Young and tender, Grilled Fava Beans with Mint, Lemon Zest & Sumac, a simple, easy way to prepare fresh fava beans on the grill! Vegan and bursting with Middle Eastern flavors. Vegan and Delicious!
When fava beans are young and tender, you can grill them in their pods and eat them whole- pods and all. If they are a little more mature, treat them more like edamame, discarding the pod.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, fresh fava beans are popping up more and more in our local farmer’s markets and I often overhear people commenting on them – how much they love them, but how difficult and time-consuming they are to prepare.
I thought I’d share one of the easiest preparations I’ve found. Grilling them whole!
How to Grill Fava Beans
The best fava beans for grilling are small, young and tender- this way you can eat the pods. Mature fava beans can also be grilled, but treat them like edamame, discarding the pods.
STEP ONE
Fire up your grill. Lightly coat the fava beans in a little olive oil and season with salt.
STEP TWO
Char the fava beans on both sides, about 3-4 minutes on each side, covering, then place in a bowl or on a platter.
STEP THREE
Make the simple dressing with olive oil, garlic, shallot, lemon zest, sumac, salt and pepper and pour it over top. Sprinkle with fresh mint, parsley and aleppo chili flakes, and that’s it.
Serve!
Eat them with your fingers like you would edamame, either popping the beans from in the pods, or if the pods are young enough, they too are edible. So easy, so delicious!
Simple, easy Grilled Fava Beans – full of Middle Eastern flavor. Pick up some fresh fava beans while they last!
xoxo
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Grilled Fava Beans with Mint, Lemon Zest and Sumac
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: sides, grilling, vegan,
- Method: grilled
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
Grilled Fava Beans- with Mint, Lemon & Sumac, a simple, easy way to prepare fresh fava beans on the grill with Middle Eastern flavors. Vegan and Gluten-free!
Ingredients
- 20–30 fresh Fava beans ( in the pod)
- olive oil to coat
- generous pinch salt
Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced – use a garlic press!
- 1 tablespoon shallot, finely chopped (optional)
- zest from one medium lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sumac
Garnish:
- 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
- 1/4 cup Italian Parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon aleppo chili ( or regular chili flakes ) optional
- squeeze of lemon, optional
Instructions
Preheat grill to medium-high.
Toss fava beans with a little drizzle of olive oil, just enough to coat, and sprinkle generously with salt.
Grill each side until deep grill marks apear ( 4-5 minutes, each side) covering grill. Try a tester and make sure inner bean is tender.
Spread out on a platter, spoon dressing over top. Sprinkle with fresh mint and parsley and aleppo chili flakes. Taste one for salt. ( I ususally add extra finishing salt.)
If you like a little more lemon flavor, give them a squeeze of lemon.
Eat like you would edamame, with your fingers, scraping out the beans with your teeth.
Very hands-on. 🙂
Notes
With younger smaller fava bean pods, you find the outer pods edible and tasty! Good fiber.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5 pods
- Calories: 229
- Sugar: 2.8 g
- Sodium: 239.5 mg
- Fat: 9.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 27 g
- Fiber: 11.5 g
- Protein: 11.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This was delicious! A great summer appetizer or enjoy with an aperitivo!
Glad you gave these a go!
Do you find them bitter since you’re not peeling the inner skin off? My mother grew up with them and never really liked them, then we discovered not long ago, they aren’t so bad if you peel them–enormously time consuming!
I don’t mind the slight bitterness. I know some people are more sensitive to bitter flavors- it’s genetic!
I loved how easy this was! Such a fun way to use up our fava beans, thanks for sharing!
AMAZING and DELICIOUS!! I love fava beans but it is a pain to prepare them..shelling them from the pod, boiling, then shelling the actual bean, etc. Grilling them made it so easy and the vinaigrette was a perfect complement.
Thanks for another amazing recipe. I love this blog!