🫘 Iraqi white bean stew (fasolia)
Margat fasolia is a thick Iraqi stew of white beans and lamb cooked in tomato sauce with onion and garlic. The beans turn creamy, the lamb tender and the sauce mild and comforting. Like most Iraqi margas, it is served over white rice, often with a squeeze of lemon and pickles on the side.
Diets
Allergens
None of the 14 major allergens in a typical recipe.
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 g dried white beans, soaked overnight
- 400 g lamb, cubed
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin, salt and pepper
- 1 litre water
Method
- Boil the soaked beans in fresh water for 45 minutes until almost tender; drain.
- Fry the onion in the oil, add the lamb and brown it, then add the garlic and cumin.
- Stir in the tomato paste, add the water and simmer the lamb for 40 minutes.
- Add the beans and cook another 25–30 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Season and serve over rice.
How to make it lighter
- Trim visible fat from the lamb, or swap half the meat for extra beans.
- Measure the oil — 1 tbsp ≈ 120 kcal is enough for the whole pot.
- Beans already give plenty of fibre and starch, so keep the rice portion modest.
History
Fasolia (beans) is one of the everyday stews of Iraqi home cooking, part of the large family of tomato-based margas eaten with rice for lunch across the country.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Iraqi white bean stew (fasolia) and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
Download on the App StoreSimilar dishes
Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →