Greek green beans (fasolakia lathera) with potatoes in tomato sauce is one of my favorite childhood memories. I still make them as often as I can, and as with any vegetable stew, I always serve them with feta cheese and Greek village bread (horiatiko psomi). This is not a side dish. It's a full, comforting meal that just happens to be healthy, vegan, and naturally gluten-free.
The most common mistake people make when cooking fasolakia lathera is rushing them or adding too much water, to end up with bland, watery vegetables no one actually craves. This is a green bean stew, not a soup! When cooked the right way, fasolakia turn into something completely different: soft, rich, deeply aromatic, and packed with real flavor.
You can find many variations for this dish throughout Greece. Some people (like my mom) add 1-2 sliced zucchinis to the pot, others add garlic, some make it with flat beans and some prefer to add frozen cranberry beans (a.k.a. borlotti beans) for extra protein.
✏️ If I could only give you one advice for these Greek style green beans, is not add too much water. And add a spoonful of whole coriander seeds.
For more healthy Greek dishes, don't miss this Greek fava recipe (yellow split pea puree), a vegan dish full of protein and perfect for Lent, this Greek Spinach Pie (Spanakopita) which you can make with or without feta cheese, and this bright orzo pasta salad!
📋 Ingredient notes
To make this fasolakia recipe you'll need the following ingredients:
String beans: I prefer using frozen string beans because they're already de-veined and so all you have to do is throw them in the pot. Feel free to use fresh string beans if you prefer, however keep in mind that:
a. You'll have to prepare them by rinsing under cold water in a colander and removing the stem tips.
b. Many modern varieties were bred to be stringless. If you're not sure whether your beans have strings or not, do as following:
- Snap the stem end of one bean by hand but don't pull it all the way off.
- If a long, thread-like fiber stays attached to the snapped end as you pull it away, continue pulling that thread all the way down the length of the pod to remove it.
- Repeat the process from the other end for the opposite seam if necessary.
👉 Flat beans will work just as well!
Potatoes: Use your favorite type. Here in Greece we mostly use Russet potatoes, but any variety will do. Just make sure to cut them in small pieces so that they cook quickly.
Carrots: I love them in this recipe. If you don't like them you can omit them or use another vegetable such as zucchinies.
Tomato paste: I find that tomato paste works better here than puréed tomatoes (partly because that's how my mom and grandma always made it, and that's the flavor I grew up with). It gives the dish a deeper, more concentrated taste. That said, you can absolutely use canned or fresh ripe tomatoes, just blend them first for a smooth sauce.
Coriander seeds: They're not used in the traditional recipe, so you can say this is my twist. Please try them in this dish, I'm sure you'll love them!
For the full list of ingredients with quantities, please see the recipe card ⬇️ at the end of this post.
👨🍳 Expert Tips
Follow these expert tips to make the best greek green beans in tomato sauce
✅Cut the potatoes in approximately 2 inch cubes, so that they cook fast.
✅ Don't add too much water, because the stew will be watery. You want the level of the liquid to be about 1 inch lower than the beans
✅ Cook this vegetable stew with the pot covered, in order for all of the vegetables to cook evenly.
✅ Potatoes soak a lot of salt. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
🎥 Video
Watch a short video for how to make this Greek green beans recipe:
🎵 Music on Video: Folk bed, Musician: audionautix.com
📖 Recipe
Greek green beans (fasolakia lathera)
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (50 g) olive oil
- 2.2 pounds (1 Kg) frozen green beans (see note#1)
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 2 medium carrots (sliced)
- 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 clove garlic (minced or whole, see note#2)
- ⅓ cup tomato paste (see note#3)
- 2 cups (480 g) water (or vegetable stock)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 5 (1 Kg) medium sized-potatoes (cut in 2-inch cubes)
- ½ bunch fresh parsley (chopped)
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over high heat and add the olive oil, green beans, onion, carrots, and coriander seeds. Stir gently for 8-10 minutes or until the beans look glossy and the onion translucent.
- Add the black pepper, garlic, and tomato paste and stir gently for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the water/stock, salt and potatoes. Shake the pot to distribute everything evenly and check the level of the liquid. It should be about 1 inch lower than the beans and potatoes. If not, add water as needed.Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, and cook covered for 30 minutes.
- Add the parsley, and taste to adjust the salt. Stir gently with a wooden spoon and continue cooking until the potatoes are fork-tender (about 10 more minutes).👉 Serve with crusty bread and feta cheese on the side.
Notes
More healthy Greek and Mediterranean dishes:
Nutrition
💭 FAQs
This recipe belongs to the "ladera" category: Traditional Greek dishes cooked without meat and built around generous amounts of olive oil. In fact, the word ladera literally means "made with oil." Older Greek recipes, especially Cretan ones, don't hold back 😊. Olive oil was abundant, so they used it freely to create rich, satisfying meals.
If you follow those quantities blindly today, the dish can feel unnecessarily heavy. For this Greek green beans (fasolakia) stew, I've cut the olive oil roughly in half to make it lighter and more aligned with how we eat now. Feel free to increase the oil for a more traditional, fuller-bodied version of Greek green beans in tomato sauce.
This recipe works with almost any type of green beans, fresh or frozen. The most common choices are snap green beans, French green beans (haricots verts), and the flatter Italian variety. Some varieties have tough side fibers (the "strings") that need to be removed before cooking, or they'll ruin the texture.
If you don't want the extra prep, frozen beans are the smarter choice because they're already trimmed, consistent in quality, and ready to go. In a dish like this, where everything simmers together, the difference is smaller than people think.
🍳 More Greek vegetarian dishes
If you tried this Greek green beans with potatoes in tomato sauce, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
Chloe Bowers says
This was insanely good. I have an excess of green beans from my garden and this was the perfect use for them. We all went for seconds. Even better, I had coriander seed, also from the garden, which absolutely made the dish. Little spiced lemony bombs to sprinkle on! Thank you!
Makos says
Thank you so much for your kind words Chloe 🙂
I totally agree, the coriander seeds are my favorite surprise each time I bite one
Mary says
Because I garden, I always have an assortment of vegetables and herbs. I’ve taken to just googling a list of what’s on hand, with “vegan” in front. This recipe sounded ordinary but the reviews were good and it matched my list to a T. It was very good. Every single ingredient came from my late-spring garden near Houston. I agree, the coriander seeds make it. I’m not accustomed to cooking green beans for so long, but they held up. I am writing it down! Thanks.
Makos says
Thanks Mary!
It must be so nice to have your own garden where you grow your own vegetables 🙂
Anne says
Another great recipe! Really easy and delicious. We did half the recipe and had enough for two dinners Served with sheep feta. So good!
Makos says
I'm so happy you enjoyed it Anne!