Fasolakia - Greek Green Beans And Potatoes

🌟 About This Recipe

• This simple recipe for Greek style green beans is gluten-free and suitable for vegan and vegetarian diets.
• This recipe is budget-friendly. 
• Fasolakia can be made with either fresh green beans or frozen.
• Fasolakia can be eaten hot or cold, so it is suitable for any time of the year.
• It can be eaten as a simple meal on its own or served as a side dish.
• It is a great side dish to take to a potluck, serve at summer barbeques, or picnics.
• It can be made up to three days in advance and reheated if required.

What is Fasolakia

Fasolakia is a Greek dish of braised green beans in tomato sauce. There are many variations on this dish, but most will always use a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, potatoes, and sometimes zucchini.

Unlike other recipes that can use up to half a cup olive oil, our recipe uses only two tablespoons, making it lighter and healthier. However, if you like olive oil, you can increase the amount to ¼ cup or more.

Traditionally the potatoes and beans are cooked at the same time, which can lead to overcooked, mushy beans because they cook quicker than potatoes.

We don't like mushy beans - so in our version, we partially cook the potatoes to almost done and then add the beans and cook until tender.

🥘 Ingredients

Please note that below is a guide for some of the ingredients we used in the recipe. The printable recipe further down the page has the complete list of ingredients, including quantities and step-by-step instructions.

Extra virgin olive oil - is a traditional ingredient in a Mediterranean diet, it has many health benefits. Not only is it the healthiest oil you can cook with, but it also has a good source of polyphenols with antioxidant properties, it has healthy fats which can help reduce diabetes and it may help you lose weight.

Onion – adds flavor to the recipe.

Garlic – use fresh garlic cloves if you can. If you can’t get fresh, use about 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of garlic paste.

Tomato paste - will help intensify the tomato flavor in this dish.

Diced tomato - for convenience we used a can of diced tomatoes but you could also use 3-4 medium ripe fresh tomatoes finely chopped or pureed.

Flavorings - cumin powder, dried oregano, bay leaf, and sugar.

Potatoes make the dish more filling. You can peel to potatoes or do what we do give them a good scrub and leave the skin on.

Green beans - fresh or frozen beans can be used. If using fresh beans top and tail them and wash well before using.

Parsley - chopped fresh parsley works very well in this and adds a lovely peppery and earthiness to the dish.

Lemon juice - along with salt and pepper it enhances the flavors of all the dish.

🍳 Instructions

Step 1 - Add olive oil to a pan and sautee the onion over low/medium heat until soft, then add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds.

Step 2 - Add the tomato paste, stir and cook for about 1 minute. Doing this will enhance the tomato flavor in this dish and help to create a thick and rich tomato sauce.

Step 3 - Add the canned tomato, potatoes, sugar, cumin powder, oregano, bay leaf, and ½ cup water.

Push the potatoes into the liquid, turn up the heat, bring to a boil, cover, turn down the heat to a simmer, and cook the potatoes until almost done - about 10 - 15 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes.

Stir the mixture from time to time to prevent sticking, and if the mixture looks like it is becoming too dry add a little more water.

Step 4 - When the potatoes are more than half-cooked, place the green beans in an even layer on top and don't stir them in just yet.

Pour in about 1 cup of water (or more) so that the water sits just below the top of the beans.

Stir, put the lid on a simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the beans are cooked to your liking and the potatoes are fully cooked.

Step 5 - Remove from the heat, mix in half of the parsley, season with salt and pepper, and add a squeeze of lemon juice to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature with crumbled feta cheese, chopped parsley, and crusty bread.

💭 Recipe Tips

• Cut the potatoes into even-sized pieces no thicker than about 2.5 cm (1 inch thick). The thicker the potato pieces, the longer it will take to cook. For quicker cooking cut the potatoes into small even-sized cubes about 1 cm ( ½ inch) thick. 

• The potatoes can be peeled or have the skin left on. If leaving the skin on give the potatoes a good scrub under cold tap water before cutting into small pieces.

• We like to cook the potatoes until they are halfway cooked, before adding the green beans, and when the green beans are nice and tender the potatoes will be cooked through.

• If using fresh green beans top and tail the beans - use a small sharp knife to cut the top and bottom ends from the beans and wash well in cool tap water.

• If using frozen green beans, cook the potatoes a little longer until they are almost tender before adding the beans. This is because frozen beans are already partially cooked due to blanching and require a shorter cooking time.

• If at the end of cooking time the sauce has not thickened. Cook uncovered for a few minutes to allow the liquid in the sauce to evaporate and become thick.

👪 Serving Size

This recipe serves 4 as a main meal or 6-8 as a side dish.

🍬 Calories Per Serve

The calories for this recipe based on four servings is 194 calories per serve and does not include feta cheese garnish.

🥗 Serving Suggestions

Fasolakia is a great stand-alone dish that can be enjoyed on its own or with feta cheese and a slice of fresh bread.

If you wanted to, you could serve it as a side to roasted, pan-fried, or barbequed meats.

🌡️ Storage

Stored in a well-sealed and airtight container Fasolika can be kept in the fridge for about 4-5 days.

See below for freezing

📝 FAQ

🌽 More Veggie Recipes

• Zucchini and carrot slice
• Vegetable pie with shortcrust pastry
• Quick carrot pickle
• Pickled pink onions
• Sauteed Brussel sprouts with cheese
• Green bean salad with basil and parmesan