A true family heirloom, fasulye is a Turkish green bean stew with meat that is simple and comforting. Simmered in tomato broth, we like to serve fasulye with basmati or jasmine rice.
There are a few favorite recipes I gravitate towards when I am craving something from my childhood. One is this hearty and simple Turkish green bean stew, my mom's stuffed grape leaves and perfectly crisp latkes.
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🥣 A Little Family Story about Fasulye
This Turkish green bean stew is dear to my childhood and to my stomach. Called fasulye, it is based off of my Mom’s Sephardic side of the family and is truly and family gem.
My mother learned to make this recipe from her Great-Grandmother and all the women in our family have a certain twist to their fasulye.
I would often hear stories about how my mom, her sister, Aunt Clara and Grandma and Great-Grandma would all sit on the floor with large bowls of green beans snapping each end of every single one. If there was still a string left, Mom’s Grandma spotted it.
🥩 What is Fasulye?
Fasulye translates to beans in Turkish, which can be from fresh green beans, like in this recipe or kuru fasulye which has white beans.
The Turkish stew usually has a tomato base, with either tomato paste or chopped tomatoes with cubes of beef or lamb. There are also vegetarian versions of fasulye with sauteed green beans and tomatoes.
📋 Ingredients
Turkish fasulye is simple and heart-warming and the ingredients are uncomplicated, yet the flavors are pronounced. The combination of tomato with the green beans creates a distinct flavor only this pairing can illustrate.
- Beef Stew Meat: Look for chuck for this beef stew and if cutting the meat yourself, cut the beef into 1 inch cubes.
- Onion: Yellow or white onion, diced.
- Tomato Paste: This gives a deep tomato flavor to the stew. When adding, sauté the tomato paste in the oil so all the flavors open up.
- Chopped Tomatoes: If tomatoes are in season, use fresh tomatoes for the best flavor but a small can of chopped tomatoes works very well.
- Water or Stock: I like using a stock base which gives great flavor.
- Green Beans: Fresh or frozen green beans work well for fasulye. If using fresh, trim the ends off.
⏲️ How to Make Fasulye
- Pat the cubed beef dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
- Bring a Dutch oven to medium high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Once hot, sear the beef cubes, in batches until caramelized on all sides.
- Remove the beef to a plate and sauté the chopped onions until softened, for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir the tomato paste in sauté for another minute until deepened in color. Then pour in ½ cup water and deglaze, scraping up any meaty bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven.
- Add the beef cubes back in and pour the stock and chopped tomatoes in and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Place green beans on top of the stew, making sure they are not submerged so the green beans steam and not overcook.
- Cover the Dutch oven, leaving a small opening and bring to a simmer. Cook the beef stew for 1-1 ½ hours, until the meat is tender and green beans are just cooked through.
- Serve fasule with white rice, spooning the sauce over the rice and garnish with chopped parsley.
📍 Recipe Tips
- Dry the beef very well with paper towels so the meat sears nicely.
- Use frozen green beans or tender haricot verts to make this recipe even easier!
- Place the green beans right on top of the stew and don't submerge them in the liquid. This will ensure the green beans don't overcook.
🌶️ Variations
- Substitute with cubes of lamb instead of beef.
- Make fasulye vegetarian and omit the beef. Instead, add cubes of potatoes and white beans.
- For a spicier flavor, add 1 teaspoon of Aleppo pepper or harissa paste.
For beef stew, use chuck which can handle the longer cooking and will become tender. Cut the chuck roast into medium sized 1 inch cubes for beef stew.
How to Serve Turkish Green Beans
We serve fasulye simple with either basmati rice or jasmine rice. Be sure to scoop some of the delicious tomato sauce over the rice! You can also top with a dollop of yogurt or labneh and fresh chopped parsley.
More Turkish Recipes to Try
- Summer Fasulye
- Turkish Zucchini Pie
- Turkish Borek (Spinach and Feta Pie)
- Lahmacun (Turkish Pizza)
- Baklava Bimuelos
Fasulye (Turkish Green Beans with Meat)
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef stew meat cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 ½ cups stock or water chicken stock or beef stock
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 pound green beans ends trimmed
- chopped parsley for garnish
- Cooked Jasmine rice for serving
Instructions
- Pat the cubed beef dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
- Bring a Dutch oven to medium high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Once hot, sear the beef cubes, in batches until caramelized on all sides.
- Remove the beef to a plate and sauté the chopped onions until softened, for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir the tomato paste in sauté for another minute until deepened in color. Then pour in ½ cup water or stick and deglaze, scraping up any meaty bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven.
- Add the beef cubes back in and pour in the rest of the water or stock and chopped tomatoes. Stir together and simmer the stew for 10 minutes.
- Place green beans on top of the stew, making sure they lay on top and not submerged so the green beans steam and not overcook.
- Cover the Dutch oven,, leaving a small opening and bring everything to a simmer and cook the beef stew for 1-1 ½ hours, until the meat is tender and green beans are just cooked through.
- Once done, serve fasule with white rice, spooning the sauce over the rice and garnish with chopped parsley.
Notes
- This recipe can easily be made in the slow cooker, with the same directions.
- Use frozen green beans instead of fresh. There is no need to thaw.
- This recipe tastes even better the next day and is great for making ahead!
ItsMecookinforU says
Thank you for this great recipe. I can finally get the kids to LOVE Green beans. The sauce really does a number on them and needless to say it is in the top 5 most loved meals in our home. I found stew meat on sale and did this recipe for under $15.00 for a family of 4.
FamilyCook says
This yummy recipe is like a wonderful beef stew but instead of too many ingredients, the green beans and the beef are doing the talking. Not that we don't love traditional beef stew but this recipe really does focus on the main 2 ingredients.
Elizabeth says
Hi Samantha! This recipe sounds so yummy, thanks for sharing - I can't wait to fix it! I just have a question about the Pepper in the recipe...did you really use 12 tsp, or maybe it might have been 1/2 tsp?
Samantha Ferraro says
Hi Elizabeth! Thank you for catching that! It is 1/2 teaspoon, not 12. whoops! I just updated the recipe. Have fun cooking!
Helen says
This recipe brought back memories of my dear neighbor Anastasia. She would be tending to the beans sitting on her porch and would cook this wonderful dish. She used potatoes and now I will make this dish with the meat in a few days. I miss her cooking.
Samantha Ferraro says
Hello Helen, That's exactly what it does for me. Memories, all the way back to my Grandma. A few dishes bring back those wonderful memories, These grape leaves are another one, https://littleferrarokitchen.com/moms-stuffed-grape-leaves/. Thank you so much for following me. Samantha
rhonda shapiro says
well written Samantha, Now I want you to come and make this for me lol!!