Cooking broad beans isn’t difficult, but it does take time and patience. With the right preparation, you too can use the delicious beans as the basis for many vegetarian and vegan dishes.

Broad beans, also known as broad beans, horse beans or fava beans, are a particularly healthy and tasty source of protein – not only for vegans. You can use them for various dishes, for example for salads or stir-fried vegetables, but you can also process them into puree. Although they require some prep time, cooking fava beans isn’t difficult.

There are two different ways to cook broad beans: you can use either dried broad beans or fresh broad beans. In both cases, you need a little patience when preparing. In contrast to the dried version, you can prepare fresh beans on the same day: they do not have to be soaked overnight.

Before you buy fresh broad beans, you should pay special attention to the quality of the beans. Look for those that don’t have empty shells. The smaller ones are sweeter and contain less starch. Avoid dried out beans that are yellowed or even mushy. Buying during the season is also crucial for the quality: broad beans are in season from June to August.

Cooking fresh fava beans: this is how it works

Cooking fresh fava beans is quick and easy. Just the preparation takes some time. Before preparing, prepare and set aside the following:
1 tsp salt
an extra plate for the beans and the shells
a bowl of cold water and ice cubes
How to cook fresh fava beans:
Break open the pods with your hands.
Use your fingers to peel the broad beans out of their shells.
Take your saucepan and fill it with water (about enough to cover the beans). Add a teaspoon of salt.
Boil the water.
Blanch the broad beans for a minute or two.
Take them out of the pot with a sieve and let them drain briefly.
Afterward, shock them with cold water in your ice tray to stop the cooking process. Drain them again.
Now you can remove the leathery skin by slightly slitting it with your nails and pressing it away with your fingers.
Boil the broad beans in salted water until done. This takes about ten to 20 minutes.
Now they are ready for further processing for bean salads, stir-fries or puree.

Cooking dried fava beans: you need to know that

Cooking dried broad beans is a bit more tedious: you can’t cook them right away, you have to soak them overnight before cooking. The amount of water depends on how many broad beans you want to cook:
1 liter of (cold) water per 200 grams of beans
1. How to prepare the dried broad beans for cooking:
Rinse the dried beans under cold water using a sieve.
Get a large bowl or saucepan and place the dried beans in it.
Pour in the measured amount of cold water.
Let the beans soak overnight.
2. Cooking dried fava beans:
Even when cooking, pour about 1 liter of water for every 200 grams of beans in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
Add a teaspoon of salt.
Now put the beans in the pot and cook them for about ten minutes on high heat.
Now set the stove to low heat and let the broad beans cook. Their cooking time is about 45 minutes.
At the end of the cooking time, use a fork to check if the beans are cooked through. If they tear apart easily, they’re nice and soft. Caution: It’s important that you cook beans properly, as they contain toxic lectins. These can only be rendered harmless by fully cooking them.
Be careful when draining: drain the broad beans gently to avoid crushing them and turning them mushy.
You can now process the cooked beans for a broad bean recipe of your choice.