Prebranac is a classic Serbian fasting dish, made with white beans and onions baked in a super tasty sauce, with the right mix of spices.The result is a dish that’s hearty, comforting, and packed with flavor.
It’s perfect for those times when you want something filling and delicious with minimal ingredients. Trust me, once you try it, Prebranac will become a go-to favorite!
This dish is the naturally vegan version of its meat counterpart, which is prepared in Serbia during fasting periods when people don’t consume meat and dairy. The type of beans used for this dish are called Tetovac, but any big white bean will do the job, here I used butter beans.
Ingredients and substitutes – Prebanac
White beans – This dish is prepared with Tetovac dry beans. Butter beans are the closer ones but any white bean will work, such as navy beans, cannellini beans, or great northern beans.
They are usually cooked from dry and some of the cooking liquid is used too, but you can also use canned beans (that’s what I opted for)
Onions – White onions are typically used, but you can also use yellow, sweet or red ones. Here I only had red onions and they worked great!
Paprika – There are few spices used in this dish and they give all the flavour and paprika is the star of this dish
Vegeta seasoning – This seasoning is quite popular in Europe. It’s a mix of mainly salt and dehydrated vegetables like carrot, parsnip, potato, onion, celery, parsley leaves and MSG. You can substitute it with some vegetable stock powder.
Sunflower oil – This is the most common type of oil used in Serbia, which is a more neutral oil. You can use other vegetable oil with the same neutral ish taste.
Bay leaves – Bay leaves give a depth of flavour that’s very unique, they give a deep, savoury herbal element. It’s not the same, but you can use other dried herbs instead, like thyme or oregano.
How to make Prebranac
If using dry beans, soak them overnight. When doubled in size, drain from the water and transfer to a large pot with water, garlic and bay leaves (ratio of water to beans 3:1)
Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 1.5 /2 hours stirring form time to time. Drain the beans and put them back into the pan and keep some of the water.
If using canned beans, drain the ware but don’t rinse the beans. Add them to a pot, cover them with water and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and put them back into the pan and keep some of the water.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
In a pan, heat up the sunflower oil. Then add the sliced onions and a pinch of salt. Let the onions cook until nice and caramelised, about 15/20 minutes.
Remove from the heat and add paprika, vegeta seasoning and black pepper and mix to combine.
You don’t want to add paprika at the beginning because it is sensitive to the heat and it can burn quickly and become bitter.
Add the onions to the bean pot and mix to combine.
Place half the mixture in a baking tin, add the bay leaves and cover with the rest of the beans and pat them down so they are all in an even layer.
Pour the beans cooking water over it until barely submerged.
Transfer to the oven and cook for 45 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated and its browning on top.
You can use the grill for the last 2 minutes to get a nice deep color on top, but keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
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Prebranac – Serbian Baked Beans and Onions
Ingredients
- 480 g cooked butter beans (or 250g dry beans)
- 2 onions
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp vegeta seasoning or vegetable stock powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- If using dry beans, soak them overnight. When doubled in size, drain from the water and transfer to a large pot with water, garlic and bay leaves (ratio of water to beans 3:1) Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 1.5 /2 hours stirring form time to time. Drain the beans and put them back into the pan and keep some of the water.
- If using canned beans, drain the ware but don’t rinse the beans. Add them to a pot, cover them with water and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and put them back into the pan and keep some of the water.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
- In a pan, heat up the sunflower oil. Then add the sliced onions and a pinch of salt. Let the onions cook until nice and caramelised, about 15/20 minutes. Remove from the heat and add paprika, the vegeta seasoning and pepper and mix to combine. You don’t want to add paprika at the beginning because it is sensitive to the heat and it can burn quickly and become bitter.
- Add the onions to the bean pot and mix to combine.
- Place half the mixture in a baking tin, add the bay leaves and cover with the rest of the beans and pat them down so they are all in an even layer.
- Pour the beans cooking water over it until barely submerged.
- Transfer to the oven and cook for 45 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated and its browning on top.
- You can use the grill for the last 2 minutes to get a nice deep color on top, but keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn.
Thank you for these recipes 🙂 I came across your site on IG and have made these baked beans and the Italian scarpaccia. I use a wood cooker and both these recipes have been quick and easy to bake while making other things on the cook top. I really love being able to diversify my flavours in uncomplicated ways 🙂 thanks again.
Thank you so much for sharing your feedback! I’m glad you liken them ☺️