Foul Akhdar Bi Zeit is a popular Lebanese recipe of fresh green broad beans in a garlicky coriander and extra virgin olive oil sauce.

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Every year without fail, mum grows broad beans aka fava beans in her garden. It's an abundant plant, harvesting is so much fun as we get several kilos from it.
I love being able to pick the fresh green broad beans straight from the plant and munching on them.
As you can see from the below video, the green fava beans were freshly harvested to make this Foul Akhdar Bi Zeit and transformed into a meal of garlicky & coriander green broad bean deliciousness.
My mum has been quite pleased with the fact that I am sharing recipes with the world, and she would like to join in on the fun.
So I agreed with her that every Friday we would cook together and I would share them via Plant Based Folk and all the attached social media.
This is the first recipe with her featuring in video.
Foul akhdar bi Zeit is a simple Lebanese meal and is also prepared across the mediterranean.
Foul is the arabic word for broad bean/fava bean. Akhdar translates to 'green' and bi zeit means 'in olive oil'. This green broad bean dish is accidentally vegan and gluten free.
Foul is pronounced as "fool" in English and may also be seen written in menus as 'ful'. In our Lebanese diet, foul is eaten both fresh and raw.
Let's learn how to cook green broad bean
🥘 Ingredients
- 3 kg Fresh Green Broad Beans de-stringed and chopped
- 2 large brown onions diced
- 1½ head Garlic fresh and minced
- 2 sml Red chilli Optional
- 1 tbsp Ground Coriander
- 1½ cups Fresh coriander chopped
- 2 cups Olive oil* Extra virgin
- 1 tbsp Salt & Pepper to taste
- 2½ cups Water
🔪Cooking Instructions
Mise En Place
- Step one - Measure out all ingredients
Preparing Green Broad Beans
- Step two - Wash, de-string and cut green broad beans into bite sized pieces
Prepare all veggies
- Step three - Peel and dice onion into small pieces
- Step four - Peel and crush garlic
- Step five - Wash and chop fresh coriander. Getting rid of the tougher stem section. Or measure out frozen chopped coriander.
- Step six - Optional - finely chop red chilli
Cooking
Step seven - In a large pot, heat ½ cup EVOO over high heat and add chilli (optional)
Step eight - Add onion and garlic. Sweat until translucent
Step nine - Add in ½ cup EVOO
Step 10 - Stir onions and garlic thoroughly for about 10 minutes and then add another ½ cup EVOO. Repeat stirring and add remaining EVOO
Step 11 - Add (fresh or frozen) coriander (cilantro) and fry off about 10 minutes
Step 12 - Add ground coriander and salt & pepper and fry until golden brown
Step 13 - Add fresh green broad bean and water. Stir all contents through
Step 14 - Reduce heat to medium and allow broad bean to cook for about 50 minutes until wilted. Stir every 10-15 minutes.
Step 15 - Serve with juice from the bottom of the pot and Lebanese bread
💭Recipe Tips
Prepare the fresh broad beans right before you start cooking as the cut areas will turn black if prepared too in advanced. This is part of their bruising process.
De-stringing broad beans is important, as it's unpleasant eating bean string
If you like lemon, add a squeeze of lemon at the end when serving
💡Recipe Variations
Frozen green broad beans can be used instead
⏲️Cooking Time
There are two parts to cooking foul akhdar bi zeit
- Sweating the onion, garlic and coriander - this takes about 15-20 minutes on high heat
- Stewing the green broad beans - this takes approximately 50 minutes on low-medium heat
❓FAQ
Yes, raw and fresh broad bean are a pale green colour and are sweet to eat
Yes, these broad bean pods are sweet when eat raw. Broad bean pods can also be cooked.
Yes, these are the same beans formally known as vicia faba. They have several other names such as faba beans, horse beans, bell bean and windsor bean.
If you are looking for a dry fava beans recipe, try my inviting and creamy foul moudamas.
Or another delicious Lebanese bean recipe is Loubieh Bi Zeit
Foul Bi Zeit (Green Broad Beans)
Ingredients
- 3 kg Fresh Green Broad Beans de-stringed and chopped
- 2 large brown onions diced
- 1½ head Garlic fresh and minced
- 2 sml Red chilli Optional
- 1 tablespoon Ground Coriander
- 1½ cups Fresh coriander chopped
- 2 cups Olive oil Extra virgin
- 1 tablespoon Salt & Pepper to taste
- 2½ cups Water
Instructions
Preparing Green Broad Beans
- Wash, de-string and cut green broad beans into bite sized pieces
Prepare all veggies
- Peel and dice onion into small pieces
- Peel and crush garlic
- Wash and chop fresh coriander. Getting rid of the tougher stem section. Or measure out frozen chopped coriander.
- Optional - finely chop red chilli
Cooking
- In a large pot, heat ½ cup EVOO over high heat and add chilli (optional)
- Add onion and garlic. Sweat until translucent
- Add in ½ cup EVOO
- Stir onions and garlic thoroughly for about 10 minutes and then add another ½ cup EVOO. Repeat stirring and add remaining EVOO
- Add (fresh or frozen) coriander (cilantro) and fry off about 10 minutes
- Add ground coriander and salt & pepper and fry until golden brown
- Add fresh green broad bean and water. Stir all contents through
- Reduce heat to medium and allow broad bean to cook for about 50 minutes until wilted. Stir every 10-15 minutes.
- Serve with juice from the bottom of the pot and Lebanese bread
Video
Equipment
Nutrition
N.B., nutrition info is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. This will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.
Emily
I love this simple green dish! I don't use coriander enough, even though it is one of my favorite flavors.
plantbasedfolk
Coriander is such a unique flavour and when combined with garlic - it makes any dish spectacular!
Sara
It is broad bean season in Australia right now and I can't wait to try this salad. My hubby loves broad beans but I'm always stuck on new ways to serve them up. Thank you so much!!!
plantbasedfolk
Enjoy this new broad bean recipe Sara - 😀
Lizet Bowen
Wow! I just found your blog. I love reading and seeing all your Lebanese recipes. All mouthwatering. Can't wait to try a few.
plantbasedfolk
Thank you Lizet, you're very kind
Luci
Yum! I've been trying out Lebanese cuisine and I'm obsessed! I will definitely be making this dish next! It's a perfect way to enjoy broad beans!
plantbasedfolk
Yay! You'll enjoy it Lucy!
Angela
I love broad beans! And all the garlic in this dish is spot on! Perfect healthy side dish. YUM!
plantbasedfolk
It's fabulous as a side or in a wrap. Enjoy:)
Patty
We love love love Lebanese cuisine, and this simple yet amazingly flavorable veggie dish is sure to be a huge hit for us!! Thanks for sharing your mum's recipe 🙂
plantbasedfolk
Thanks Patty - Lebanese cuisine is amazing!
Anita
This is such a simple and easy way to cook and enjoy fresh broad beans. Love it!
plantbasedfolk
Thank you Anita, I couldn't agree more
Anjali
This was so easy to make and was the perfect side dish for our dinner tonight! Yum!
plantbasedfolk
So good to read - it's a great side dish. I love eating it with a salad too 😀
Beth
Yummy! This looks so delicious and tasty! My husband is going to love this recipe!
plantbasedfolk
Enjoy Beth! xx
Jeannette
Wow. Simple, easy and just INCREDIBLE. Love the garlic kick and spices to make this recipe all that much better! Thanks for sharing!
plantbasedfolk
The garlicky-ness is so good! 😀