Homemade Roasted Broad Beans
These crispy roasted broad beans make the perfect snack, and a tasty alternative to crisps. A healthier version of habas fritas, this version is baked in the oven to crunchy perfection. They’re so easy to make, and are also great as an appetiser or salad topper.
Ingredients
- 325 g frozen broad beans* 2 cups
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Grind of black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°c/350°f.
- Put the frozen broad beans in a colander and run some warm water over them until they reach room temperature.
- One by one, gently squeeze the broad beans on the rounded edge, pushing the inner bean from the pod via the bumpy side. They should pop out easily, and this process should be relatively painless, but I've put a note below on this**.
- Take your podded beans and lay them out on a medium baking sheet. Drizzle over the olive oil, and sprinkle the salt and the grind of pepper. If you want to add any other herbs and spices, the time is now.
- Using your hands, massage the oil and seasoning into the broad beans. As you massage, the broad beans should begin to split down the middle into two parts. Try to split as many of them as you can, as this will make for crispier beans.
- Roast them in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, stirring them around half way. If they aren’t quite crispy enough at 30 minutes, pop them back in the oven for 5 minutes at a time until the beans are crunchy.
Notes
*You can also use canned, fresh or dried broad beans- see notes in post above for tips.
**If podding the beans seems like a little bit of a grinding task, it is possible to make roasted broad beans in their skins. I prefer to pod the beans as I find that the skins remain a little chewy after roasting, and it’s harder to get beans which are evenly roasted all of the way through. This is definitely personal preference though, so you can give it a go with the skins if you would rather!
STORAGE: Broad beans will keep in an airtight container in a cupboard for up to 4 days. I wouldn’t recommend freezing them or keeping them in the fridge as this may be too moist of an environment and cause them to soften.
USING DRIED FAVA BEANS:
If you have access to them, dried beans can also be used for this roasted fava beans recipe. Split fava beans are the best option here, as you don’t need to split them before roasting. If they are not split, you will need to remove them from their pods and split them as per the recipe for frozen beans.
Check if your beans need soaking overnight beforehand, and then simmer for around 7 minutes until they are soft with a little bit of a bite. You can then roast them as per the instructions for frozen broad beans. For this recipe, you will need around 140g or 1 cup of dried beans.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!