when he’s on his diet, but happy he will have a flavor and protein packed bowl of soup.
Hi, Reagan! So glad you enjoyed this one! We have several other delicious soup recipes that may work for your husband, as well. A few big favorites are our Red Lentil Soup and Healthy Potato Soup.
Simple and delish! I used an immersion blender to blitz it at the end. And didn’t add the 1/3 cup olive oil at the end – although it would have made it even better. Glad I made this at the start of soup season because I will absolutely make this again. And again.
PS I served it with crusty olive loaf bread, and a tin of cod liver. really delicious combo!
This is one of my favorite soups & I love this easy recipe. I do add a little carrots & fresh thyme, sometimes a can of diced tomatoes. Simple wholesome food that goes great with crusty bread & olives.
Foarte gustoasa supă
How long will this keep in the refrigerator?
Hello! It will keep well for 3-4 days in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
I took this recipe and made lots of modifications and it still turned out great! I added a leek in with the onion and garlic, then added potatoes and the broth and cooked for a little while before adding the canned beans (reduced the beans to two cans). Finished off with some chopped silverbeet (leaves and stalks). I did have to add more liquid to account for the extra veg but honestly was such a winner! Will definitely be making again.
Yum! Thanks for sharing, Mikhaila!
Such a delicious and easy recipe. Very fresh and full of flavor.
Thanks so much for the great review, Gabriela!
I’ve made well over a dozen recipes from The Mediterranean Dish and all of them have been fantastic, including the fasolada. I made a few minor changes, adding a pinch of saffron and using smoked paprika instead of sweet (since that’s what I had on hand) but otherwise followed the recipe as written. Wow! Sooo easy and absolutely delicious!! Easily tied with chicken soup for the perfect meal when you’re feeling under the weather.
Thanks for sharing your spice adaptations here, Nic! Sounds delish!
We have had success with this recipe as well as every recipe from Suzy that we’ve tried.
Keep up the good work and happy holidays!
Superb. Made this many times. I add a carrot and at the last stage I add two cans of chopped tomatoes
Made this loved it, Made enough for three of my colleagues who also enjoyed the soup. Although I added some frankfurter sausages to the recipe. Will certainly make again. One complaint this web page keeps jumping about while i try to write my comments
Regards
I have added Frankfurter, too and was delish! I wonder if any one here have tried adding leftover ham and was it?
Hi Suzy is this a soup one could substitute Lima beans for the cannellini beans? I just bought a bag of dry Lima beans and have not used them in the past. Thank you for your comments. Bernadette
Hi, Bernadette. We’ve never tried lima beans in this recipe, so hard to say how it would change the overall flavor profile, but it will technically work. Just be sure to cook the dried beans first.
I have to say, that not being a lover of beans and always looking for ways to enjoy them, as a healthy addition to my diet, I was absolutely bowled-over (pardon the pun) by the wonderful layering of flavors of this soup….and so easy and quick to prepare! I intend to add it to my rotation of meals and thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!…
Lol! Soups are such a great way to add some more beans into your diet!
I made this easy Greek Bean Soup last night since I had most of the ingredients at home already. Wow! This recipe definitely won’t disappoint anyone! Wonderful flavor in the array of spices (I did substitute Aleppo Pepper for the cayenne pepper since I had just purchased it from this web site). Spinach also was really good since I had some fresh leftover and didn’t have celery. Will definitely be making this recipe again and again!! Thank you Suzy for sharing! Love all your soup recipes!
Thanks so much, Ruth Anne!
Please send me the recipe for shrimp-spaghetti dish. It looked marvelous but I cannot find it again!
By the way, you are addressing your emails to my husband Nabil, but it is I who does the cooking, and it is I who get your emails. Please change the emails accordingly. I do love your recipes and with an Egyptian husband I am very much into your way of preparing food!
Hi, Mary. You can click here to find Suzy’s Shrimp Pasta recipe. I also sent a message to our email team so they can update the name on your account. Hope you have a lovely weekend!