This Fasolada–Greek white bean soup is comfort in a bowl: creamy white beans, sweet carrot, fragrant celery, and a generous pour of extra-virgin olive oil. Our everyday hearty food is also common during Lent/Clean Monday fasting menus. Serve with crusty bread, feta, and olives for a proper Greek table.
If you love this Fasolada-Greek White Bean Soup, you will also love Gigantes Beans & Roasted Tomatoes, Chicken Stew With Lemony Beans, or Red Bean Soup With Greens!
Overview
Why you will love fasolada
Ingredient notes
- Dry white beans. Cannellini, navy, or great northern all work. The whiter the color of the beans, the fresher they are. Fresh beans need less soaking and cook faster.
- Celery / selino. Greek cooks use leafy wild celery (selino); if you find Chinese/wild celery, use it—otherwise include plenty of celery leaves for aroma.
- Tomatoes and tomato paste. Use good quality canned tomatoes, like San Marzano Gustarosso or San Merican.
- Extra virgin olive oil. Don’t be shy—Greek recipes are olive-oil-rich and often finished with a final drizzle for gloss and flavor.
- Cretan touch (optional). A strip of orange zest simmered with the pot is classic in Chania.
Step by step fasolada
How to soak the beans
Soak or not? Soaking shortens cook time and improves evenness for thicker-skinned beans like cannellini/navy; thin-skinned beans can skip it. Soaking also resolves digestive issues.
- Add the beans to a large pot. Fill the pot with plenty of water to cover the beans. Add a pinch of salt. Stir and let the beans soak for 10 hours or overnight. When you are ready to make the soup, rinse the beans well, return them to the pot with enough water to cover them, and boil for 20 minutes. Drain beans and set aside.
- Hard water or stubborn beans? A tiny pinch (⅛ tsp per cup of beans) of baking soda in the soak or cooking water can help tenderize; don’t overdo it.
- Place a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté the chopped onions over medium-low heat for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic.
- Stir and add the carrots, celery, and tomato paste. Stir again well. Season with salt, pepper, and dried oregano. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring to allow flavors to develop.
- Add the beans and the tomatoes. Stir and add the chicken stock, parsley, and enough water to cover the beans, plus an extra inch.
- Stir well and let them simmer for 2 hours or until beans are soft. Add more water or stock if you need to.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Pro tips (evidence-based)
- Make it ahead: The beans go in plenty of water in the morning; by early evening, they are ready to be cooked. The soup simmers all evening. The broth develops, thickens lightly, and turns delicious, and the soup is ready to be enjoyed the next day. It’s worth the wait, I believe it tastes even better after it sits for a while.
- The fresher the dry beans, the less cooking they need: If your bag of dry white beans has been sitting in your pantry for a while, be prepared for longer cooking.
- Texture magic: Lightly puree or mash a scoop of beans into the pot to thicken—no roux needed. (Starch does the work.)
- Olive-oil finish: a final drizzle lifts flavor and sheen.
Fasolada variations
- Cretan orange-zest fasolada (zest simmered with the soup).
- Chili flakes/Bukovo heat (northern Greek vibe).
- Greens stir-in: handful of spinach or celery leaves in the last 5 minutes.
- Gigantes swap: use large butter/giant beans; increase time.
Substitutions
- Canned beans (fast version): Use two cans of rinsed white beans. Simmer the vegetables and tomatoes with the broth to build flavor and cook first as directed in the recipe, then add the beans to warm through, ensuring they don’t break; finish with a squeeze of lemon/EVOO.
Pressure cooker & slow cooker notes
- Instant Pot (unsoaked white beans): ~25–40 min on High , depending on variety (navy ~25; cannellini 35–40) + natural release. Add tomato after beans are tender or the pressure phase is done.
- Instant Pot (soaked): Cannellini beans are often tender at 12–15 minutes on high with natural release.
- Slow cooker: Cook on low 6–8 hrs.
Storage and reheating
- Cool & refrigerate. Store 3–4 days in the fridge.
- Freeze up to 3–4 months for the best quality. Thaw overnight; reheat gently with a splash of water.
Serving suggestions
- Bread: You can’t go wrong with our warm, crusty peasant bread or toasted pita bread.
- Sides: Add marinated olives with feta, fried calamari-kalamarakia, and fried crispy zucchini, taramosalata dip, and you are all set.
FAQ
Is fasolada really Greece’s “national dish”?
It’s widely described that way in the press and reference sources. It’s, of course, competing with keftedes-meatballs and moussaka casserole!
Which beans are best?
Cannellini (creamy) or navy (smaller, very tender). Great Northern also works.
Why are my beans still tough?
Age/hard water and early acid are common culprits. Soak older beans, salt early, and add tomato/lemon after beans are soft. A pinch of baking soda can help in hard water.
Is fasolada a Lenten dish?
It’s a staple of Greek fasting cuisine and often appears around Clean Monday, the start of Lent. Some hardcore cooks even make it without any olive oil
Fasolada-Greek White Bean Soup
A cozy, olive-oil-rich soup of white beans, carrot, and celery—make it red with tomato or white with lemon. Garnish with parsley, a squeeze of lemon, and a lush drizzle of EVOO.
Ingredients
- 2 lb dry white beans cannellini or navy
- 1 large onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves diced
- 3 carrots cut in 1/4 inch pieces
- 2 stalks celery cut in 1/4 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 32 oz broth chicken or vegetable
- 28 oz tomatoes crushed or chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup parsley roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
For serving
- 1 tablespoon parsley roughly chopped, optional
- 1 tablespoon chili pepper flakes optional
Instructions
Soak the beans
- Add the beans in a large pot. Fill the pot with plenty of water to cover the beans and more. Add a pinch of salt. Stir and let the beans soak for 10 hours or overnight.When you are ready to cook, rinse the beans well, put them back into the pot with enough water to cover them, and cook on high heat for 20 min. Drain beans and set aside.
Make fasolada
- Add 2-3 tablespoons olive oil to the stock pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions for 5 min, until translucent. Add the garlic, carrots, celery, and tomato paste. Stir and season with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and dried oregano. Sauté for 5 min while stirring to allow flavors to develop.
- Add the beans and the tomatoes. Stir and add the stock and parsley. Add enough water to cover the beans, plus an extra inch. Stir well and cook for 60 minutes or until beans are soft. Add more water or stock if you need to. Adjust sea salt and pepper to taste and serve with drizled olive oil on top.
Notes
- For stubborn beans, a tiny pinch of baking soda in the soaking water helps butdon’t overdo.
- Use the celery leaves (Greek selino vibe) instaed of parsley for extra aroma.
- Cool and refrigerate for 3–4 days or freeze up to 3–4 months. Reheat gently with water; re-season and finish with fresh lemon/EVOO.
Nutrition
Calories: 385kcalCarbohydrates: 51gProtein: 16gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 502mgPotassium: 1942mgFiber: 14gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 7840IUVitamin C: 76mgCalcium: 186mgIron: 6mg
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Definitely making this very soon! Every Sunday evening we have a soup, to reset for the new week, and I’m always trying to make a new one (most of the time I just invent based on the ingredients I have at home). Thank you for this wonderful, hearty soup recipe. I also really appreciate your comment about choosing a bouillon cube without palm oil ♥
Pinned and shared
Thank you Francesca! I love this soup very much, it is humble, simple and delicious. Hope you will enjoy it!
Your presentation itself makes me feel warm. This soup is best done when tomatoes are in season. Looks fresh and healthy and yum too.
Thank you so much Veena!
This soup is simple to make, hearty, healthy and best of all delicious. I will be making it again for sure.
Thanks so much Colleen! Very happy you liked it!
I love to try new soup recipes and this looks like something I would enjoy!
Thanks so much Leslie!
This soup was delicious! I loved how it was vegetarian and saved half for dinner tonight. Such a hearty fall dinner! Thank you.
Thanks so much Kathryn! Very happy you like it!
Oh, thank you Kathryn! x Jenny
It’s soup season!! I am loving this soup and I think it would smell so amazing simmering on the stove all day. Pinning this recipe to make at another time!
Thanks so much Bernice! It does smell amazing!
Even though winter is definitely not my favorite season, this soup is a winter celebration I can 100% get behind! So hearty and warming and comforting! And I love the additions you suggested … especially the greek olives and feta (along with some gorgeous bread, of course)! What a meal!
It is really great! Thanks so much Shelley!
My friend’s mom is from Poros and she used to make her version of fasolada for us during the winter. I loved it as it reminded me so much of her.
Thanks so much Marta!
This soup looks amazingly delicious. Perfect for the weather here. Just can’t wait to try!
Hope you will like it! Thanks so much Kushigalu!
This is one of my favourite soups! I just love everything about it, from that wonderful, cosy flavour to chunky texture, it’s a winner with our family every time!
Thanks you Anna! So happy you like it!
I am so glad that it is soup season. I would have soup every day of the year although Hubby isn’t quite as enthusiastic. This soup has all of the flavors I look for in a soup. Plus it has beans – such an under-rated protein. I love the touch of pepper flakes in the soup for the spice. This soup is on the menu this week.
Thanks so much Marissa! So happy you like it!
Can white beans from a jar be used therefore cutting out the soaking ?
Hi Ann!
Yes, you can use jarred white beans. Rinse and drain the beans well; add them to the pot with the carrots and celery and saute for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes, broth, etc and simmer soup until all veggies are cooked to your likeness.
Have a happy new year!
Thank you! x Jenny
Simple, lovely and very delicious.
Thank you so much, Marie!
When do you add the rest of the 1/2 cup olive oil? I’m not seeing it in the directions.
Hi Ashley!
You can use it for drizzling a little over bowls for serving. I forgot to put a note about it, thank you for pointing it out.
Hope you like the soup!
Thanks so much,
x Jenny
Can this recipe be made in a slow cooker?
Yes, I don’t see why not.
Start checking the soup around five hours and then every 30 minutes or so after that until the beans are done.
Thank you Denise!
What a delicious soup this is and so easy to make. I love bean soup and I loved a big bowl of hot soup with crusty bread for dinner tonight. I used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.