YES.YES.YES! Easy to make, delicious and hearty Balkan bean soup (stew). Beans combined with meat and veggies, then thickened with a paprika based roux. Uh!
In case you didn't get that, let me repeat it one more time: we're talking about soaking beans which are added to simmered vegetables and meat, cooked over low fire, then thickened with a paprika based roux. The result is a delicious thick soup (stew) overflowing with meaty, hearty beans, processed to perfection.
If you've noticed a similarity in today's bean soup with previous bean stews we made, that's because they're different versions of the same dish. Why did I call it soup instead of stew today? For SEO.
A challenge in writing about a cuisine that's relatively unknown in the West often has to do with translating. How do I translate the taste? How do I depict it in a way that lets you know this is something worth your time in the kitchen? How do I go against what's already written, and explain that it's so much more.
Like the bean stew.
Depicted as a soup elsewhere online. But it's a lot more than a soup. A soup is not a complete meal. It's merely its beginning. Today's bean soup is its beginning, middle and end. Save for a slice of bread, and maybe a tomato sliced and salted, you need nothing else with it.
The meat gives it a heavier accent, although beans do not lack in protein. This is a hearty meal. Like most stews, it's better when you warm it up the next day. As beans are a powerful force, I advise against eating it as the last meal of your day. This is especially true for those of you with a sensitive stomach.
With that in mind, I leave you to it.
RECIPES SIMILAR TO THE BEAN SOUP (STEW) ON BALKAN LUNCH BOX
Bean stews, known as grah or pasulj are beloved in the Balkans. One of my favorites of course includes the kielbasa bean stew. Done in a pressure cooker, this one will be on your dinner table in no time (video included).
There is the vegetarian version of the bean stew which I tried, loved, and approved. It's a top secret recipe from the old Yugoslav National Army chefs. In Balkan colloquial, it's said they hid this recipe like a snake hides its legs.
Finally, I can't finish any discussion of Balkan beans without the baked beans. This one is more a side dish however you could easily make it into a full blown dinner.
Balkan Bean Soup
Ingredients
Soup (stew):
- 16 ounces dry beans white navy, red kidney, or pinto
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 onion large, peeled, minced
- 2-3 garlic cloves peeled, minced
- 2 carrots medium, peeled, diced
- 3-4 ounce piece of bacon or dried beef diced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional 1 tablespoon Vegeta
- 1 bay leaf
Roux:
- 5-6 tablespoons oil
- 1.5 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon paprika
Garnish:
- 1 tablespoon parsley minced
Instructions
- In a large bowl cover beans with water, and leave to soak 7-8 hours (or overnight). The following day strain the beans and discard the water. Then wash and strain the beans again and set aside.
- In a deep pot, heat oil over high and add onion and garlic. Lower to medium and simmer until onion crystalizes. Add carrots and meat. Simmer an additional 5-10 minutes.
- Add seasonings and beans in, and cover with 5 cups of water. Mix ingredients well, cover with a lid, and raise the temperature to high until it boils (about 20 minutes). Add the bay leaf in.
- Lower them temperature (low to medium), and continue cooking until the beans are tender, but not falling apart. (The length of time varies depending on the type of bean, age of bean, stove, whether you're using a pressure cooker or a regular pot. For these it took an additional 40 minutes.) Keep adding a little water at a time throughout the process to keep the level even (about 3-4 cups total).
- A few minutes before you turn off the heat make the roux by warming up the oil in a small pot over high. Once the oil is heated, add flour and stir vigorously so the mixture doesn't clump. Add paprika and continue stirring for a minute or two more. Combine roux with the soup and stir everything well. Cook an additional 5 minutes.
- Take the bay leaf out and discard, and garnish soup with parsley.
- Serve warm.
Alia @ Everyday Easy Eats says
Hi Aida, your Balkan Bean Soup looks so hearty and delicious! I love comforting soup bowls like this, now that the weather is cooling down. Great photos and video too! 🙂
Aida says
Thanks Alia. What a beautiful name you have! I'm all about comfort food come November. 🙂
Alia @ Everyday Easy Eats says
Aww thanks so much, Aida! Your name is very pretty too! 🙂
Aida says
Thanks! 🙂
Tatjana says
Isprobala sam recept i odlično je ispao 🙂
Aida says
Tatjana,
Hvala sto ste se javili, drago mi je da vam se recept svidio. 🙂
Juls says
By any chance are these referred to as village beans? I had a white bean stew when I lived in Sarajevo and I could never get the recipe right. I am going to try this one!!! I am sure it will be great. I remember there being a lot of paprika in the ones I ate there.
Aida says
That's the first time I hear of village beans. It could be regional though. Let me know if you liked it.
Emily says
Dear Aida,
First, thank you for such a beautiful blog! The writing and the photos are equally gorgeous. I've been in Sarajevo for a few weeks and will be here for a couple more, working on some research (then it's back to Germany to resume my grad program :)). Your stories are so descriptive and make me feel closer to the culture and culinary history of the region while I'm here. I loved the detail about Yugoslavian army soldiers being the best cooks--reminds me of being a Girl Scout in the United States growing up.
Also, I made this stew and it was so, so delicious. My first time making bean soup with dried beans, and I'm never going back! I also tried your vegetable risotto (sataras sa rižom), and it was really good. I don't have an oven while staying here in Bosnia, just a stovetop, and so many wonderful recipes (pita, dolma, etc.) need to bubble in the oven. Do you have any particular recipe recommendations for those of us just using a stovetop?
Thanks again for your efforts to make ex-Yu cuisine so accessible to English-speakers. Love the blog!
Warmly,
Emily
Aida says
Hi Emily,
Thank you for the lovely comment.
Here are a few stovetop recipes you can try:
Omač or basically a very comforting pasta with feta and sour cream:
https://balkanlunchbox.com/tagliatelle-feta-cheese/
Crepes (you can fill them with whatever you want, these are just some suggestions):
https://balkanlunchbox.com/crepes-filled-goat-cheese-palacinke-sa-mladim-sirom/
Have you tried polenta? If not, def try, and look for kajmak (cheese spread) at your grocery store to mix it with:
https://balkanlunchbox.com/polenta-porridge-recipe-pura/
I also love uštipci or peksimeti, little fried breads you can eat with most things
https://balkanlunchbox.com/fried-mini-breads-peksimeti-ustpici-lokumi-ili-mekike/
Do you eat meat? In that case also...
Meatballs in tomato sauce:
https://balkanlunchbox.com/balkan-meatballs-recipe-cuftete-cufte/
Veal sauce (kind of like goulash with veal):
https://balkanlunchbox.com/bosnian-veal-sauce-aka-sitni-cevap-recipe/
Leek and ground beef risotto is a great way to start liking leeks if you don't already:
https://balkanlunchbox.com/leek-ground-beef-risotto/
Nice to hear you're enjoying Sarajevo. Drop me a line and maybe we can coordinate a coffee while you're in town ([email protected]).
Emily says
Dear Aida,
Thank your for such a generous and detailed reply! I'm sorry to be responding so late. For some reason, I never received a notification of your reply by email, and I forgot to check. I only am just now seeing your reply because I'm making this soup again (in my kitchen in Germany, this time! :)) And this time I also have an oven to make an even greater variety of delicious recipes.
My time in Sarajevo was so lovely! I'm sorry we missed each other, but I will actually be back for a conference in late May/early June. I will shoot you an email then. If the timing is right, it would be great to take you out for a coffee.
Thanks again!
Emily
Aida says
Emily,
That sounds good. Best of luck w/ everything!
Lulu says
Hi Aida, I use this recipe as a guideline every time we bring back suho meso from Sarajevo's tržnica to Split and my Bosanchero is a very happy eater. I'm not sure why I use a can of diced tomatoes but I do (and it works). Typically I make grah using an InstantPot (some Amerikanka habits refuse to die) on manual for 8 minutes and cooked a little longer on the sauté or slow cook setting after adding the roux. Four thumbs up!
Aida says
Nice! When do you put in the tomatoes? InstantPot is great, no shame in using it at all!
Lulu says
I add the can of tomatoes as part of the liquid. (But, admittedly, I use more liquid...) It seems there are indeed recipes using tomatoes out on the Internets.
Yeah, I love my InstantPot 🙂
Aida says
Yes, variations abound. Bon appetit! 🙂
Tammy says
Made this soup tonight. AMAZING!!
The only meat I had on hand was maple glazed bacon, and it was incredible in this soup. I also through a handful of baby spinach in each bowl.
Aida says
That sounds delicious! Thanks for the tips, they'll be super helpful to other readers!
Amira says
I told my boyfriend to buy me beans so I could make this but he bought one can of pinto beans and one can of navy beans. Lol could I use the canned beans? Thanks.
Aida says
Amira,
Unfortunately no, these have to be dried. However we have a recipe for a quick version of pan baked beans that you can use your canned beans for. Here: https://balkanlunchbox.com/gravce-na-tavce-macedonian-baked-beans/
Amira says
I thought so, lol. Thank you, those look delicious as well!
Bettina Shouse says
Amazing!!! Yummilicious!!
Aida says
Glad you like it Bettina!
Robert Ellis says
Hi the link for the army bean stew no longer works 😔 will this recipe get re posted? Thanks
Aida says
Sorry for the late reply. It's been retired. Would you like me to email you the recipe?
Robert Ellis says
Yes please ☺☺
Aida says
Sent!
Sarah Amena says
Aida - honestly - is grah worth making without 🥩? Or does the meat really make the flavor that much better?
Aida says
It's best with meat.
Sarah Amena says
Aida - I was telling my in laws about your website and I told Dido that I made grah ( the entire pot was eaten so good 😊) and he is known for his grah! So he wanted to show me exactly what to do (the generosity of Bosnians ❤️)
First - he surprised me and used Lima beans - it was an extra step where he has to peel skins and they got super ginormous but were yummy!
Everything is the same in your recipe except he added a little Ajvar and at the end when he did the roux - he fried about half an onion finally chopped and then put the flour mixture and spices. It made the flavor more smoky or something.
My 1.5 and 3.5 year old love his grah and they can be super picky! I also ate grah with cabbage salad - they mix really well together and seem to pull water out of me???
Also- my mother in law gave me my my magical wand - the big long stick so I can try and make pita! She doesn’t seem to have much faith in me 😂 I told her I would watch Aida’s videos and learn! In the past- I’ve had many culinary mishaps - but I think I’m getting better - I need to be more organized. I was going to buy some filo sheets - they were $5.49! I was like - nope too much - I have to learn like a Bosnian!
Aida says
Well you are one lucky lady to have your in-laws share their recipes with you!
Pita is a little tricky. Give yourself some time, and practice. Definitely don't promise to make it for guests the first time around.