HOW TO PREPARE LUPINI BEANS

Lupini beans or lupin beans are nutrient-packed beans that are often served as snacks or appetizers. Like other beans, they are high in plant protein and fiber, but unlike other beans, they are virtually starch-free. Prepared lupini beans are usually simply pickled, so they’re more like a fresh vegetable snack than a typically dry, processed snack.

Lupini beans have been enjoyed for millennia.

Lupini seeds were first discovered in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs, who wanted to take this superbean with them to the afterlife.

The Greeks then domesticated the lupini bean and introduced the tasty bean to the Romans. It was the Romans who spread lupini throughout the Mediterranean. They relied on these superbeans as a primary source of protein for their campaigning Roman warriors. Lupini beans were convenient, transferable, storable, and nutrient-dense, which made them excellent fuel for long, arduous journeys.

Today, lupini beans are a common snack in the Mediterranean and a treat at Christmas in Italian households. The beans can be found all over the world both in their dry, uncooked form and in ready-to-eat form.

Lupini beans are packed with protein and fiber, which are key nutrients for satisfying hunger. In fact, lupini beans have the most protein and fiber per calorie of any plant on earth. On a per calorie basis, no other plant provides as much “good stuff”. Plus, lupini’s essential amino acid profile is close to the amounts recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), meaning it’s one of the few “complete” plant proteins.

While lupini beans give you the nutrients to fill you up, they are also ultra-low in calories, carbs, and sugar so you won’t compromise your diet or be left feeling sluggish. Lupini beans are the only legume that’s virtually starch-free. This means you get all of the good stuff that fills you up and none of the bad stuff that leaves you feeling sluggish.

No wonder some people call lupini beans, “the Miracle Bean”!

The lupini bean is a sustainable crop that requires little water and replenishes the soil with nutrients, making it a farmer-friendly rotational crop. Furthermore, because it is bitter when uncooked, it is naturally pest-resistant and does not require the use of harmful pesticides to grow.

The tasty lupini bean requires a bit of preparation before eating. Let’s walk through the basics so you can prepare lupini beans the traditional way at home.

The process for preparing lupini beans is fairly simple but takes patience. The beans are naturally bitter in flavor, so they need to be soaked and put into a brine to de-bitter them and add flavor.

During the preparation process, the outer shell becomes softer and edible. The bean transforms from a flat, dull yellow to a plump, bright yellow bean that is packed with flavor and nutrients.

To prepare the beans for eating you will need dry lupini beans, salt, water, and any additional seasonings or herbs for flavor.

• 1lb dried lupini beans
• ¼ cup kosher salt
• Lots of water
• Herbs or seasonings such as garlic cloves, thyme, or rosemary (optional)

1. Fully submerge the beans in water and let soak for 4 days.
2. After 4 days, rinse the beans and put them into a large pot. Add enough water to cover the beans.
3. Bring the water to a boil, and then bring to a simmer. Simmer on low for 60 minutes.
4. Rinse the beans and place them into jars with cold water. Over the next two weeks, rinse the beans every day and replace the water in the jars.
5. At the end of one week, try the beans. If the bitterness remains strong, continue the process in the jar for up to one more week. This will help to remove any bitter taste.
6. After the bitterness is removed, create a brine for the beans to be stored in. For the brine, fully dissolve the salt in a gallon of water.
7. At this time you can add herbs or other seasonings to your brine to flavor your beans.
8. Add your lupini beans to the brine and refrigerate them in jars. Enjoy the beans straight out of the jar!

You may notice a thin shell on the lupini bean; traditionally, people remove this shell before eating the bean. Here at Brami, we eat our lupini beans with and without the shell. We use a special pickling process that makes the skin softer and more edible. Plus the shell is packed with healthy fiber!

If it’s your first time trying lupini beans, we recommend trying them both ways (with and without the shell). The deshelled kernel has an umami cheesiness to it that’s just delicious! To remove the lupini bean shell there are several ways to do so.

1. Bite off the opening of the bean.
2. Squeeze the back of the bean.
3. The bean will pop out into your mouth.

1. Stand the bean up in the back of your teeth.
2. Bite down gently.
3. This forces the bean out of its shell.

1. Rub the bean between your thumb and index finger.
2. The shell will break and the bean will pop out.

Traditionally, lupini beans were enjoyed as an appetizer, but we love to put them on salads, mix them in stir-fries, and add them to our favorite dishes - like on tacos! The high protein content makes them a great source of protein for plant-based diets or people who want to add more plants to their diets. Not only will you be getting your protein, but you’ll be adding great flavor to your meals. Add our Chili & Lime lupini beans for a zesty lime bite or our Garlic & Rosemary lupini beans for a savory taste.

Try making one of our chef-created lupini bean recipes here.

Lupini beans were my favorite snack growing up. I would eat them underneath a tree when visiting my Nonna in Italy.

But it wasn’t until a trip to Italy with my wife Alenna in the mid-2010s that I rediscovered lupini and made it my life’s mission.

Alenna and I stumbled upon lupini in a convenience store and I told her, “We have to get these. I loved them as a kid!”

We proceeded to eat the entire bag in record time.
Alenna said, “How have I never heard of lupini beans before? They’re everything I’m looking for in a snack…. It’s like a Mediterranean edamame.”

I paused. I never considered them as Mediterranean edamame.

“What if there were flavors?” Alenna said.

And that’s when my head exploded. There weren’t any ready-to-eat flavored lupini beans.

When I came back home, I looked at the ready-to-eat lupini bean options and was disappointed with what I found. Most had artificial ingredients, no flavors, and seemed to be after-thoughts.

We decided people deserved an uncompromised version of lupini beans in America. I spent the next year turning our Brooklyn apartment into a lupini bean test kitchen, meticulously perfecting our recipes.

We launched Brami in 2016 and it has been amazing to share my treasured childhood snack with so many people.

At Brami, we are committed to quality first and foremost. That’s why we simply pickle our lupini beans in small batches. That’s why our lupini beans are produced slowly with care. And that’s why we only use simple, whole-food ingredients.

We created Brami so anyone could enjoy the magic of lupini beans conveniently, without the hassle.

We can’t wait to see how you enjoy your simply pickled lupini beans. Tag us in your creations on social @bramisnacks. Happy snacking!