Kuru Fasulye (Turkish White Bean Stew)
Creamy white beans simmered slowly in a buttery tomato and pepper paste sauce — kuru fasulye with rice is Turkey's unofficial national dish.
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Ingredients
500g dried white beans, soaked overnight
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 heaped tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp mild pepper paste (biber salcasi)
150g sucuk or pastirma, cubed (optional, for etli version)
1 green pepper, diced
1 tsp hot red pepper flakes
1 litre hot water (plus more as needed)
1.5 tsp salt (added near the end)
1 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- 1
Drain the soaked beans, cover with fresh water and boil for 30-35 minutes until just tender; drain and set aside.
- 2
In a heavy pot, melt the butter with the oil and cook the onion and green pepper over medium heat until soft, about 6-7 minutes. Add the sucuk now if using.
- 3
Stir in the tomato paste and pepper paste and fry for 2 minutes until the fat turns brick red and fragrant.
- 4
Add the beans and pepper flakes, pour in 1 litre of hot water and bring to a gentle boil.
- 5
Cover and simmer on low for 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are completely creamy and the sauce has thickened. Top up with hot water if it looks dry.
- 6
Season with salt and black pepper in the last 10 minutes of cooking — salting too early can toughen the beans.
- 7
Rest off the heat for 10 minutes; the sauce will settle into a silky consistency.
- 8
Serve hot over baldo rice pilav with mixed pickles and a cold glass of ayran.
Ask anyone from Turkey to name the taste of home and there is a good chance they will say kuru fasulye. This slow-simmered white bean stew, glossy with butter and deep red from tomato and pepper paste, is served in every lokanta from Istanbul to Van, always with fluffy rice pilav on the side and usually with pickles and ayran.
The beans matter here. Turkish dried white beans such as Duru's cook up creamy rather than chalky, and an overnight soak makes all the difference to both texture and cooking time. The other non-negotiable is the paste duo: sweet tomato paste for body and biber salcasi (pepper paste) for that unmistakable lokanta depth. A few cubes of sucuk or pastirma turn it into etli kuru fasulye, the richer meaty version.
Kuru fasulye is even better the next day, so make a big pot. Everything you need — dried beans, Oncu pastes, Turkish butter and baldo rice — is available from Turkish Online Market with UK-wide delivery.
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