Name: Ful Medames From Scratch Using a Pressure Cooker
Prep time: 6 h
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 7 h 30 min
Yield: 24
Cuisine: Egyptian
Ingredients: 350 gr/ 12 oz. of dried foul beans (fava beans); 1 cup of dried chickpeas; 1/2 cup of red lentils; 1 medium tomato; 3 medium carrots; 5 cloves of garlic; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 4 cups of cooked ful medames beans; 1 cup chopped tomatoes; 1 cup chopped cucumber; 2 cloves of fresh garlic; 1 lime; 2 tbsp of tahini; 2 tbsp of olive oil; 1 tsp ground cumin; Salt and pepper to taste

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For those of you who are familiar with ful medames, please please please try this recipe from scratch. I too have fallen to the convenience of eating ful medames from a can. And although it is easier to make ful medames from a can, this recipe is so much better and it’s freezer-friendly!

Yes, you heard me correctly- it’s freezer-friendly! Which means that it takes the same amount of time to prepare as a can of ful medames.

This recipe batch cooks enough ful for about 16 servings. You can store the foul moudamas in any amount that suits your needs. I usually go with storing the ful medames in bags enough for 4 servings.

Ingredients for Ful Medames From Scratch

Dried beans: This recipe needs dried fava beans, dried chickpeas, and dried red lentils. There are a couple of variations for dried fava beans, so you need to make sure you get the right thing. You want to use dried fava beans that have a brownish outer skin covering the bean, not the split dried fava beans that are used for ta’ameya (falafel). Also, these fava beans should be medium to small-sized. There are some dried fava beans that are very large. You can see the different beans in the photo below in order to get the relative size and appearance.

dried fava beans chickpeas and red lentils

Vegetables: Add chopped carrots, tomatoes, and roughly chopped garlic with the beans while they cook in the pressure cooker.

Tips for Making Foul Mudamas in a Pressure Cooker

Use a pressure cooker: Duh! If you cook this recipe the traditional way, it will take around 4 hours. I use my instant pot pressure cooker and the beans are ready in 1.5 hours. Need I say more?
Drain beans: Once the beans are finished cooking, strain the bean mixture using a strainer. Save some of the bean juice (about 1/2 a cup) to add back to the beans.
Soak the beans: Don’t skip this step! The beans need some time to swell and soften prior to cooking. At a minimum, soak the beans for 6 hours, but ideally, you can soak the beans overnight. Also, you need to add about 1/2 tsp of baking soda to the soaking beans to help soften up the outer skin of the beans.

Make the Ful Medames Dip

Up until this point, all we have done is make the beans. Now, we need to season and prepare the ful medames dip as the amazing breakfast dish that it is.

If you are starting with frozen ful medames, the only thing you need to do is reheat the ful medames in a nonstick skillet over medium heat with about 1/2 cup of water. You can cut away the freezer-friendly storage bag with some scissors or defrost the frozen ful bag in some water.

To make the ful medames dip add chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, mashed garlic, tahini, lime, ground cumin, salt, pepper, and some extra virgin olive oil. For the full recipe instructions, refer to the recipe card.

How to Store Ful Medames in the Freezer

You can store the ful beans, not the bean dip, in the freezer. The bean dip has the chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions which doesn’t freeze well. I recommend preparing the ful medames dip fresh every time.

Let the ful beans cool to room temperature. Scoop the mixture into a freezer-friendly bag. Label the bag with the contents and date. Stack the bags flat on top of each other in the freezer.

Other Breakfast Recipes to Try

Baked Falafel
Ful Toast
Strawberry Smoothie with Banana and Pineapple
Homemade Pita Bread to go with the foul moudamas dip