Georgian Recipes

Lobio (Georgian: ლობიო) is a popular Georgian dish made with kidney beans and usually eaten with Mchadi and marinated vegetables. The Georgian word ‘lobio’ means ‘beans’. There are a number of varieties of this dish and in this family recipe we show how to make lobio with marinated peppers.

Ingredients: 700 grams of lobio (kidney beans), 300 grams of marinated peppers (click here for our hot marinated pepper recipe or here for our sweet and hot marinated pepper recipe), 40 grams of fresh parsley, 2 large tomatoes, 3 onions, 2-3 bay leaves, 5 tbs of oil, salt (amount dependent upon personal preference, and 1 heaped tbs of lobio spices (see below for ingredients).

Ingredients for lobio spices:  1 whole small bulb of garlic, 1 tbs of dried coriander, half tsp of crushed dill seeds, half tsp of dried Pennyroyal (also called squaw mint, mosquito plant and pudding grass), 1 heaped tsp of dried Summer Savory, 1 heaped tsp of ground coarse red pepper and salt (amount dependent upon personal preference).

Preparation (Lobio spices): Remove skins from the garlic and crush the cloves. Put the garlic to one side and add all of the other ingredients to a mixing bowl. Thoroughly mix. Add the crushed garlic and mix thoroughly by hand. You may want to wear gloves. This Lobio recipe only requires 1 heaped tbs of the lobio spices. The remainder can be stored in an airtight jar in a cool place. Lobio spices can be used in a variety of meat dishes and sauces.

Preparation (Lobio): Soak the beans in a deep cooking pot of cold water for at least two hours prior to cooking. Drain water and add the bay leaves and up to 2 liters of fresh water. Cook on a medium heat until the beans are tender.

Chop the onions and add to a pan with 5 tbs of oil. Fry on a low to medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Chop the tomatoes and add to the pan. Stir and cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat.

Add the fried onions and tomatoes to the cooked lobio. Mix thoroughly. Cook on a low heat for 2 minutes.

Add the marinated peppers to the pot.

Stir thoroughly.

Finely chop the parsley and add to the pot. Stir.

Add salt and the lobio spices.

Stir and remove from the heat.

Serving: Serve hot.

Enjoy your Lobio with Marinated Peppers!