This Turkish green beans recipe proves you don’t need elaborate ingredients to make a delicious vegetarian side dish. Made with simple ingredients, this tomato and olive oil-soaked braised taze fasulye recipe can be served as part of a mezze platter or as an easy accompaniment to any main dish.
I visited Turkey for the first time about 10 years ago, and fell in love with the country, and especially loved the cuisine.
One recipe that stood out to me for its simplicity and incredible flavor was this taze fasulye tarifi (recipe).
Taze fasulye translates to ‘green beans‘; this dish is also known as zeytinyagli fasulye which means ‘green beans in olive oil‘. It’s pronounced tah-zay fah-sool-yay.
Mediterranean green beans and tomatoes is a popular recipe and there are different variations of this dish all over the region and Middle East.
This tomato and olive oil green beans recipe is known by other names, including Loubieh Bi Zeit (Arabic) or Fasolia (Armenian). The Greeks make a similar version of this recipe with potatoes called Fasolakia Lathera.
The stewed green beans recipe is a comforting, almost stew-like dish that tastes great served the next day. The beans are cooked very soft and tender, not crisp-tender as you may be used to.
Although you could serve these green beans warm, they taste best when served at room temperature.
➡ This recipe would be a great side dish to chicken shawarma, lamb biryani, or mujadara. It would also be great served with hummus, baba ganoush, and batata harra as part of a mezze platter.
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Ingredients You’ll Need for Turkish Green Beans
💡 Ingredient and Recipe Tips for Taze Fasulye
🌱 Beans: Use regular green beans, French beans, flat beans, or runner beans. Runner beans are traditionally used. Trim ends and remove strings along seams. Fresh beans are best.
🧄 Garlic: I like to use a generous quantity of garlic. Use whole or sliced cloves or both.
🫒 Olive Oil: ¼ cup of olive oil adds authentic flavor to this recipe. If you need to reduce the quantity, use two tablespoons.
🍯 Sugar: 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar enhances flavor. You can reduce or omit.
🍅 Tomato: Use fresh tomatoes when in season. If using canned tomatoes, add two teaspoons of tomato paste. I like to add tomato paste either way.
🌶️ Spices: Simple seasoning works well. Optional: add cinnamon, allspice, paprika, or baharat. These are used in some recipes for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern green beans.
🫐 Pomegranate Molasses: Add a teaspoon of pomegranate molasses for some variety. It adds a sweet-sour taste and is a great condiment!
⏲️ Cooking: Cook beans until very tender. Adjust cooking time for your preferred texture.
🍽️ Serving: Middle Eastern green beans are best at room temperature or cold. Pairs with crusty bread and mezze dishes. Optional: top with yogurt, parsley, mint.
How To Make Green Beans in Olive Oil
♨️ Stovetop Method
- Heat a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil, and once the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic. Saute until onions are soft and translucent. Add tomato paste (if using) and saute for one minute. Lower heat if needed. Add salt and pepper and stir briefly.
- Stir in tomatoes, green beans, and sugar. Saute for one minute.
- Add hot water and bring the beans to a boil. Lower the heat and cover the pot.
- Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until the beans are very soft. Add more hot water as needed. Add a squeeze of lemon to finish.
⏲️ Instant Pot Method
- For Instant Pot taze fasulye, turn on Saute mode. Once the inner pot has preheated, add oil to the inner pot and let it heat up.
- Add onions and garlic and stir until onion is translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add green beans.
- Stir in tomatoes and spices.
- Pressure cook and quick-release pressure.
- Stir beans and allow to cool.
Turkish Green Beans – Taze Fasulye
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 cup onion diced
- 8 cloves garlic sliced (or whole) [See Note 1]
- ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
- 2 teaspoon tomato paste
- ¼ cup hot water Use 2 tablespoon for Instant Pot version
- 2 large tomatoes diced – about 1 lb. (500 grams) or 1 can diced tomatoes (411 grams)
- 1 lb. green beans trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 4 cups) – 500 grams
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar or to taste
- lemon Fresh – to drizzle on top
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add olive oil and once hot, add the onions and garlic. Saute until onions are soft and translucent.
- Mix the tomato paste with a tablespoon of hot water. Add the salt, pepper, and tomato paste mixture to the onions. Saute briefly, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Stir in the water, tomatoes, beans, and sugar. Bring to a boil and lower the heat. Cover and simmer the beans for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the beans are very tender. Add more hot water as needed if the beans stick to the bottom.
- Cool to room temperature before serving. Squeeze some lemon juice over each serving.
Instant Pot Instructions [See Note 2]
- Press ‘Saute’ and add 2 tablespoon olive oil to inner pot of the Instant Pot.
- Once the oil is hot, add onion and garlic. Stir until onion is translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in green beans, tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar and 2 tablespoons of water.
- Close the lid and pressure cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes. Do a Quick Release and open the Instant Pot. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Carefully stir everything together. Cool to room temperature before serving. Squeeze some lemon juice over top.
Notes
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. cut beans, chopped onion, etc.
- Note 1: Turkish recipes use less garlic than I do. Reduce to 4 cloves of garlic if you wish.
- Note 2: The original Instant Pot recipe had the following changes: 3 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoon water, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips. You don’t want to miss any!
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Cris says
Great recipe; consider this to be the best green bean soup and easy to make. I use frozen green beans and add parsnips, dill, a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes and chicken stock. I no longer used measurement but fill the pot to the max – I like the soup to have lots of beans. Serve with sour cream and warm, fresh pita. To die for
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I just made a double batch of this yesterday – my family loves it too. But never thought of making it as a soup – thank you for sharing!
Clara K says
Thanks for a great recipe. I traveled to Turkey a few years ago and tasted a simple vegetable stew with tomatoes that I’ve been wanting to try to make at home. I think this recipe is the closest. I pressure cooked for five minutes.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Clara, I’m glad you liked the recipe. I agree that pressure cooking for longer creates that melt-in-your-mouth quality that makes this dish so delicious.
Carol A LaPorte says
Hi–How would you change the cooking time if using frozen green beans in this recipe! Thanks!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Carol, I wouldn’t pressure cook frozen green beans. I would just make this in ‘saute’ mode so you can keep an eye on it to not overcook.
Sara says
Very easy side dish. I cooked the green beans for 3 minutes and it was perfect. But didn’t use the pomegranite molasses. Thanks for sharing!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you, Sara! I’m so glad to hear you tried it out. It’s such a simple recipe but different and tasty.