Jani Me Fasule: Albanian White Bean Soup
Jani me Fasule is a hearty Albanian white bean soup full of flavor and easy to prepare. This hearty bean soup is made without meat and is therefore vegetarian or vegan. It is also healthy thanks to the natural plant-based ingredients and is nice, rich and creamy, almost like a stew. Add a piece of good bread and a wonderful dish is ready.
Vegan Albanian food
I know Jani me Fasule from a vacation in Albania: I spent two weeks there in 2018, traveling in the mountains, by the sea, and in cities. This delicious soup is a traditional Albanian dish and therefore was a constant companion.
I’m not sure if it was always vegan … even though I always asked. It could be that they use butter (I could clearly taste it in the pasta, for example, despite asking), or perhaps even beef broth, as I can see from some recipes.
Unfortunately, veganism is not (yet) very widespread in Albania. I did get almost exclusively very tasty food, and often hoped that it was plant-based … however: this Jani me Fasule recipe is 100% vegan.
Balkan bean soup
Albanian bean soup, Serbian bean soup, Greek bean soup, Turkish bean soup – what’s the difference? There are a few, but none of them are earth-shattering.
Some recipes contain garlic, Serbian bean soup often contains meat, Turkish bean soup sometimes does. The Albanian version is often vegetarian, while the Greek “fasolada” is always prepared without meat.
The Greek soup also contains no paprika. Serbian and Turkish soups are usually hearty and spicy, while Greek soups taste lighter and fresher. Albanian bean soup is somewhere in between in terms of taste – as well as geographically.
Each of these soups has its own characteristics, but at their core they are quite similar. There is also not the one “original Albanian bean soup”, but many variations. Every Albanian grandma (and mom, or maybe even dad) cooks the soup in their own way – it will never taste exactly the same, even in Albania, but it is essentially the same.
The similarity is even reflected in the names: Fasule (Albania), Pasulj (Serbia), Fasolada (Greece), Fasulye (Turkey).
Ingredients for Albanian bean soup
Jani me Fasule is based on a few simple ingredients, namely:
- White beans (I use dried beans and usually buy them in 1 kg bags in Turkish supermarkets)
- Vegetables: onion, red bell pepper and carrot
- Olive oil for frying the vegetables and for the roux, made with flour
- For seasoning and refining: tomato paste, oregano, paprika powder, bay leaf, salt, pepper, (homemade) vegetable stock;
Other ingredients you could add if you want an even richer meal would be potatoes or tofu (I would use diced smoked tofu). This is no longer a classic Albanian bean soup, but a wonderful vegan stew.
You can also vary the herbs a little: Thyme, savory, lovage and parsley also work well in a bean soup or stew. If you prefer making a spicy white bean soup, simply add some chili.
Preparation
The preparation is as simple as the ingredients, namely:
- Soak the beans the evening before.
- The next day, cook the beans until soft.
- Finely chop the vegetables and sauté.
- Gradually add the flour, spices, herbs, water and cooked beans.
- Cook the bean soup for about 15 to 30 minutes. Purée some of the soup for more creaminess.
Update October 2024: Ever since I got to know and love pasta fagioli – a recipe for which will follow – I have realized that using a hand blender to briefly purée the beans in their sauce produces a wonderfully creamy result.
I have now done the same with this soup and believe that I have come even closer to the “original recipe”. In Albania, I always ate Jani me Fasule with a nice creamy texture and always thought that this could not only be due to the roux. By puréeing it, I was also able to reduce the amount of flour.
I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do and that I can conjure up a culinary Albanian getaway for you. If you like vegan soups, be sure to check out my other recipes.
There you’ll find delicacies such as an Italian white bean soup, which is very different from this one, and, if you’d like more pulses in liquid and warm form, a creamy Turkish lentil soup.
You might also like to eat …
Jani Me Fasule: Albanian White Bean Soup (vegan/vegetarian)
Ingredients
- 250 g dry white beans (small- to medium-sized ones)
- 1 onion
- ½ red bell pepper
- 1 carrot a smaller one
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 tbsp tomato paste
- 1.5 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp paprika powder
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp (homemade) vegetable stock powder
- 5 cups water approx. 1.25 l (43 fl oz)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Soak the beans overnight, rinse them and cook them in unsalted water until soft. This takes more or less than an hour, depending on the beans.
- Finely chop the onion, bell pepper, and carrot.
- Heat olive oil in a pot and sauté the veggies on low to medium heat until they are soft and the onions turned translucent.
- Then add the tomato paste, oregano, and paprika powder. Stir.
- Next add the flour, stir, and cook for only a few seconds while stirring.
- Now it’s time to add the vegetable stock powder, water, bay leaf as well as salt, and some pepper. Also, add the beans at this point.
- Cook for about 15 to 30 minutes and at the end of the cooking time, optionally blend a little part of the soup for more creaminess.
- Maybe season with pepper and some more salt and serve with fresh bread.
Notes
- The quantity is sufficient for 4 to 5 portions.
- Instead of the vegetable stock powder plus water, you can also use 1.25 l (43 fl oz) of ready-made vegetable stock.
- If you can’t finish the soup all at once: It tastes even better on the next day.
This is not how Albanians make this. We do not use tomato paste in this. While it is healthy to put peppers and carrots, thats also not typically in it. Also, we simmer the beans for hours and hours, adding water as needed, then add the onions sautéed with paprika to the beans and water they have been simmered in for hours. Then after that simmers for a while, we add the vegeta at the very end and let that meld together for 15-20 min more. Your recipe is fine but its not authentic.
Dear Mina, thank you for taking the time to comment on my recipe. I have eaten Jani me Fasule several times during my trip through Albania and it tasted always very different. I believe there are differences from region to region and family to family. Before I cooked the soup the first time I checked several recipes on YouTube, but not like me – an Austrian trying to cook Albanian food – I watched especially videos from Albanians. And mostly if not always they use tomato sauce or tomato paste. The way to prepare it is so different from video to video. Many use a pressure cooker instead of cooking them slow (which might be the traditional way, before people had pressure cookers). And not all but many include carrots (often cooked with the beans, like the onions, then mashed with the fork, I chopped them small instead) and some use peppers. Some also add meat to it. I love the way you describe it, it sounds very nice as well. Do you soak the beans before you simmer them so long (because I imagine they fall apart)?
Yes the beens are let to soak a few hours before cooking. By absorbing water ahead of the boiling process their skins rejuvenate and are less likely to separate from the core. Worst been soup possible is if you boil them too fast and without pre-soaking and the skins separate in the pot. That is a disaster. By the way this usually happens to beens who have been sitting for a few years from the time of harvest.
Do not forget white beens are dried vegetables.
You are tight there is a division line between the use of papprika or tomatoe paste.
Kosovo Albanians due to living in the north where tomatoes were not grown as a fruit and hence unavailable use papprika obtained by drying red pepper. Kosovo produces a huge amount of peppers. I assume the same is valid for othe inland Balkan countries.
Albania being a mediterranean country uses tomatoes and tomatoe paste (concentrate) due to having a Mediterranean climate.
Tomato paste was to go to basic ingredient during communism when food was scarce and fridges absent.
In the summer season we use grated ripe tomatoes instead foe a fresher flavor profile.
I have given abothe the recipe of my grandmother re-stating it here
Wash the beens and live a few hours soaking in their own water.
Emty the water and fill pot with fresh water. Put over high heat until it starts to boil and then scale down to low heat. Remove with spoon any foam if it forms on the surface.
Keep boiling until the beens tuen color from white to a light beige or skin colour.
Pres one been with your fingers. If it turns into a paste without leaving grittle it is cooked. Switch heat to low.
Chop one medium onion fine. In a heated pan add olive oil add the onions and start sweating it over a medium heat. Keep going until it is translucent. Increase the heat and keep mixing until.it starts to caramelize in the corners, add one table spoon of tomatoe paste to the onions and keep mixing 2-3min. You wanna cook out the acidity of the tomatoe paste through the heat of rhe pan and the injection of caramelized onion. To the pan start adding 4-5 spoons of the bean liquid so that the mixture turns into a thick liquid gravy. Then empty the contents of the pan completely in the bean pot. Mix gently and increase heat to medium so that the content starts to simmer gently. This is the moment you add salt to the been soup and mix well. Taste that is the correct ammount and add more if neccessary in small amounts.
Simmer for 10min for the flavours to mix and the beens to absorbe the flavors and the salt. With the back of a wooden spoon smash a couple of times skme beens against the inside walls of the pot. This will help thicken a bit the liquid. Mix and turn of heat completely but leaving the beens in the same position of the stove to simmer with their own heat until the simmering stops..remove to a cooler spot of the stove.
Serve like a soup, with warm bread or toated bread to the side. Serve with pickled cabbage salad or pickled green tomatoes or olives. Also you can add chilly flakes to it and a bit of olive oil for a great kick.
Been soup should not be liquidy and runny. The liquid is thick and should almost cover the back of a spoon. Enjoy!
Yes the beens are left to soak a few hours before cooking. By absorbing water ahead of the boiling process their skins rejuvenate and are less likely to separate from the core. Worst been soup possible is if you boil them too fast and without pre-soaking and the skins separate in the pot. That is a disaster. By the way this usually happens to beens who have been sitting for a few years from the time of harvest.
Do not forget white beens are dried vegetables.
You are right there is a division line between the use of papprika or tomatoe paste.
Kosovo Albanians due to living in the north where tomatoes were not grown as a fruit and hence unavailable use papprika obtained by drying red pepper. Kosovo produces a huge amount of peppers. I assume the same is valid for othe inland, colder, Balkan countries.
Albania being a mediterranean country uses tomatoes and tomatoe paste (concentrate) due to having a Mediterranean climate.
Tomato paste was to go to basic ingredient during communism when food was scarce and fridges absent.
In the summer season we use grated ripe tomatoes instead for a fresher flavor profile.
I have given in a comment above the recipe of my grandmother but am rewriting it here.
Wash the beans changing the water a couple of times to get rid of dust and dried stems who usually float at the top. Put them in a pot fill with water and leave them a few hours soaking in their own water.
Emty the water and fill the pot with fresh water. Put over high heat until it starts to boil and then scale down to medium heat. Add water from time to time so that the beans float freely in it. Remove with spoon any foam if it forms on the surface which is very rare.
Keep boiling until the beans turn color from white to a light beige or skin colour.
Press one bean between two of your fingers. If it turns into a paste without leaving a hard coarse feeling, it means they are cooked. Switch heat to low.
Chop one medium onion fine. In a heated pan add olive oil add the onions and start sweating it over a medium heat. Keep going until it is translucent. Increase the heat and keep mixing until it starts to caramelize in the corners. Add one table spoon of tomatoe paste to the onions and keep mixing 2-3min. You wanna cook out the acidity of the tomatoe paste through the heat of the pan and the injection of caramelized onion. By the way tomatoe paste is used because it has less acidity due to being slow cooked tomatoes. To the pan start adding 4-5 spoons of the liquid from the bean pot, so that the mixture turns into a liquid gravy almost. Then empty the whole pan of onion tomatoe and mixture into the bean pot. Mix gently and increase heat to medium so that the content starts to simmer gently. This is the moment you add salt to the been soup and mix well. Taste that is the correct ammount and add more if neccessary in small amounts.
Simmer for 10min for the flavours to mix and the beens to absorbe the flavors and the salt. With the back of a wooden spoon smash a couple of times some beens against the inside walls of the pot. This will help thicken a bit the liquid. Mix and turn of heat completely but leaving the beens in the same position of the stove to simmer with their own heat until the simmering stops. Remove to a cooler spot of the stove.
Serve like a soup, with warm bread or toated bread to the side. Serve with pickled cabbage salad or pickled green tomatoes or olives. Also you can add chilly flakes to it and a bit of olive oil for a great kick.
By the way if you prefer heat you can boil a small chilly with the beens.
Been soup should not be very liquidy and runny. The liquid is thick and should almost cover the back of a spoon. Enjoy!
PS. Carrots where never part of the tradition as they are a much later addition to Albanian traditional recepies.
Peppers are used only in season during sumer and give a different taste to the beens.
The version with meat is usually salt cured lamb or beef and is again very wintery.
In this case the been soup stays white and no onion tomatoe mixture is added. Because the Pasterma ( salt cured meat) gives all the flavour which is very particular.
Dear Armand,
thank you so much for taking time and going into details and also for sharing your grandmothers recipe! I really appreciate your insights and I am happy you share your knowledge with me and others. Everything you write makes sense. Also regarding tomatoes vs. pepper and why tomato paste is/was used.
The soups I ate during my stay in Albania (in September) where white, but with tiny pieces of bell pepper (or maybe it was tomatoes, or both, I can’t recall now) and also carrots. I couldn’t manage to replicate this taste without making it more red than white. Now I read this part of your comment:
“The version with meat is usually salt cured lamb or beef and is again very wintery.
In this case the been soup stays white and no onion tomatoe mixture is added. Because the Pasterma ( salt cured meat) gives all the flavour which is very particular.”
The soup I ate never had meat in it. Do you think I got this kind of soup but leaving the meat inside the pot? I never tasted meat. Maybe only the salt of it. I don’t get it. I would really love to understand the “mystery of jani me fasule” 😉 Especially the tasty whiter versions I ate.
Of course the Dibra region does use tomato paste when frying the onion. Dibra version is simple no carrots or pepper in the winter version.
You boil the beens starting with soaking them a few hours before and changing the water several times. Then yoh bring them to boil from cold water and boil them until they turn colour and become beige. Adding water and mixing from time to time. Slow boil not to separate the skins from the beens although with new beens this tents not to happen but older than 1 year it can.
Once the beens are almost cooked in a separate pan you chop 1 onion fine and sautee in olive oil. Once the onions turn gold and start to caramelize you add one apoon of tomatoe pure. Do not add paprika it has a strong taste and it will give the beens a pepper aftertaste which is not as smooth as tomatoe pure. Kosovo Albanians use papprika not tomatoe pure.
So you mix the tomatoe pure with sautéed onions foe 2min and then add a couple of table spoons of the been liquid to the pan and mix. You tip the whole pan mixture in the pot where you have the beens under low heat and mix well. Add salt and keep boiling a few minutes for the beens to take color and absorbe the sweet taste of onions and tomatoe paste mixture. With a wooden spoon smash a few of the beens against the inside of the pot. The smashed beens turn into a paste and help thicken the liquid.
Enjoy warm, with flajes of chilly if you prefer a bit of heat, a bt of olive oil and definitely a side of pickled green tomatoes or pickled cabbage also made as preserves for the winter.
Peppers are used in the summer when they are in season and are boiled with the beens. They give the dish more of a summery flavour. This is done to make the been soup consumable in the summer as it is known as a winter dish. There are no carrots in Fasule/ Groshe. These are modern additions which are not authentic.
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