Hungarian Fresh Bean Soup with Csipetke – Fejtett Bableves

Traditional Hungarian Fejtett Bableves with homemade csipetke, fresh vegetables and sour cream — a comforting bean soup that tastes like childhood.

There are certain soups that immediately take me back to childhood, and fejtett bableves is definitely one of them. I remember eating soups like this all the time growing up in Hungary. A big bowl of steaming-hot soup filled with beans and vegetables, finished with fresh parsley and homemade csipetke — simple, filling, comforting food that never really goes out of style. And yes, I’m one of those people who likes soup really hot. 😃

This Hungarian fresh bean soup is packed with carrots, parsley root, celery root and fresh shelled beans. I finish mine the traditional way with a simple rántás made with oil, flour, parsley, garlic and Hungarian paprika. The sour cream comes later — straight into each individual bowl, so everyone can add as much or as little as they like. Traditionally, you can also cook the soup with a good piece of smoked bone or smoked meat, which gives the broth an incredible depth of flavor. I make mine without it, so this is completely optional.

Ingredients

Serves 4

For the Soup

• 2 tbsp oil

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 2 whole cloves garlic

• 3 carrots

• 2 parsley roots

• 1 small celery root

• 500 g fresh shelled speckled beans

• Salt and black pepper, to taste

• 2 litres water or stock

• Fresh parsley

For the Rántás

• Oil

• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

• The cooked garlic cloves from the soup

• Chopped fresh parsley

• 1 level tsp Hungarian sweet paprika

For the Csipetke

• 100 g all-purpose flour

• 1 egg

• Pinch of salt

For Serving

• Sour cream, to taste

• Fresh parsley

Optional: smoked bone or smoked meat can be cooked with the soup for an extra smoky, traditional flavor.

How to Make Fejtett Bableves

1. Start the Soup

Heat the oil in a large soup pot and add the finely chopped onion. Cook until it begins to soften. Cut the carrots, parsley roots and celery root into smaller pieces and add them to the pot. Sauté the vegetables with the onion for a few minutes. Add the fresh shelled beans, salt and black pepper. Pour in approximately 2 litres of water or stock. Add the 2 garlic cloves whole — don't chop them. They will cook in the broth and we'll use them later when making the rántás. If you're using smoked bone or smoked meat, add it at this stage as well. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and cook until the beans and vegetables are tender, approximately 45–50 minutes.

2. Make the Csipetke

While the soup cooks, prepare the homemade csipetke. Combine the flour, egg and salt and knead into a firm, smooth dough. Do not add water. Pinch tiny pieces from the dough and place them onto a well-floured plate or bowl. Keep adding a little flour as you work so the pieces don't stick together. Once the beans and vegetables are tender, add the csipetke to the soup. Let the soup return to a boil and cook the csipetke for approximately 7–8 minutes.

3. Make the Traditional Rántás

While the csipetke cooks, prepare the rántás. Heat a little oil in a small pan and add the flour. Cook it gently, stirring continuously, until you have a light golden roux. Take the whole cooked garlic cloves from the soup, mash them and add them to the rántás together with plenty of finely chopped fresh parsley. Stir everything together. Remove the pan briefly from the heat and add the Hungarian sweet paprika. Stir immediately so the paprika doesn't burn. Carefully loosen the rántás with a little liquid from the soup, stirring until smooth.

4. Finish the Soup

Once the csipetke is cooked and the soup is boiling, pour the prepared rántás into the pot while stirring. Let everything come back to a boil and cook for another couple of minutes so the rántás can slightly thicken the broth and all those flavors come together.

Taste and adjust the salt and pepper if needed. And that's it — the soup is ready.

Don't Put the Sour Cream in the Pot!

At least, not in my kitchen. 😃 I don't cook the sour cream into my fejtett bableves.

Instead, I put the hot soup on the table and everyone adds sour cream directly to their own bowl according to taste. Some people want just a little spoonful. Some people want half the container. 😂 Both are perfectly acceptable.

A closer look at Hungarian fejtett bableves, packed with tender beans, vegetables and homemade csipetke.

How to Serve Fejtett Bableves

Serve the soup piping hot with plenty of vegetables, beans and homemade csipetke in every bowl. Add sour cream individually and sprinkle with some extra fresh parsley if you like. A good piece of fresh bread on the side doesn't hurt either.

More Hungarian Comfort Food to Try

For me, this fejtett bableves is pure Hungarian comfort food. A big pot filled with tender beans and root vegetables, homemade csipetke, that beautiful paprika-parsley rántás, and then — only when it reaches the table — a generous spoonful of sour cream in my bowl. ❤️ It’s exactly the kind of food I remember from childhood, and exactly the kind of recipe I want to preserve here on From My Hungarian Kitchen. If you enjoyed this soup, continue your Hungarian kitchen journey with some of my other favorites:

👉 Hungarian Kohlrabi Soup – Karalábéleves – another simple vegetable-packed soup that tastes like home.

👉 Hungarian Yellow Bean Soup – Zöldbableves – creamy, comforting and another favorite from my Soup Season series.

👉 Hungarian Pea Soup – Borsóleves – an easy everyday Hungarian soup with vegetables and little dumplings.

👉 Hungarian Potato Stew with Meatballs – Krumplifőzelék Fasírttal – one of the ultimate Hungarian comfort-food combinations.

👉 Hungarian Potato Paprikash – Paprikás Krumpli – inexpensive, hearty and full of classic paprika flavor.

And if you want to make your own noodles, don’t miss my Homemade Hungarian Csipetke — just egg, flour and salt, exactly the way I learned to make it. You can find even more traditional family recipes in my Hungarian Recipes collection, or browse All Recipes when you’re looking for your next idea. Now I want to hear how your family made it ❤️

Did your fejtett bableves have füstölt hús or füstölt csont in it? Did your family make a rántás? And most importantly... how much tejföl belongs in the bowl? 😂 Tell me in the comments. One of my favorite things about sharing Hungarian recipes is discovering how differently our mothers and grandmothers made the same dish.

Jó étvágyat! ❤️

— Anita

From My Hungarian Kitchen