How to Prepare Fava Beans

Enjoying some fresh fava beans makes a meal or snack extra special. There’s nothing like it. It takes a little bit of patience to peel every bean, but it’s always worth it, and it can be very relaxing to prepare.

Start with removing the beans from the pod. As an example, I peeled 3 beans before they were cooked. However, the best way to remove the skins is to cook the beans first. I have eaten them raw as a snack, but they’re hard to peel.

The next step is to cook the beans. Just simmer water and cook them for two minutes. When they’re cooked too long they get mushy and hard to peel. When cooked too short, they’re not as tasty or easy to peel. Some blogs will say to cook them for 30 seconds, I’m usually happier with at 2 minutes.

This is how it looks once you peel every bean. I like to use a little sharp knife (carefully) to make a little slit. Then slide the bean out of the skin. Alternatively, you can make a slit with your thumb nail, but I much prefer a little knife. Discard the skins.

Once you have your beans, you can use them for all sorts of things. I use them on top of soups often. It does wonders for soup, to add even just a few beans to it.

In the picture above, I added toasted fennel seeds, salt, spice, and crispy garlic. With a little lemon juice.

I hope you fully enjoy these little wonders!