This Sausage and Bean Stew recipe comes from Bulgarian cuisine and makes a beautiful hearty, rich and fragrant dish. Even though bean stew is a dish well-known all over the world and every region has its own recipe, what makes this stew unique are the spices. Savoury spice, sweet paprika and spearmint are the most important spices in traditional Bulgarian cuisine. They create a fabulous combination of flavours that elevates the taste and make the stew so delicious!

For a vegan meal option, use vegan sausages or omit the sausages. The stew will taste equally good without the meat.

THE ORIGINS OF BEANS.

You may know that the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) originated in the Americas. The oldest cultivar of the common bean was found in Peru and dated to about 8,000 years ago. Three other types of beans in the Phaseolus genus have also been domesticated: Lima beans (P. lunatus), cultivated in Peru about 5,300 years ago; runner beans (P. coccineus) cultivated in Mexico 2,200 years ago; and tepary beans (P. acutifolius), cultivated in the Sonoran Desert of northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States, about 5,000 years ago.

HISTORY OF BEAN STEW.

Considering the origins of beans, it’s commonly believed that beans were first cooked in the Americas by the indigenous people, even though some historians speculate that slaves in Brazil were the first to cook bean stew with meat leftovers and beans foraged from wild vines.

Common beans were introduced to Europe and the rest of the world by the 16th century and became a staple for many nations.

In the Balkans, beans have been cooked for centuries and remain the favourite food today. This traditional recipe is a classic, passed on for many generations and in Bulgaria is the most popular one for making a bean stew.

Traditionally, in the past, this stew was cooked in a clay stew pot on a live fire. Nowadays, for ease, the locals make it in a seasoned clay pot or a stew pot on the hob or in the oven. Although, it takes longer to cook and needs more preparation, in Bulgaria, sausage and beans stew is often made the old-fashioned way for special occasions because it tastes so much more special. The smoke from the fire and the clay impart divine flavours to the dish.

For me, this bean stew is a very special dish! It reminds me of home. My father always makes it on fire for family celebrations. We all love it so much. This is his version below.

HOW TO MAKE BULGARIAN SAUSAGE & BEAN STEW?

My recipe is a version of my father’s bean stew. He usually makes the stew vegan and serves the meat on the side. However, I prefer to add the sausages to the stew.

📋 INGREDIENTS IN THE SAUSAGE & BEAN STEW

Beans: Choose a variety of beans that keep their shape well when cooked. You don’t want mushy beans in your stew. Cannelloni and butter beans are the best. They keep the shape and have a lovely velvety texture. You can make the dish with dry beans, or if you are short on time use canned beans, but reduce the cooking time.

Other vegetables: The authentic Bulgarian recipe includes yellow onions, garlic, fresh tomatoes and carrots. But you can also add celery.

Sausage: Use your favourite butcher’s sausages.

Spices: The spices are most important for the flavours of this stew. Source a good quality sweet paprika and the whole leaves of spearmint and savoury. The original recipe calls for dry spices, but if they are not available, you can use fresh ones instead.

Oil: This recipe is made normally with cooking oil, although you can substitute it with olive oil.

Stock: The dish is made with stock from the beans.

Chilli: Using chilli pepper in the stew is optional. If you enjoy spicy food, add one or two grilled or barbecued chillis to the stew or serve it with fresh chillies on the side. You can learn how to pickle chillies in my post, Easy Pickled Chillies with Dill.

📖 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

step 1. Prepare the DRY beans

It will take you longer to prepare the stew with dry beans because you need to soak the beans overnight and remove the toxins in them. Check the beans for damaged beans and stones before soaking them in a large bowl full of water.

how to Remove the toxins from the beans?

Dry beans have toxins in them which cause bloating and sometimes even more serious stomach problems.

To remove the toxins in the beans, place them in a large heavy-bottomed pot and pour just enough water to cover the beans with about an inch of water. Change the water a couple of times as soon as it comes to a full boil. Do not add salt to the water at this step.

Keep the bean stock from the last boil. You will need it to make the dish.

If you are making the stew with canned beans, skip the steps above.

Step 2: GET READY THE vegetables

Clean and dice the onion and carrot. Peel the garlic. You can add the cloves of garlic whole or, if they are too large, cut them in 2-3 pieces. Cut the fresh tomatoes into small cubes. Grill or fry the sausage and cut them into large bite-size slices.

Step 3: cook the STEW

Transfer the beans and the leftover bean stock into a large heavy-based stew pot or a large clay pot and heat it on the hob. If you are using a clay pot, make sure it’s seasoned and safe to use on the hob or it will crack from the direct heat.

Add half of the onion and half of the carrot to the stock pot with the beans. Add the garlic, the dry spearmint and savoury and half of the oil next.

Bring it to the boil and let the beans simmer on medium heat until they are nearly ready. If you are making the stew with canned beans, it will take no longer than 20 minutes because canned beans are par-cooked already.

If you are cooking with dry beans, it may take anything from 1-1.5 hours. Taste a bean from time to time to check the progress.

When the beans are nearly cooked, add the chopped tomatoes, the sausages and salt and simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 4: MAKE dressing for the stew

In a frying pan, pour the rest of the oil and heat it on the hob. When the oil is hot, add the rest of the onion and carrots. Sauce the vegetables for 5 minutes, then add the sweet paprika and sauté it for a few seconds until it changes colour slightly. Be careful not to burn the paprika because it will make the dressing bitter. Pour the dressing into the stew, cover it with the lid and let the stew simmer for 2-3 minutes with the dressing inside.

Remove the stew from the hob and let it rest for 10 minutes with the lid on.

How to cook SAUSAGE & bean stew on live fire?

To cook the dish on a live fire, use dry beans because they can cook longer. Canned beans will become mushy if you cook them that long. Place the stew pot on a grill close enough to the fire for the flames to almost touch it, but not to embrace it. Follow the same steps above and simmer the stew for 2-3 hours.

🍲 SERVE SAUSAGE & BEAN STEW

Garnish the stew with freshly cracked black pepper and serve it hot with fresh bread and pickled or fresh chillies.

Enjoy! 👨‍🍳👨‍🍳👨‍🍳