Greek artichokes with fava beans (Aginares me koukia)

Authentic Greek artichoke and fava beans stew which is naturally vegan. This traditional Greek meal comes together in one pot, and if you can find frozen artichoke bottoms and fava beans, your meal will be as easy as it is healthy and delicious!

Growing up Greek, meals like aginares me koukia were common! This dish is part of a category of Greek meals called lathera. These are recipes that use a significant amount of olive oil; in Greek oil is lathi. These lathera meals are often vegetable based, and some other examples are Greek okra stewed in tomato sauce, Stewed green peas, and Green beans with potatoes.

Why I love this recipe

This recipe reminds me of home. Growing up in a Greek family we often enjoyed simple, rustic meals made with a few ingredients and really simple cooking techniques. What could be easier than sautéing a few onions and herbs and then adding the rest of the ingredients to a pot to cook?

I remember eating this meal in Greece during the summer. It is also a perfect food to enjoy during fasting periods because it contains no meat, fish, eggs or dairy. It is a simple, nutritious and delicious vegan meal.

Leftovers are great with this recipe! I often make a big batch of this recipe (it can easily be doubled and even tripled) and I portion it out into containers for lunches for the week. So easy to just grab and go with a healthy meal. This saves money, and calories (no need to grab a fast food lunch when you have something healthy waiting for you!).

Key ingredients

Artichoke bottoms: When they are in season I like to use fresh artichokes; I find cleaning and preparing them very nostalgic! In all honestly though, frozen artichoke bottoms are just as good, and they are available year round. They are also much, much easier!

Fava beans I usually use frozen fava beans (also known as broad beans) because they are easy to find, and I can always have a bag or two in the freezer.

Olive oil Greek olive oil is what helps to make this dish authentically Greek. Nothing beats the flavour and aroma of pure Greek olive oil.

Red onion I like to use red onion because it is mild and caramelizes up really nicely.

Green onions For a fresh taste and more onion flavour I like to use green onions. These are sometimes called spring onions or scallions.

Dill In Greek dill is called Anitho and it is used in a lot of recipes. It goes especially well with vegetable based dishes.

Garlic Some garlic for added flavour is always great.

Tomato sauce I use my homemade tomato sauce. Every year we make tomato sauce as a family, with my parents, siblings and our families. It is a lot of work, but so much fun and so worth the effort. You can find that tomato sauce recipe here. If you don’t have homemade sauce a good quality passata will work too.

Salt & pepper Basic seasonings that make every dish better!

How to make this healthy stew

Making this traditional Greek stew is so easy – it all comes together in one pot, with minimal effort.

Step 1
Add the oil to a large pot and add the red onion. Saute over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion is softened. Next add the green onion, and garlic. Stir and saute for about 1 – 2 minutes.

Step 2
Add the rest of the ingredients into the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook until done. This should take about 50 – 60 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Recipe substitutions

Instead of fava beans you can use another type of broad bean, like a giant runner bean.

You can always use a yellow onion in place of red onion in this recipe.

Instead of dill you can add parsley; this would also be lovely.

Cooking tips

Frozen ingredients for the win!

I am often a proponent of fresh is best, but with this recipe I usually defer to frozen artichoke bottoms and frozen fava or broad beans. They are just so much easier, and we are all busy, so a bit of ease when it comes to dinner is a great thing!

Preparing fresh fava beans

If you do want to use fresh fava beans however, make sure that after removing them from the pod, you also remove the skin which is around each bean. This protective layer is very fibrous and needs to be removed before cooking the fava beans. With frozen beans this step is already taken care of.

Cooking time!

I am not sure why but I have seen recipes for aginares me koukia online that recommend a 30 minute cooking time. Maybe its just me, but I think you need to cook this stew for 50 – 60 minutes! Maybe others keep this at a very high temp, or maybe they want the ingredients less done. My advice to you is to check your artichokes and fava beans after 30 minutes and see if they are done to your liking. I like mine at the 50 – 60 minute mark, so that is what I recommend.

Recipe variations

There are many varieties of stews starring artichokes in Greek cuisine. You can add peas and potatoes instead of the fava beans to make Aginares à la polita (Greek artichoke stew). You can also add some avgolemono sauce, that rich egg and lemon frothy sauce to your pot to make Artichokes and peas in an egg-lemon sauce.

How to serve

Aginares me koukia or artichokes with fava bean stew is a great Greek meal, all on its own. I like to serve it during periods of lent or fasting (because it is meatless, egg-free and dairy-free). All you need to round out this meal is a good loaf of bread (you can find my Best bread recipes here), some olives, and maybe a glass of Greek wine.

Related recipes

I think that if you love this recipe, you may also be interested in these authentic Greek meals. So much good food available to explore!

Aginares à la polita (Greek artichoke stew) This is another classic vegan artichoke stew that combines the artichokes with other vegetables, likes peas, carrots and potatoes.

Okra with cauliflower (Bamies me kounoupidi) A delicious meal or side that bakes up beautifully in the oven. A celebration of two vegetables we really should eat more of!

Eggplant dip (Melitzanosalata) A traditional Greek dip made of eggplant, herbs and olive oil. This dip will make an eggplant lover out of everyone!

Artichokes and peas in an egg-lemon sauce (Aginares me arakas avgolemono) In this classic stew featuring artichokes, a gorgeous avgolemono sauce is added making this a rich and luxurious vegetarian meal.

I would love to hear from you! Please take the time to rate this recipe, and leave a comment. Thanks so much 🙂 xoxo

Thanks for sharing!