Athens
Guided tour · 3 hours
Athens: Street Food Tasting Tour
Immerse yourself in Athenian cuisine, sample the best street food with beer or wine, explore Athens, and hang out where the locals do on this guided...
from€59Check dates
History
Fasolada is the unofficial national dish of Greece, present on Lenten and everyday tables since the medieval period. The dish is built on dried gigantes or butter beans slow-cooked with the trinity of Greek vegetables (carrot, celery, onion) and finished with abundant olive oil. Diporto, Taverna Saita and the Athenian neighborhood tavernas plate fasolada as a cold-season staple, often as the first course before grilled protein.
Book a food experience
Tours, tastings and classes from the cities on this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.
Heraklion
Guided tour · 7 hours
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Visit Knossos Palace, Crete’s most famous archaeological site, and explore Heraklion city. Enjoy a guided tour, free time, and a walk through the Old...
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Thessaloniki
Guided tour · 4 hours
Thessaloniki: Food Tastings and Drinks Tour with a Chef
Delve into Greek cuisine and go on a walking tour of Thessaloniki with food tastings and drinks included. Taste local dishes such as koulouri, wander...
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Make it at home
Ingredients
- 500g dried gigantes or butter beans (or large white beans), soaked overnight
- 150ml good Greek extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large onions, finely diced
- 3 carrots, finely diced
- 3 celery sticks with leaves, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 400g tin good crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon Greek paprika (sweet)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Lemon wedges, kalamata olives, crusty bread, feta to serve
- Extra virgin olive oil to finish each bowl
Method
- Drain the soaked beans. Place in a large pot, cover with cold water by 5cm. Bring to a boil, simmer 5 minutes, then drain (this removes the foam).
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot. Add the onion and cook over low heat for 15 minutes until very soft but not coloured.
- Add the carrot and celery and cook 10 minutes more.
- Stir in the garlic, then the tomato paste; cook 1 minute.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, oregano, paprika, parsley stalks, salt and pepper.
- Add the par-boiled beans and 2L hot water (the beans should be covered by 3cm).
- Simmer covered 90 minutes, then uncovered 45 to 60 minutes more until the beans are completely tender and the soup has thickened.
- Taste and adjust salt, pepper and add a final generous drizzle of olive oil before serving.
- Ladle into bowls. Serve each with a wedge of lemon, kalamata olives, crusty bread and a slab of feta.
Tip from the editors. Greek olive oil is the dish; use the best you have and use it generously. The bowl should taste of olive oil first, beans second.
Where to eat fasolada
Fasolada in Athens
Diporto ★ 4.8
Diporto is basement koutouki on a market-square corner with no sign, no menu, no english; the door is two trap-style entrances at street level.
Why locals goBasement koutouki on a market-square corner with no sign, no menu, no English; the door is two trap-style entrances at street level.
TipLunch only from late morning until pans empty; descend the two doors and point at the trays.
Taverna Saita ★ 4.0
Taverna Saita on Kydathineon in Plaka is the rare Athenian-locals tavern on the quiet end of the strip, opposite the Metamorphosis church courtyard.
Why locals goThe rare Plaka room cooking for Athenian locals on the quiet end of Kydathineon, opposite the Metamorphosis church courtyard, away from souvenir shops.
TipPavement tables face the quiet end of Kydathineon; book a fortnight ahead for weekend dinners.
Klimataria ★ 4.3
Klimataria on Theatre Square in Athens runs until past midnight every night, the Psyrri institution since 1927 where rebetiko plays live and the wine comes.
OrderGigandes plaki, slow-cooked lamb and a half-kilo of the house red from the barrel.
TipLive music runs most evenings from around 22:00; book a fortnight ahead for the weekend seatings.
Karavitis Tavern ★ 4.5
Karavitis Tavern on Pausaniou in Pangrati is the 1926 neighbourhood taverna with a rustic courtyard, barrels of house wine and a point-at-trays system.
Why locals goPangrati neighbourhood taverna since 1926 with a rustic courtyard, barrels of house wine, and an order-by-pointing system that keeps the tourist trade away.
TipNo reservations are taken; arrive before 21:00 on weeknights and before 20:30 on Saturdays.
More cities are in research. Want fasolada covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.