13 Fava Bean Recipes for Our Favorite Dark Horse Legume

What better way to say hello to spring?

By SAVEUR Editors | Published Feb 13, 2017 10:00 AM

Food

Chef Jessica Largey gave us the recipe for this verdant pesto, a combination of blanched fresh fava beans, Marcona almonds, anchovies, garlic, and mint. Matt Taylor-Gross

Celebrate the arrival of the spring by picking up a bushel of fresh fava beans at your local farmer’s market and adding these fava bean recipes to your cooking repertoire. Known in old times as broad beans, their bright colors and a nutty, buttery flavor make them worthy of a post on your spring produce grocery list. Don’t fear the seemingly daunting preparation: although fava beans are double-shelled, prepping them takes little more than sliding a knife through an already perforated edge and shaking the pods lightly to free the beans inside. A quick blanch is all it takes to bring it to a fava bean dish—it’s one of our favorite ways to rethink weeknight pesto sauce. From a fragrant Mexican soup to Egypt’s national dish, ful medames, here are our 13 favorite fava bean recipes.

Fava-Mint Pesto

Chef Jessica Largey gave us the recipe for this verdant pesto, a combination of blanched fresh fava beans, Marcona almonds, anchovies, garlic, and mint.

Mexican Fava Bean Soup (Sopa de Habas)

Warm Wheat Berry Salad with Fava Beans and Trout Roe

Chewy, protein-packed wheat berries make this warm salad a satisfying main course.

Fava Bean, Herb, and Pomegranate Fattoush

Fava beans add protein a dash of color to this take on the Levantine bread salad.

Garlic and Dill Fava Bean Salad (Bagula)

Cumin and lemon bring a smoky and tart savoriness to this classic Egyptian bean dish.

Loubieh bil Zeit (Romano Beans with Tomatoes)

This Lebanese dish of beans braised in olive oil is traditionally made with romanos, but fava beans make a great substitute.

Vegetable Ragout with Pesto (Ragoût de Légumes au Pistou)

Pairing pistou, an herb sauce made with fresh basil, with tender spring vegetables makes for a bright-tasting seasonal entrée.

Summer Bean Salad

A kaleidoscopic combination of fava and romano beans, garbanzos, cranberry beans, and green and yellow wax beans, this fresh side is perfect for picnics and elegant dinners alike.

Stewed Fava Beans (Ful Medames)

Best known as Egypt’s national dish, ful medames is a hearty stew of warmed fava beans stirred with olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic, usually eaten for breakfast.