Slow Cooker Kuru Fasulye (Turkish Bean Stew)
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Slow Cooker Kuru Fasulye. Introducing you to the classic Turkish beef and bean stew cooked slow in the slow cooker. You will love this cheap comforting one pot bean stew.
Whether you call it kuru fasulye, Turkish beans with meat, traditional Turkish stew or keep it simple by calling it Turkish beans, you will love how easy it is to cook in the slow cooker.
This slow cooker Turkish bean stew recipe is an update on a 2017 recipe. We have made the recipe more traditional and updated photos and added extra info for you.
Turkish Beans
Growing up with a kebab shop on every street corner, my understanding of Turkish foods was the doner kebabs being sold in the fast food kebab shops owned by Turkish people.
I loved a doner kebab and would have it with plenty of salad and a side of chips. Though it was always so big that I would often share one with my mum and we would still be stuffed.
I also loved the British doner kebab so much that we have slow cooker doner kebabs on the blog!
Then back in 2017, I got to learn that there is more to Turkish food than a doner kebab on a Friday night and that there was a lot of amazing cuisine to go at.
I had been given a Turkish cookbook and scrolled through the digital version and decided there and then, that the recipe I must try and make in the slow cooker was the Turkish beans.
They looked filling, comforting, and perfect for using up some spare beef stewing meat and using the beans to bulk up the meal.
This is the recipe from that ecookbook but with a few modifications and perfect for dumping in the slow cooker this Sunday.
Plus, if you have not tried kuru fasulye before, then you will love it!
What Is Kuru Fasulye?
Kuru fasulye is a Turkish beef stew. It is fantastic for when you want to make a beef stew on a budget because it has beans in it, and thanks to the white beans you don’t need as much beef.
This traditional Turkish bean stew also confuses many people because it has so many different names, but the principles of a kuru fasulye are the same.
I find the easiest way to describe it is “a Turkish white bean stew with meat”. It also always includes onion and tomato paste or tomato sauce. Though the type of meat can be changed such as swapping beef for lamb.
Kuru fasulye is known for being cooked with peppers and peeled zucchini (courgette), though we didn’t use peppers in our version because I’m the only one in the family likes them.
Kuru fasulye is also served with rice, which we have done today.
Which Beans For Kuru Fasulye?
You can use ANY white beans in this delicious Turkish meat stew. I love to use some cans of haricot beans in water. Then drain the water before you add them into the slow cooker.
Also note, that the white beans from a can cook very fast and add them in towards the end of the cook time.
Turkish Beans Recipe Ingredients
Beef – To start this recipe for traditional Turkish stew you will need some stewing steak. Or if you live in the US you will call this chuck roast. Simply chop it into chunks or buy it in chunks from the Butchers or the supermarket.
Beans – Any white beans will work well in this recipe. You can also use butter beans for a better texture. Always drain the beans first before adding them to the slow cooker otherwise the stew will become too watery.
Tomato – This dish is often referred to as Turkish beans and tomato and that is because the tomatoes play a key role in this dish. We use both fresh tomatoes and tomato puree (aka tomato paste) in this stew.
Zucchini – What I find unique about a Turkish bean stew is the way the zucchini (aka courgette) is used in the recipe. Instead of cubing and dumping the zucchini is peeled before it goes into the slow cooker.
Potatoes – The potatoes are used to bulk up the stew and give it some body. You can use any type of potatoes or swap the potatoes for butternut squash.
Seasoning – The flavours are amazing in this dish. Beyond the usual salt and pepper we also have cumin, chilli powder, paprika and oregano.
Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this slow cooker bean stew, it has just been our Crockpot. We have this one and it does an amazing job and is also ideal for sauteing too and browning your meat before slow cooking begins.
How To Make Turkish Stew?
- Prep. The first step is to peel and dice your vegetables and wash any that need washing.
- Browning. Next, I love to brown my meat and then add in the onion and garlic to sauté this too. This gives a wonderful flavour to your slow cooker before other ingredients are added in.
- Mix. Add all the ingredients into the slow cooker (apart from your 2nd can of beans) and mix well.
- Cook. Slow cook until you have tender braised beef and vegetables. This usually takes about 4.5 hours.
- Blend. Then get out the hand blender and blend about 1/5 of your slow cooker and then stir. This will create a creamy beef and bean stew.
- Dump. Finally, add in the rest of the beans, stir, and cook for another 20 minutes or until the beans are warmed through.
Can You Freeze Turkish Beans?
Yes, you can, and I did freeze our leftover Turkish beans.
Here is our container of leftovers, labelled for the freezer and ready for another day:
If you are freezing your Turkish beans leftovers then I recommend you use a freezer container, but allow to fully cool before adding the lid and placing in the freezer as this will stop the condensation.
What To Serve With Turkish Stew?
I recommend for keeping it traditional, that you serve your Turkish stew with some sort of rice. I love instant pot brown rice as its amazing and cooks so easily in the instant pot pressure cooker, but you might have your own favourite.
Or alternatively you can make some air fryer pull apart bread and dunk it into the stew.
More Stews & Casseroles Using The Slow Cooker
- Slow Cooker Beef Goulash
- Slow Cooker Beef & Pumpkin Stew
- Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken Casserole
- Slow Cooker Lamb Tagine
Slow Cooker Kuru Fasulye
Ingredients
Kitchen Gadgets:
Slow Cooker Turkish Stew Ingredients:
- 400 g Beef Stewing Steak
- 1 Medium White Onion
- 3 Medium Potatoes
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Large Zucchini/Courgette
- 4 Medium Tomatoes
- 2 480 ml Cans White Beans drained
- 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Puree
- 200 ml Beef Stock
- 2 Tbsp Cumin
- ½ Tsp Chilli Powder
- 2 Tbsp Paprika
- 2 Tsp Oregano
- Salt & Pepper
- Instant Pot Brown Rice optional
Instructions
- Start by doing your prep. Peel your zucchini and slice into cubes. Peel and dice your onion and potatoes. Remove the cores and dice your tomatoes. Peel and thinly slice your garlic cloves.
- Load your stewing steak into the slow cooker and brown with salt and pepper, extra virgin olive oil and dried oregano.
- Load in onion, garlic and tomato puree and give it a good stir and allow the onions to soften slightly.
- Add in everything else apart from your second can of white beans, stir, and cook on high for 4.5 hours.
- Use a hand blender to blend the potatoes and then stir. This will create a creamy sauce within your beef stew. Then add in your extra can of drained white beans, stir, and then place back on high for 20 minutes before serving.
- Serve with brown rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t make it now? Then pin it for later!
How much beef stock do I add?
Hi Natalie
Sorry for the mistake. It is a pint of beef stock that was used to make the recipe 🙂
Thanks
Sam
I made this yesterday to surprise my (Kurdish) hubby because I can’t usually cook his country’s foods.
We both enjoyed it. Might add only 1 tin of tomatoes next time because it was a bit too tomatoey, otherwise it was nice 🙂
Hi Natalie
Thanks for your rating 🙂 Really glad you liked the recipes 😀
Thanks.
Dom
Turkish here and never heard of using courgette or potatoes in this dish before. Also we never add tomatoes in chunks in it, we use salça (fermented tomato/paprika paste) instead. It is a staple food because it is a simple dish with a few ingredients. Some also put a few dried whole red hot chili peppers depending on region. You might try putting beef jerky or any kind of dried meat instead of stew cut meat too, it is another version we make.
A personal suggestion: instead of canned beans buy them fresh and boil them on your own, and cook it without beef stock. Main ingredient of this dish is good quality fresh beans and taste of beef stock gets ahead of beans’ taste. Also we mostly use butter instead of olive oil while making it with meat.
Bean stew made with olive oil is a different dish and we dont put meat into it. That dish is where we put tomatoes in chunks, with sweet green chili peppers.