Israeli-style rice and beans is a hearty Mizrahi-Israeli meal of navy beans and onions seasoned with the warm, earthy taste of Middle Eastern cumin, and generously poured over white or yellow rice.
It’s a popular dish in Israeli cuisine and also in ethnic Israeli restaurants in the U.S.
It’s an absolutely delicious comfort food.
And not only is it vegan, but rice and beans together help make a complete protein!
Israeli Rice with Beans is perfect for anyone who loves Middle Eastern food. This is one of my favorite recipes and I always ask for it when I am in and Israeli ethnic restaurant.
So, I am thrilled to be able to bring it into your home and to your table!
The Israeli bean soup takes some time to make, but the process is very simple and it’s worth every minute!
And budget-friendly!
So, simple to make!
The longest part of this recipe is just cooking the navy beans, so if you want to considerably shorten the prep time, use pre-cooked beans!
Then, just warm up when you get home from work or school!
Looking for a different kind of dish to bring to that potluck dinner or family get-together? Look no further!
Anyone who loves Middle Eastern food or cumin will thank you!
A little about white beans
White beans are also known as Navy beans in the US, because the navy has served it to it’s sailors as a staple since the middle of the 19th century.
White beans are a common type of bean that has been domesticated in North and South America.
And these beans have nutritional benefits! They contain protein and are rich in copper, folate, and iron.
A little about Israeli cuisine
National cuisine is often a mingling of food from a variety of cultures, often due to a change of ruling countries and a shifting of borders.
Turkish cuisine, for example, goes back to the Ottoman Empire and was a combination of several cultures under Ottoman rule.
When people move from country to country, they will take their cultures with them, and their descendants may adapt their traditional cuisine with that of their new home,
That being said, “Israeli cuisine” is basically Middle Eastern (as opposed to Eastern European food) that was brought to Israel by Jews when they fled or were expelled from Muslim countries and moved to Israel mostly after the declaration of the State of Israel (collectively known as Mizrahi Jews).
Even though decades have past, the foods are still known by the culture they came from, but everyone seems to have their own way of making them and there are many variations of pretty much any “Israeli” recipe because of background, custom, or even just taste.
When choosing a recipe, one has to know what actually constitutes the main ingredients—what makes the dish what it is—and what is left up to individual taste.
Some recipes say “authentic” but include a TON of extra ingredients (I saw one recipe for cholent that included SIXTEEN ingredients – my classic cholent recipe is basic and has seven).
Adding more or less of a spice does not belittle the authenticity of a dish.
However, when someone adds a ton of extra ingredients according to their own taste, it’s misleading to tell people that what they are about to put extra effort into is “authentic” (pet peeve), especially when they are unfamiliar with the cuisine.
A good example of this is Israeli salad. What Israelis call Israeli salad is diced tomatoes and cucumbers. Sometimes, they will add some oil, salt, and pepper, but THAT’S IT. Adding anything else is “to taste” and not necessary for it to be “authentic.”
What does it mean when recipes say “to taste” about an ingredient?
When recipes say “to taste,” it means that you can put in as little or as much as you like to your own taste. Some recipes have many ingredients that a cook can adjust to their own taste when cooking (not so much when baking though).
The best way to calculate what your taste is with a recipe that you are not yet familiar with is to first taste the dish and then add the “to taste” ingredient GRADUALLY, a little at a time—a splash of this or a pinch of that—until the dish is just the way you like it. Make sure to stir the ingredient after each time you add it so that the flavor will distribute evenly and become part of the dish. Then taste again. Repeat until you reach your personal preference.
Note: If you plan on using the recipe again, it is highly recommended to make a note of what and how much you added so that you can refer to it next time.
Seasoning and flavoring suggestions for your pantry:
- salt (my recipes use regular table salt)
- ground black or white pepper
- granulated garlic or garlic powder (I prefer granulated)
- onion powder
- sweet paprika and/or sweet pepper flakes (paprika is ground dried red pepper, pepper flakes are crushed dried red pepper)
- hot paprika, hot pepper flakes, or cayenne pepper (moderately spicy dried ground chili pepper) for those occasional spicy dishes
- ground turmeric
- ground cumin
- ground cinnamon
- ground ginger
- ground nutmeg
- ground cloves (for pumpkin flavors)
- sugar (granulated)
- brown sugar
- chicken consommé powder / beef bouillon powder (regular or vegetarian)
- onion soup mix
- onion flakes (substitute for fresh onion—3 tablespoons for 1 medium onion).
- various herbs
- additional spices to adapt taste to preference
Make sure to store properly.
What is needed for this recipe?
I hardly ever meal plan, so I like to keep a cupboard full of seasonings, spices, veggies, and canned goods in my kitchen to use whenever the mood strikes.
But these are what you need to have on hand to make this recipe even last minute!
navy beans (white beans)
onion
tomato paste
paprika
chicken bullion powder
white sugar
cumin
granulated garlic
oil for frying
white or yellow rice
Love Middle Eastern foods Try these easy recipes!
Moroccan-Israeli Fish
Turkish-Style Moussaka
Israeli-Style Matbucha
Easy Israeli-Style Rice and Beans
Delicious navy bean soup, spiced with cumin and served over rice, vegan and packed with protein.
Ingredients
- 1 pound navy beans (white beans)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons chicken bullion powder, vegetarian
- 1 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic
- 8 cups water
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Cook navy beans according to the instructions on the package (cooked through, but not mushy).*
- Wash off the starch.
- Pour enough oil in the bottom of a large pot just to cover the bottom and saute the diced onion until slightly brown.
- Add the water, cooked beans, tomato paste, paprika, chicken bullion powder, sugar, cumin, and granulated garlic.
- Mix well.
- Cook on medium heat for around 20 minutes, mixing occasionally, until the soup thickens a little.
- Pour over white or yellow rice.
Notes
Another option to cook the beans is to first soften them before boiling by placing the beans in a bowl or pot and cover with double the amount of water and 1 teaspoon of baking soda and leaving them for at least 8 hours. Then wash of the beans and place in a pot, cover with water and boil for around an hour or for so long as you need until you can just stick a fork through. Then, follow the regular instructions from number 2.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 191Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 19mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 13gSugar: 4gProtein: 11g