Knowing how to cook fava beans is important for the success of the recipes you are going to prepare. In this recipe, you will find tips on how to cook fresh, dried, or frozen fava beans and the recipes in which to use them!

Fava beans are a very versatile legume that can be used to create

Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Very economical
Rest time: 2 Minutes
Preparation time: 10 Minutes
Portions: 1
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Spring, Summer

153.00 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 153.00 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 13.50 (g) of which sugars 6.60 (g)
Proteins 15.60 (g)
Fat 1.20 (g) of which saturated 0.00 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
Fibers 15.00 (g)
Sodium 446.58 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients per person

10.5 oz fava beans
as needed water
as needed salt

Tools

1 Pot

Procedure

Fava beans require relatively quick cooking compared to other legumes; of course, the time and procedure vary depending on the type of fava beans you use in your recipe.

Fresh fava beans have significant waste; for 100 g of whole product, you only get 30 g of shelled beans.
Tip: Always use fava beans with bright green, firm pods without external marks. Only in this way will you be sure they are extremely fresh.
Another way to tell if fava beans are fresh is to check the color under the top stem. If it’s slightly brown, it means the beans are a few days old; it’s better to consume them cooked.
After shelling the fresh fava beans, you can cook them in a pan or blanch them in boiling water. I prefer to blanch the beans in plenty of water to maintain the bright green color.
When the water boils, cook the beans for 5 minutes, drain, and use them for your final recipe. The skin has a bitter taste, so I usually remove it.
Dried fava beans are legumes, and like lentils or chickpeas, they need to be soaked for at least 12-24 hours so they can absorb water and be cooked. In this case, 100 g of dried beans can become up to 150 g of finished product.
You can also blanch dried fava beans in boiling water for 10-15 minutes. You can choose to do it in a pan with a cup of water or in a pot while soaking (1 liter of water).
Frozen fava beans do not require soaking but need a few more minutes of cooking. I put them in the pan while still frozen because they are small and thaw quickly. Consider 10-15 minutes for complete cooking.