Ful medames (Egyptian fava beans with cumin and lemon)
15 min · 22 g protein · 390 cals / serving
Egypt's everyday breakfast: fava beans warmed with garlic and cumin, half mashed so they turn creamy, and finished with lemon, a thread of olive oil and tahini, chopped tomato, cucumber, red onion and parsley. Canned beans make it a ten-minute pan.
Ingredients
- 2 cans (15 oz each) fava beans, drained, liquid saved
- scant 1/2 cup water, or the bean liquid
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tsp tahini
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 2/3 large cucumbers, diced
- 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
- a small handful fresh parsley, chopped
- a pinch red pepper flakes, or Aleppo pepper
Steps
- Put the beans, water, garlic and cumin in a saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring, until the beans are hot and soft.
- Mash about half the beans roughly with a potato masher or fork, so you have a creamy stew with whole beans through it. Stir in the salt and lemon juice and add a splash more water if it is stiffer than thick porridge.
- Spoon into bowls, drizzle over the olive oil and tahini, and top with the tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley and a pinch of pepper flakes.
Good to know
Which beans?
Look for small brown fava beans labeled "ful medames" or "foul" in Middle Eastern shops. Large broad beans work but are starchier and need longer mashing.
What goes with it?
Warm pita for scooping, and cucumbers, pickles and radishes on the side. Some families add a chopped boiled egg, which makes it vegetarian rather than vegan.
Per
- Calories
- 70
- Protein
- (23%)
- 4 g
- Fat
- (19%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (57%)
- 11 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sodium
- 177 mg
More breakfast
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 781 kcal goes into the pot and 1142 g of ingredients comes out as about 1110 g of food: 70 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.