Dried Fava Beans Slow Cooker

Ful Mudammes in a white bowl with tomato topping

This Middle Eastern dish is the traditional Egyptian breakfast and one of their national dishes. Foul Mudammas is a lot like the refried beans recipe many North Americans know and love. This Egyptian recipe is easy to make in just 20 minutes. It's naturally gluten-free, vegan. And most importantly, it tastes sooo much better than the Pre-made canned stuff!

a white bowl of ful Medames topped with tomatoes

You're going to be a fool in love with this Foul Mudammas recipe!

Why you're going to love this recipe?

Easy to whip up in just 20 minutes or so.
It's also made with simple ingredients that you can feel great about,
Happens to be naturally vegan, gluten-free and full of fibre!
Completely to customizable and you can make it spicy, smoky, or lemony. The sky's the limit, my friends!

But best of all, reasons love this recipe because it's downright DELICIOUS!!

This dish is pronounced as "FOOL Mudammas' but is often spelt as "ful medames" in English⏤I have no idea why? 🤷🏼‍♀️ but the Foul Mudammas would be the most correct way to spell it.

Foul Mudammas is a very popular staple dish in Egypt, you'll find it everywhere from the restaurants to the street vendor, in the homes, even in pharaohs' tumb!

Everyone is eating and making foul Mudammas!!!

Traditionally the beans are simmered overnight and served the next day. However, the more common version is to use a can of high-quality plain fava beans.

You can find many versions of flavoured ful in a can (🤣 ful-in-a-can, I crack myself up) Just please don't choose the flavoured variety. You just want to use plain old fava beans on the label.

I've been making Foul Mudammas ever since I met my husband years ago and I quickly realized that the flavoured pre-made canned stuff was not an option. (It's gross and unnecessary!) I still use canned beans for a speedy preparation but I add my spices and flavours to the dish.

It tastes SO much better! Please, take my word for it.

So My Friends, Let's make some Foul Mudammas!

What you need to mash up a batch of Foul Mudammas

To make this easy bean recipe, you will need:

Fava Beans: Canned fava bean are great to use in this recipe, but still to the plain 100% only fava beans. You also use dried small fava beans. For the dried beans soak overnight and cook 20 minutes in a pressure cooker. To cook on stove-top you will need to simmer for up to 60 minutes or more depending on how old the beans are. I strongly suggest a pressure cooker.
Onion & Garlic:There aren't too many Middle eastern recipes that do call for these ingredients. They're essential for this recipe. Chop the onions and crush the garlic. Don't worry about cutting the onion perfect when preparing this dish, it's very forgiving.
Olive oil:Use the best olive oil you can afford, this is super important for all Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking you want the antioxidants and phenolic compounds that are proven to help reduce and prevent diseases in your olive oil.
Spices: Cumin, ground coriander and salt are all you need.
Garnish: You can top the ful with tomatoes, parsley, and green onions. Many recipe variations from the Levantine cooks use a lot of lemon at the end of the cooking and then top it with lots of parsley.

close up of fava bean and ingredients to make foul medemes

How to make Foul Mudammas

Sauté the onion and garlic.Sauté in olive oil in a medium frying pan until softened.
Add the next round of ingredients.Stir in the beans and spices.
Add water. Then cook until the mixture reaches a simmer. cover and cook until softened.
Mash the beans.Remove the pan from the heat and mash the beans to your desired consistency, not everyone like a pureed Ful Mudammes some prefer a more bean soup-like meal vs a dip. I just like it more like a dip.
Add in the remaining ingredients.Stir in tomatoes, parsley, and more garlic if you wish. Taste the beans, and season with as much spice, salt and pepper as needed. (Don't be afraid to be generous with the spices!)
Serve warm with bread. Top with fresh tomatoes, parsley and green onions.

How to dress up your beans, cause you know, you want too!

The mashed fava beans are meant to be a base recipe that you can customize! So free to play around with the ingredients and find what works best for you.

For example…

Add in some chiles:If you would like some heat in your beans, just core and finely-dice a hot pepper and add it with the onion to add to your refried beans. Or for a milder flavour, you could stir in a few tablespoons of pickled green chiles. Or the easiest option for heat — just add in some cayenne pepper to taste.
Add some falafels: Yes, I really did just recommend falafels on your foul…it's tasty and I love the crunch element it adds.
Add in some cheese:I just like to garnish my ful medames with some crumbled feta or goat cheese on top. Any kind of crumbly cheese works good here.
Add some eggs:hard-boiled or fried eggs are a great addition to this meal it's actually my favourite topping.

Do you want to go the traditional route? Here's how to make these from scratch.

If Starting with dry (uncooked) fava beans: As mentioned above, I typically take the shortcut here of using canned fava beans. But if you prefer to cook your beans from scratch, you can either cook them in the:

Crock-Pot (Slow Cooker):Add 1 cup of dried fava beans to the bowl of a slow cooker. Cover beans with 2 inches of water, add the lid and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 4-6 hours until the fava beans are tender.
Instant pot (Pressure cooker): Add 1 cup of dried fava beans to the bowl of the pressure cooker. Cover beans with 2 inches of water, add and seal lid. Set the pressure cooker to 20 minutes on high. Allow for slow release. beans should be tender.
Stovetop:Add 1 cup dried fava beans to a large stockpot. Cover beans with 2 inches of water. Cook on high heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Skim the foam from the surface with a spoon. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until the beans are tender.

Looking for some more Mediterranean breakfast ideas?

Check out my Musabaha recipe this dish will give hummus and run for its money!

How did you dress your foul?

If you give this healthy ful mudammas a try, I'd love to see what topping you used! Also, be sure to post it on Instagram and tag @deliciously.mediterranean and #deliciouslymediterranean. Happy eating!

Updated and republished from December 2019 post from my original site TheSoukBowl.com

Foul Mudammas

This Egyptian foul medames recipe is easy to make in just 20 minutes. It's naturally gluten-free, vegan. And most importantly, it tastes sooo much better than the Pre-made canned stuff!

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Middle Eastern

1 small onion finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil + extra for topping
1 can of fava beans
1 garlic grated
1 tsp cumin ground
1/4 tsp coriander seeds crushed
1 cup water
1/2 lemon juiced (optional)

Topping:

Tomatoes diced
Green onions sliced
Hard boil eggs
Parsley diced

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic and sauté for 1-2 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked and fragrant.
Add in the fava beans, cumin, and coriander stir to combine. Add water Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a simmer and the bean soften about 10 minutes.
Remove pan from heat. Use a potato masher or a wooden spoon to mash the beans to your desired consistency.
Taste and season the beans with lemon juice, salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve warm, topped with tomatoes, parsley, and green onion.

Time saving hack:

Prepare your topping during the cooking time. This way your topping with be done well your cooking.

Keyword easy breakfast, easy ful mudammas, Egyptian recipes, foul medames, ful medames, mediterranean breakfast ideas