Fava beans (dry)

Per 100 g

There is no measured nutrition data for this ingredient. A missing figure is not counted as zero; it does not enter the calculation at all.

Sources and method →

Gluten-free Year round · stored for winter GI 79

Let’s cook with it → Invent something with it

What it is for

Heat unfolds them and they link to each other: they bind, they firm, they build crust. They are one half of the Maillard reaction; sugar is the other.

Where it catches you out

Every protein has its own threshold and none of them are reversible. Egg turns at 82 °C, meat at 70, fish at 55 — once past, there is no coming back.

The knack

Record dry shelled beans separately from fresh whole pods; calculate fava purée using the dry dehulled product actually used.

Storage and health

How to keep it, and who it suits.

Keeping it

Keep in an airtight container in a cool, dry, dark cupboard for 12 months.

Gluten-free

Plain dried fava beans are naturally gluten-free legumes.

Glycaemic index

79 — glucose is taken as 100. Below 55 is low, 56–69 medium, 70 and above high. The number says nothing about portion: at the same index, twice the amount is twice the load.

This value comes from the source’s second table, whose measurements do not meet the ISO 26642 method. Treat it as an indication rather than a precise figure.

Row in the table: Broad beans, boiled in water with 2 g salt (79+/-16)

Atkinson et al., Am J Clin Nutr 2021