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    Cooking Gorgeous » Recipes » Turkish Recipes

    Barbunya (Turkish Style Borlotti Beans)

    Published: Jan 8, 2022 · Modified: Oct 29, 2022 by Ayla Clulee · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe

    Barbunya Pilaki (Turkish Style Borlotti Beans) is a classic Turkish dish braised in olive oil with onions, garlic, and tomato paste.

    This delicious vegan dish is perfect to serve as a light lunch, a part of a mezze spread, or as a side dish to grilled and roasted meat, fish, and vegetables.

    barbunya garnished with fresh parsley

    In Turkey, when barbunya is in season, you can find them at street markets, usually sold in their pods.

    As the season for these delicious beans is quite short, people tend to buy them in bulk and pod them, portion them in plastic bags, and keep them in the freezer to use throughout the year. Although podding them requires a little work, it surely is worth the effort.

    Why This Recipe Works?

    • You can make Barbunya Pilaki a couple of days ahead and refrigerate it until you are ready to serve. It tastes even better a day or two later!
    • It is dairy-free, gluten-free, low in calories, and high in fiber as well as vegan.
    • The leftovers would keep for up to 5 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.
    • Barbunya Pilaki is very easy to make with step-by-step pictures and instructions.
    • The same as Zeytinyagli Pirasa Yemegi (Turkish Braised Leeks), Zeytinyagli Enginar Dolmasi - Stuffed Artichokes, and Zeytinyagli Kereviz Yemegi - Braised Celeriac dish, you can serve Turkish-style Style Borlotti Beans hot, warm, or at room temperature.
    • It is a great dish to serve as part of a mezze selection, a delicious vegetarian & vegan meal, or as a side dish to grilled meat, fish, or vegetables.

    Ingredients You'll Need

    Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.

    Labelled picture of ingredients for Barbunya

    Borlotti Beans

    It is also known as Roman beans or Cranberry beans. Although the best option is to buy them fresh, you can make barbunya pilaki with dried or canned beans and both will be very delicious.

    If you are lucky enough to access the fresh ones, buy them in bulk and freeze them for further use.

    • Carrots - They add extra texture, color, and sweetness to Barbunya Pilaki.
    • Tomato paste - When in season, it is best to use juicy, ripe summer tomatoes instead of tomato paste. Substitute it with 2 small or 1 large red and juicy tomato.
    • Garlic - Use finely chopped fresh garlic. Alternatively, you can turn it into a paste with a mortar and pestle or grate it with a Microplane.
    • Celery - It is not one of the traditional ingredients for Barbunya Pilaki but I love the aroma it adds to the dish. You can omit it if you prefer.
    • Lemon juice - I strongly advise generously squeezing fresh lemon juice on top of Barbunya Pilaki before serving to lift the flavor up.

    Step-by-Step Instructions

    Although making Barbunya Pilaki is very easy, you need to follow a few simple steps to achieve the best results:

    Drain and wash canned borlotti beans and set them aside. Put olive oil in a large saucepan and place it on low-medium heat. Add the onions and gently sauté for a few minutes, until soft and translucent.

    Sautéing the onions with olive oil

    Add the carrots along with the celery, and sauté for another couple of minutes.

    Sautéing the celery and carrots

    Stir in the tomato paste, salt, sugar, and garlic.

    garlic, tomato paste, salt, sugar are added to the pan

    Stir for a minute and then add the borlotti beans along with the vegetable stock or water, stir all together to combine.

    the beans and stock are added to the pan

    Bring the pan to a boil and gently simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the carrots are softened. Remove the pan from the heat, let it cool down, and transfer it to a serving plate.

    Squeeze some lemon juice on top and garnish with chopped parsley and lemon slices.

    Top Tip From the Chef

    If you want to cook Barbunya Pilaki with dried beans, soak them in water overnight. Boil until soft, approximately for an hour, before adding to sauté onions&carrots.

    If you have a pressure cooker you can skip the soaking process. Simply pressure-cook dried beans for 35 minutes, drain, and rinse before adding them to sauté onions&carrots.

    Serving Suggestions

    There are many ways to enjoy this simple yet delicious dish.

    You can serve it as a vegetarian/vegan main meal with a rice dish such as Bulgur Pilavi (Turkish Bulgur Rice Pilaf), Turkish Rice (Sehriyeli Pilav), or Turkish Bulgur Pilaf with Lentils.
    It is delicious as a side dish as well.

    It goes perfectly alongside grilled & roasted fish, meat, or chicken dishes such as Grilled Lamb Kofta (Izgara Kofte), Rice Stuffed Chicken, Orman Kebabi, Et Sote, or Lamb Shish Kebab.

    Recipe FAQs

    What does Barbunya Pilaki mean?

    Pilaki is the general name for a dish made of vegetables or seafood slowly braised with onion, garlic, and tomatoes in olive oil and served cold or at room temperature. And "Barbunya Pilaki" is a pilaki dish made with barbunya beans.

    What is similar to Borlotti beans?

    Although Pinto beans and Kidney beans look like Borlotti (Barbunya) beans, they taste completely different.
    Borlotti beans are also known by different names such as Roman beans, Cranberry beans, Madeira beans, Rosecoco beans, Tongues of fire beans, Wren’s egg beans, and Cacahuate (peanut) beans (in Mexico).

    How to store the leftovers?

    The leftovers would keep refrigerated for up to five days and frozen for up to three months in an airtight container.

    Related Recipes

    For more tasty and healthy vegan dishes, why not try:

    • aubergine dip without tahini
      Baba Ganoush Without Tahini
    • Mediterranean flavoured orzo salad in a bowl
      Orzo Pasta Salad
    • Imam Bayildi (Turkish stuffed eggplant)
      Imam Bayildi (Turkish Stuffed Eggplant)
    • turkish meze saksuka is served in a bowl
      Saksuka (Turkish Vegetable Meze)

    Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

    I hope you enjoy the process of making this healthy and delicious Barbunya Pilaki (Turkish Style Borlotti Beans) as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂 

    Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!

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    Barbunya (Turkish Style Borlotti Beans)

    Ayla Clulee
    This healthy, classic, and delicious Mediterranean dish can be served cold or warm, all year around.
    5 from 8 votes
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 30 minutes mins
    Total Time 40 minutes mins
    Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
    Cuisine Greek, Mediterranean, Turkish
    Servings 4 portions
    Calories 255 kcal

    Equipment

    • 1 Sharp knife
    • 1 Rubber spatula
    • 1 Sauce pan
    • 1 Measuring cups

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 2 tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 medium onion (diced)
    • 1 stick celery (sliced)
    • 1 large carrot (sliced half-moon shape)
    • 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
    • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon sugar
    • 1 ½ cup vegetable stock or water
    • 480 g borlotti beans (1 tin of cooked borlotti beans)
    • chopped parsley (to garnish)
    • lemon slices or wedges (to garnish)

    Instructions
     

    • Put olive oil in a large saucepan and place it on low-medium heat.
    • Add the onions and gently sauté for a few minutes, until soft and translucent.
    • Add the carrots along with the celery, sauté for another couple of minutes before adding the tomato paste, salt, sugar, and garlic.
    • Stir for a minute and then add the borlotti beans along with the vegetable stock or water, stir all together to combine.
    • Bring the pan to a boil and gently simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the carrots are softened.
    • Remove the pan from the heat, let it cool down and transfer on a serving plate.
    • Squeeze some lemon juice on top and garnish with chopped parsley and lemon slices.

    Notes

    • If you want to cook Barbunya Pilaki with dried beans, soak them in water overnight. Boil until soft, approximately for an hour, before adding to sauté onions&carrots. If you have a pressure cooker you can skip the soaking process. Simply pressure-cook dried beans for 35 minutes, drain and rinse before adding them to sauté onions&carrots.
    • The leftovers would keep refrigerated for up to five days and frozen for up to three months in an airtight container.
    • When in season, it is best to use juicy ripen summer tomatoes instead of tomato paste.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 255kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 12gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 981mgPotassium: 609mgFiber: 13gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 3256IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 77mgIron: 3mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @cookingorgeous or tag #cookingorgeous!

    This post uses affiliate links. This means that if you click on them and then buy something, we get a small amount of commission to keep the site running, but it doesn’t cost you anything more.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Philip

      January 15, 2022 at 3:13 pm

      5 stars
      Just made this with dried borlotti beans and they turned out perfect!

      Reply
    2. Rick

      April 10, 2022 at 12:22 pm

      5 stars
      I love this recipe. Instead of parsley, I use fresh cilantro. I make this recipe about every other week and it's always amazing.

      Reply
      • Michelle Evans

        February 22, 2023 at 9:19 pm

        Hi can I ask If I make this dish the day before and refrigerate how do I heat it up the following day.

        Reply
        • Ayla Clulee

          February 23, 2023 at 5:04 am

          Hi Michelle
          This dish is best when eaten at room temperature, so I would suggest you take it out of the fridge an hour before serving. If you want to eat it warm, the best way is to heat it gently in a pan over low heat.
          Hope that helps.
          Ayla

          Reply
    3. Nicky

      May 03, 2022 at 8:58 am

      5 stars
      The beans are delicious even with no meat or stock during cooking. A definite winner for those that love beans.

      Reply
    4. Perry

      June 05, 2022 at 5:32 am

      5 stars
      Made this for the second time. It looks like I spent hours making it! The first time I made it, it was a big hit and I know it will be gone soon now too!

      Reply
    5. Amanda

      June 13, 2022 at 4:42 pm

      5 stars
      Lovely, easy dish! It had such a nice fresh, bright flavour.

      Reply
    6. Kathy

      August 15, 2023 at 9:44 pm

      5 stars
      I made it and it was good, however, I like lots of flavor so I added Za'atar and Cured Sumac. It made a great meal and I would make it again.

      Reply
      • Ayla Clulee

        August 16, 2023 at 4:42 am

        Dear Kathy
        Thank you for trying out the Barbunya recipe and sharing your experience! Adding Za'atar and Cured Sumac sounds like a fantastic idea. It's wonderful to hear that the modifications worked well for you and made it an even more flavorful meal. I'm glad you enjoyed it and would consider making it again. Happy cooking, and I'm here if you have any more questions or comments!
        Best wishes
        Ayla

        Reply
    5 from 8 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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    Welcome to Cooking Gorgeous, where delicious easy-to-follow recipes and culinary inspiration await you! My name is Ayla Clulee, a passionate and professional Cordon Bleu-trained chef, recipe developer, and food content creator with decades of experience. I am based in the UK, and I'm thrilled to have you here.

    The kitchen is my happy place and cooking is my therapy.

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