Kuru fasulye
Dried white beans stewed slowly with beef, onion, tomato paste and pepper paste until soft and saucy. Turkey's everyday lunch, served with pilav.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 2 hr 5 min
- Rest
- 12 hr 15 min
- Total
- 14 hr 40 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- Mild
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Kuru fasulye is dried white beans stewed with onion, tomato paste, red pepper paste and, usually, a little meat, until the beans are soft enough to crush against the roof of your mouth and the sauce is red, loose and glossy with fat. This version uses cubes of beef browned in butter and oil. The beans are soaked overnight, boiled briefly and drained, then simmered slowly for an hour and a half. It is not thick like chilli or sweet like baked beans; it should be savoury and soupy enough to spoon over rice. Serve it with plain pilaf, pickles and raw onion.
What you'll need
12 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
Ingredients
- Dried white beans, haricot or cannellini, soaked overnight500 g
- Beef, chuck, in 2 cm cubes400 g
- Olive oil30 ml
- Butter30 g
- Onion, chopped2 medium
- Green pepper, long sivri peppers, sliced (optional)2
- Tomato purée, tomato paste30 ml
- Red pepper paste, Turkish biber salçası15 ml
- Water, hot1½ l
- Salt9.9 ml
- Black pepper4.9 ml
- Chilli flakes, pul biber4.9 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water. Drain, cover with fresh water, boil for 10 minutes and drain again.
15 min
Tip: The first boil and drain is the Turkish cook's answer to beans and wind. It also gives a cleaner sauce.
Step 2
Heat the oil and butter in a heavy pot and brown the beef over high heat for about 8 minutes. Add the onion and peppers and cook 8 minutes more until soft.
16 min
Step 3
Stir in the tomato paste and pepper paste and fry for 2 minutes until they darken and smell sweet. Add the beans and pour in enough hot water to cover them by about 3 cm.
4 min
Step 4
Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer gently for 1½ hours, until the beans are completely soft. Add the salt, black pepper and pul biber once the beans have begun to soften, after about an hour.
90 min
Tip: In a pressure cooker, cook 25 minutes at pressure after step 3 and let the pressure drop on its own.
Step 5
Uncover for the last 15 minutes so the sauce thickens a little; it should still be loose. Rest it off the heat for 15 minutes, then serve with rice pilaf, pickles and sliced raw onion.
30 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 389 kcal
- Protein
- 26.7 g
- Carbs
- 26.9 g
- Fat
- 19.1 g
- Saturated fat
- 7.2 g
- Fibre
- 7.9 g
- Sugar
- 4.1 g
- Sodium
- 1241 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Milk
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Dried white beans → Three 400 g tins of cannellini or haricot beans, drained
Simmer the browned beef with the pastes in 600 ml water for an hour until tender, then add the beans for the last 25 minutes. Softer and less creamy, but quicker.
Tips
- Use beans from a shop with a fast turnover. Old beans never soften properly, however long you cook them.
- It is better the next day, loosened with a splash of water.
- For the meatless olive-oil version, leave out the beef and butter and double the olive oil.
History & culture
Kuru fasulye with pilav is the canteen meal of Turkey: school lunch, army lunch, workers' lunch, and what many people call the national dish when they are not being romantic. The bean houses opposite the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul have served it for about a century. At home it is a weekday pot that feeds a family for two days.
Haricot beans are American and reached the Ottoman world in the 16th and 17th centuries, slipping into dishes that had used broad beans and chickpeas. Kuru fasulye became everyday food in the 19th and 20th centuries as beans grew cheap and city lokantas fed workers. Several regions claim the best beans.
Traditional — Some cooks use lamb, pastırma or sucuk in place of beef, and plenty make it with no meat at all, in olive oil. The meat here is a modest amount, as in most homes: the beans are the dish.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Kuru fasulye take?
14 hr 40 min all in — 20 min prep, 2 hr 5 min cook, 12 hr 15 min rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 6 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
Mild.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Gluten-free, Nut-free.
7 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Stockpot, Dutch oven, Pressure cooker.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 2 tsp.
What can I use instead?
Dried white beans → Three 400 g tins of cannellini or haricot beans, drained. Simmer the browned beef with the pastes in 600 ml water for an hour until tender, then add the beans for the last 25 minutes. Softer and less creamy, but quicker.
Any tips from this recipe?
Use beans from a shop with a fast turnover. Old beans never soften properly, however long you cook them. It is better the next day, loosened with a splash of water. For the meatless olive-oil version, leave out the beef and butter and double the olive oil.
Can I prepare this ahead?
It is better the next day, loosened with a splash of water. The first boil and drain is the Turkish cook's answer to beans and wind. It also gives a cleaner sauce.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
