Egypt | Breakfast

Ful Medames

Slow-cooked fava beans mashed with garlic, lemon, and cumin, drizzled with olive oil and served with warm pita. Egypt's beloved everyday breakfast.

Country
Egypt
Region
North Africa
Time
40 min
Serves
4
Level
easy
Explore Egypt recipes Open interactive cooking mode
Recipe overview

Visible recipe content ships in HTML from the first paint

Ful medames may be the oldest dish still eaten in Egypt, tracing back to the pharaohs. Today it is the breakfast of millions — from street vendors serving it in paper-lined bowls at dawn to families enjoying it around the kitchen table. The word medames means buried, referring to the ancient practice of slow-cooking the beans in a pot buried in hot embers overnight. The ful cart is an institution in every Egyptian neighbourhood.

What the dish tastes like

Slow-cooked fava beans mashed with garlic, lemon, and cumin, drizzled with olive oil and served with warm pita. Egypt's beloved everyday breakfast.

When to cook it

Best for Daily breakfast, with a easy cooking level and about 40 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Warm pita bread, pickled turnips, and fresh vegetables

Follow the collection route

Ful Medames belongs to 2 AfroKitchen collections. Vegetarian Africa is the strongest cluster route to start from. Vegetarian Africa

Servings: 4

The core SEO content is fully visible in HTML. The controls above only recalculate ingredients and nutrition client-side for convenience.

How to cook it

Step-by-step instructions

Back to Egypt
1
Cook the beans
Drain the soaked fava beans, place in a large pot, and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour until the beans are very soft and creamy. Reserve some cooking liquid before draining.
For an authentic texture, some beans should be falling apart while others stay whole.
Cook beans 60:00
2
Mash and season
Partially mash the beans with a fork or potato masher, leaving some whole for texture. Add garlic, cumin, lemon juice, and salt. Stir well, adding cooking liquid as needed to reach your desired consistency.
The ful should be creamy but not a smooth puree — texture is key.
3
Warm through
Return the mashed beans to low heat and warm through for 5 minutes, stirring gently to let the garlic and cumin infuse.
Warm ful 05:00
4
Serve
Spoon into shallow bowls. Drizzle generously with olive oil, sprinkle with cumin and parsley, and serve with warm pita bread, pickled turnips, and sliced tomatoes.
Every diner should customise their bowl with extra lemon, cumin, or chilli to taste.

Regional variations and live helpers still layer on top through AfroKitchen’s interactive surfaces. This static page is the crawlable starting point, while the fallback template handles extra kitchen tools when needed.

Keep exploring

More AfroKitchen dishes from the same food atlas

Clean recipe routes are preferred whenever this wave has generated them. Remaining dishes still resolve through the interactive fallback until the next static expansion.

Egypt | Static route

Koshari

Egypt's iconic street food — layers of rice, lentils, macaroni, and chickpeas topped with a spiced tomato sauce, garlicky vineg...

70 min | Main dish
Egypt | Static route

Molokhia

A vibrant green soup made from finely chopped jute leaves simmered in chicken broth, finished with a sizzling garlic and corian...

60 min | Recipe
Algeria | Static route

Couscous Royal

Algeria's grandest couscous dish featuring fluffy steamed semolina topped with lamb, merguez sausage, and a fragrant vegetable...

120 min | Main dish
Libya | Static route

Bazin

Libya's national dish — a smooth, dense dome of barley dough surrounded by a rich lamb and tomato stew, topped with hard-boiled...

110 min | Main dish
Browse AfroKitchen Explore Egypt recipes