Authentic Greek Green Beans-Fasolakia Lathera
The original recipe for Greek green beans! Smooth and velvety green beans with potatoes stewed in tomato, herbs and olive oil. They will melt in your mouth! Perfect as a main course or a side. And they are vegan and gluten free.
This particular recipe is a classic. Green beans stewed in olive oil, tomato, onions and herbs. We call them fasolakia lathera (pronounced fah-soh-LAH-kiah). Served with feta and bread it is delicious! Some people make them plain, others add potato and carrots as well. It is very easy, but the secret to making it delicious, is the olive oil. Do not -I repeat- Do not, try and make this with a few teaspoons of olive oil, you will need 1/3 cup of olive oil per one pound of vegetables.
Lathera – Greek Technique of Cooking
This dish belongs to the Greek category of “Lathera” dishes, it is a whole category of Greek recipes where vegetables are cooked in olive oil and tomato along with herbs. The word lathera refers to dishes cooked in olive oil. I love lathera! We eat this as a main course along with bread and feta cheese. I would say that this is the secret weapon of the Greek diet, it is why Greeks consistently have the highest intake of vegetables (per person) in the world. These dishes are very filling, because you basically consume about 4 servings of vegetables in one sitting, plus the olive oil provides satiety.
You probably will have guessed this, but lathera are very healthy. Not only are they a vegetable based meal, they are rich in fiber, antioxidants, good fats, vitamins and they are cheap. One serving does not cost more than 2 dollars.
And yes, they are easy to make. Lathera are made with seasonal vegetables. For example in the winter a typical dish is cauliflower, in the summer green beans and okra are very common. But lathera are perfect for the summer, especially as the warm weather has us craving vegetables rather than meat.
Greek Green Beans Ingredients
- Green Beans: Ideally you would want fresh green beans, nothing beats the flavour of fresh., Having said that I use frozen green beans all the time and the dish will come out wonderfully. However, DO NOT use canned green beans, it will ruin the flavour, beauty and nutritional value of this recipe.
- Olive Oil: Remember, these type of dishes belong to the category of lathera, they need the olive oil. Use extra virgin olive oil and use the amount that is required in the recipe. Do not try and use less, you will just end up with a watery and tasteless green bean dish.
- Tomatoes: If making this in the summer, fresh tomatoes are the best. You can grate them or chop them. In the winter I use crushed tomatoes (I look for BPA free containers) for a smoother texture or chopped tomatoes if you want a slightly chunkier version.
- Sugar: This can be optionally but my yiayia would add a pinch.
- Potatoes: Potatoes are typically added to this dish to provide some sustenance as this was consumed as a main course, but I sometimes leave them out.
How to Make the best Greek Green Beans- Fasolakia Lathera
- Start with the sauteing. Add the olive oil in the pan and saute the chopped onion. Just to understand the importance of olive oil in these dishes, the word “lathera” means “the ones with the oil”. Not adding the olive oil will result in watery green beans that will taste bland. Olive oil helps bring out all the flavors and make this dish feel rich. You may be worried about calories, but remember that this is a main course and the rest of the ingredients pretty much have minimal calories so the result is a moderate calorie dish.
- Add the potatoes (if using). You may soak the potatoes in water for 20 minutes ahead. Continue stirring for 2-3 minutes until the potatoes are coated in olive oil.
- Add the green beans and stir some more.
- Now you add the rest of the ingredients: parsley, salt, sugar and pepper. stor until everything is mixed.
- Now add just enough hot water to cover the beans halfway. Do not cover completely, better to start off with less water and add as needed. You do not want watery green beans. Authentic Greek beans are soft and velvety in their sauce (olive oil and tomato) there should be no water left.
- Simmer with the lid on for about 40 minutes (do not boil). Check the water levels. The beans are ready once there is no water left and the beans are soft.
- Turn off the heat and let them sit with the cover on for 10 minutes. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
- Accompany with bread and feta.
- Store i the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
What to serve with Greek Green Beans
Greeks usually enjoy this as a main course as I mentioned earlier. It is served with a slice of bread and feta cheese. You eat a large portion and it is filling. It also work well as a side dish, it pairs well with Juicy Roasted Greek Meatballs – Keftedakia, 5 Ingredient Glazed Honey Lemon Chicken Legs or Greek Burgers – Biftekia. And it’s great as a Thanksgiving side dish.
You may also like these recipes
- Greek Style Peas-Arakas Latheros
- Greek Braised Cauliflower with Tomato – Kounoupidi Kapama
- Greek Spinach and Rice – Spanakorizo
Want More Mediterranean Diet Guidance?
Get my top-rated book!
100 Recipes and a 14 Day Meal Plan!
Get it here >> The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners
Greek Green Beans-Fasolakia Lathera
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a medium pot, heat olive oil at medium to low heat. Sauté onion until soft.
- Add potatoes and heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add beans and mix until covered with the olive oil.
- Add the tomatoes, parsley, sugar and salt and pepper and mix.
- Add hot water just enough to half cover the beans.
- Simmer with the lid on for about 40 minutes (do not boil).
- The beans are ready once there is no water left and the beans are soft.
- Enjoy with bread and feta cheese
Notes
- Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
- Accompany with bread and feta.
- Store i the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Save for Later and Pin It!
Photos by Elena Paravantes © All Rights Reserved
your explanation of the importance of the amount of olive oil used is invaluable. love love love the 411. thank youuuuuuu 🙂
Can l use honey instead of sugar in this recipe?, l am trying to remove refined sugar from my diet. Thanks
You could, although there really is no difference health-wise, all are simple sugars.
I cooked this recipe for dinner last night, however I used half the olive oil. I get not using only a few teaspoons of oil, but a half cup (24 teaspoons) seemed like a lot. So I decided to try 1/4 cup. I thought it came out just fine, still quite rich to me, and delicious. In fact, I thought 1/4 cup was almost a little too much. I asked my brother, who dined with me, and he said it was perfect. I ate every bite and still had a little oil in my bowl when I finished. Personally I can’t imagine having twice the oil I had in the finished dish, but I guess that’s just personal preference. It was delicious and I’ll be making this again perhaps trying other veggies. How about substituting half the green beans with artichoke hearts?
Hi Scot. Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, these dishes use quite a lot of olive oil, which provides flavor, richness and satiety, especially having it as a main course. Yes, the Mediterranean diet is not a low-fat diet, but as I mentioned this would be a moderate calorie dish. Traditionally, they actually used even more olive oil. If you get a chance again, make it with the half cup and see how it is. I’ve made it with 1/4 and with 1/2 and in terms of taste and texture there is a difference. Yes there should be oil left in the pot and dish.
Artichokes would work great. There is actually a Greek traditional dish with artichokes made with potatoes which I will share soon. Happy Holidays
Have tried this for the first time today and love it. The Med. diet is the best thing for long life so they say. For my first attempt I added chopped garlic cloves a mixture of Italian herbs and some bell peppers to the beans with oodles of EVOO and a tin of chopped tomatoes. I also make my own 100% rye bread so with genuine Greek Feta this meal was a real feast par excellence!
Great! Thanks for sharing Roger.
sounds yummy!
A staple in my house when I was growing up sometimes my mother would throw in a few chunks of stew meat too. We don’t use sugar in our recipe …Either way a very delicious meal!
How does one grate tomatoes?
Not sure what a “medium pot” is, and I think I added way too much water, but this did turn out great. Very tasty.
You just use a grater, it will be pulp. It gets messy, but worth using fresh tomatoes if you have them.
I cut a tomato in half then slide the flesh side on the cheese grater until I’m left with just the skin which I don’t use.. Very easy like Passata
Fasolakia always reminds me of summer! This dish is a great way to use those garden fresh vegetables, especially tomatoes. I like to add fresh, chopped garlic to the dish, as well.
thank you dear Michael…we cut them also in two vertically ,then into 2 horizantally…
but this loks great ..ı will try definetly …thank you for all your postings..
i have been eating this sice my childhood. One of my favorite dishes all year round. My mother used to add some garlic however and there were only one type of green beans, in those days, flat green beans, they call them in California Italian green beans for some reason.
Thanks for sharing Michael! We use those wide green beans too, we call them fasolakia platia (wide green beans).
I find it amusing how anything remotely ‘Mediterranean’ tends to be called Italian in the US lol (e.g flat leaf parsley is Italian parsley, mixed dried herbs are Italian herbs over there…)
My Dad made this but he also added a squeeze of half of lemon. Yummy.
Interesting, I’ll try that next time!
Just put this on the stove with zucchini, red pepper and potatoes with the oil and tomatoes. I also added some dry dill . It’s really smelling good in here. Serving with cod!! Can’t wait.
Enjoy! Love the addition of red pepper, its almost like briami (Greek version of ratatouille)
Lots of great variations. Add chunks of chicken or lamb. This year I cooked lamb shanks in the tomatoes before adding the beans for Easter. We usually do a couple of legs on the rotisserie, but wanted something different this year.
Thanks for sharing. A common combo is okra with chicken.
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to make it tonight!
Ill try it and let you know. Ive been changing our meals to more like greek and blue zone.
Fasolakia: One of my favorite summer dishes!
Mine too!
And they are great cold!
Thanks Art! Yes, I forgot to add this in may post. Lathera are best served at room temperature.
My mother would also add zucchini. Meatless dinner.