Piyaz or fasulye piyazi is a traditional Turkish white bean salad.

It’s excellent as a side dish or appetizer alongside other Turkish and Mediterranean dishes or as a main dish with pita bread.

You’ll love piyaz because it combines creamy white beans and tahini with fresh herbs, tasty olives, and crisp, tangy onions.

piyaz salad with white beans, red onions and olives

Dietary Note: this recipe is suitable for a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diet.

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What is Piyaz or Fasulye Piyazi?

Piyaz salad with red onions and parsley

Piyaz means “onions” in Kurdish and Farsi.

In Turkey, the word Piyaz also stands for a dish made with cooked dry beans, onions, herbs, olives, and sometimes a hard-boiled egg served as a side to meatballs and kebabs.

There are several variations of Piyaz.

You can make nohut piyazi with chickpeas, or hek-e piyazi with eggs, hisk piyazi with sundried-tomatoes, or piyaz salatasi with onions and sumac.

Piyaz salatasi or Turkish onion salad
Piyaz salatasi or Turkish onion salad with thinly sliced red onions marinated in lemon juice and sumac.

Here, we are sharing with you one of our favorite Turkish salads, Fasulye piyazi. It’s creamy, indulgent, yet healthy and nutritious.

And as you all might have guessed, Fasulye stands for beans.

Our Turkish bean salad recipe is adapted from that of Musa Dagdeviren, a great Turkish chef and author of “The Turkish Cookbook,” an incredible collection of more than 500 Turkish recipes.

This variation of Piyaz hails from Antalya, a coastal Mediterranean city in the south of Turkey.

It differs slightly from a classic white bean salad and is more similar to a tahini salad as it uses tahini sauce for the dressing.

Tahini sauce with lemon and spoon
Homemade tahini sauce with tahini, lemon juice, water, salt, and garlic.

I don’t know about you people, but we love anything tossed in tahini, and this salad is one of the most satisfying.

It reminds us of a creamy white bean dip but with more texture. It’s almost like a Masabacha, a levantine type of hummus made with mashed chickpeas and tahini.

Piyaz on a white plate with hand holding a pita

Yes, that’s it. I’d describe it as tender white beans swimming in an ultra-creamy tahini sauce topped with tangy marinated onions, fresh parsley, and savory olives.

Enjoy this as part of a mezze platter with other Mediterranean or Middle Eastern recipes. Or have it as a meal with warm pita bread. Afiyet olsun (enjoy)!

Ingredients and substitutions for Piyaz

ingredients for Fasulye Piyazi

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

For the salad

  • White beans: you can use dry cannellini beans that you soak for 8 hours, then boil until tender. Or canned cannellini beans. Here’s our guide on how to cook white beans, should you need it.
  • Onions: For a tangier, bolder, and less pungent taste, we recommend using marinated or quick-pickled red onions. Substitute thinly sliced raw red onions for marinated onions.
  • Olives: Get good quality olives preserved in olive oil if possible. We recommend Kalamata Olive or Olive Taggiasche.
  • Flat-leaf parsley: Get fresh Italian parsley. That’s the one used in the Mediterranean. It has a bolder flavor and softer texture than curly parsley.

For the dressing

  • Tahini: Choose tahini made from 100% hulled sesame seeds. It is best if it is light in color and has a pourable consistency. Avoid dark, pasty, and gritty tahini, as it is bitter and hard to work with.
  • Fresh lemon juice
  • Apple cider vinegar: Substitute white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar.
  • Garlic: A small clove.
  • Sea salt: substitute kosher salt.

Serves well with pickled chilis or jalapeños on top and warm pita bread.

Piyaz with olives and marinated red onions on a plate

How to make Piyaz

US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

1. Preparing the beans

DRY WHITE BEANS: Soak cannellini beans in water for 8 hours. Drain, rinse, and add to a large pot. Cover with water by 4 inches (10 cm) and boil until tender—about 1 to 2 hours. Drain and add to a mixing bowl.

CANNED BEANS: Drain and rinse the cannellini beans and add them to a medium-sized pot. Cover with 1 inch of water and boil for 15 minutes. Drain and add to a bowl.

drained cannellini beans in a big bowl

2. Marinating the onions (optional)

This step is optional. You can substitute marinated onions with thinly sliced red onions.

Cut the onion in half and thinly slice it. Add it to a bowl with lemon juice, sumac, and salt.

Pinch and massage with your fingers for 1 minute, then set aside to marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.

Sumac onions marinating in a white bowl

3. Making the dressing

Add tahini, water, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt to a medium-sized bowl.

Whisk well until smooth. Initially, the tahini-water mixture will curdle. That’s normal.

Tip: If you just opened your tahini bottle, stir it with a spoon to mix the oil that might have separated from the sesame paste.

tahini and water in a glass bowl

Keep whisking fast until perfectly smooth. Stir in a clove of crushed garlic, set aside for 5 minutes, and then remove the garlic.

creamy tahini sauce in a glass bowl

4. Mixing the salad

Pour the tahini dressing over the beans.

cannellini beans with a creamy tahini sauce

Stir gently until combined, then taste and adjust for salt.

Necessary: Don’t add lemon or vinegar at this stage, as the tahini will curdle, ruining the salad.

Piyaz salad after mixing in a glass bowl

5. Plating Fasulye Piyazi

Transfer the Piyaz to a serving platter. Top with the marinated onions, olives, coarsley chopped fresh parsley, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Piyaz salad with red onions and parsley

Serving suggestions

You can have Fasulye Piyazi as a lunch or dinner with warm pita bread, or you can have it as an appetizer, meze, or side dish with other Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern dishes.

Piyaz salad served with pita bread as an appetizer

For example, serve it next to:

Variations

Mediterranean white bean salad

White bean salad with pita bread and tahini yogurt sauce

Our Mediterranean white bean salad features tender and creamy cannellini, fresh herbs, and veggies tossed in a delicious olive oil and lemon dressing.

Here’s the Mediterranean white bean salad recipe.

Tips

Warm the beans: Even if you use precooked canned beans, we recommend boiling them in water for 15 minutes to warm and tender them.

Serve at room temperature: Piyazi salad tastes best if served at room temperature. If you store it in the fridge, take it out 15 minutes before serving it.

Pourable tahini: Pick one made from 100% hulled sesame seeds, light in color and with a pourable consistency. Avoid dark, pasty tahini as they are often bitter.

Storage & Make Ahead

Make ahead: Piyaz salad is good for meal prep as it keeps well for a few days. As it sits in the fridge, though, it will thicken up. Stir a tablespoon of warm water to bring it back to a perfect creamy consistency.

Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. Remove them from the fridge 15 minutes before serving.

Freezer: Piyaz is not suitable for freezing.

Piyaz salad with onions on a big white plate

More bean salads

More white bean recipes

piyaz salad with fresh parsley and sumac onions

Piyaz (Turkish White Bean Salad)

By: Nico Pallotta
5 from 1 vote
Piyaz or fasulye piyazi is a traditional Turkish white bean salad.
You’ll love it because it combines creamy white beans and tahini with fresh herbs, tasty olives, and crisp, tangy onions.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side
Cuisine: Turkish

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry cannellini beans / 3 cups cooked / 2 cans of 15 ounces or 400 grams each
  • 1 red onion raw or marinated in 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 pinch salt, and 1 teaspoon sumac for 15 minutes.
  • 10 olives
  • ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley
  • cup tahini from 100% hulled sesame seeds
  • cup water
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
  • 1 clove garlic peeled and crushed
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Instructions 

  • PREPARING THE BEANS
    Dry white beans: Soak 1 cup dry cannellini beans in water for 8 hours. Drain, rinse, and add to a large pot. Cover with water by 4 inches (10 cm) and boil until tender—about 1 to 2 hours. Drain and add to a mixing bowl.
    Canned beans: Drain and rinse the cannellini beans and add them to a medium-sized pot. Cover with 1 inch of water and boil for 15 minutes. Drain and add to a bowl.
    cooked white beans in a glass bowl
  • PREPARING THE ONION
    Raw: You can use 1 red onion, raw and thinly sliced.
    Marinated: For more flavor, cut the onion in half and slice it thinly. Add it to a bowl with 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon sumac, and 1 pinch salt.
    Pinch and massage with your fingers for 1 minute, then set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
    Sumac onions marinating in a white bowl
  • MAKING THE DRESSING: To a small bowl, add ⅓ cup tahini, ⅓ cup water, ½ teaspoon sea salt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon vinegar. Whisk well until smooth.
    Stir in 1 clove garlic (crushed), set aside for 5 minutes, and then remove the garlic.
    creamy tahini sauce in a glass bowl
  • MIXING THE SALAD: Mix the beans with the tahini dressing, then taste and adjust for salt.
    Piyaz salad after mixing in a glass bowl
  • PLATING PIYAZI: Transfer the Piyaz to a serving platter. Top with the marinated onions, 10 olives, ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.
    Serve with warm pita bread.
    Piyaz salad with red onions and parsley

Notes

Nutrition information is an estimate for 1 serving of Piyaz out of 4 servings.
STORAGE & MAKE AHEAD
Make ahead: Piyaz salad is good for meal prep as it keeps well for a few days. As it sits in the fridge, though, it will thicken up. Stir a tablespoon of warm water to bring it back to a perfect creamy consistency.
Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. Remove them from the fridge 15 minutes before serving.
Freezer: Piyaz is not suitable for freezing.
ALSO ON THIS PAGE

Nutrition

Calories: 311kcal, Carbohydrates: 33g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Potassium: 690mg, Dietary Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 370IU, Vitamin B6: 0.2mg, Vitamin C: 11mg, Vitamin E: 2mg, Vitamin K: 67µg, Calcium: 132mg, Folate: 107µg, Iron: 5mg, Manganese: 1mg, Magnesium: 84mg, Zinc: 2mg
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Nico and Louise in the kitchen

Hi! We are Nico & Louise

Welcome to The Plant-Based School, a food blog with easy, tasty, and wholesome recipes.

Our aim is to help you and your family eat more veggies through delicious recipes with simple ingredients.

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