02/03/2026
The first time I tried chard borani, a Persian dip made with chard and yoghurt, I became so obsessed that we’ve been having it on repeat at home ever since. Today, I’m sharing my soup version, thickened with beans and topped with crisp garlic and brown butter. It’s perfect served with flatbreads, and takes just minutes to put together: a homage to the excellent original.
Persian Chard borani soup with yoghurt, crispy garlic and beans
If you’re making this in advance, reheat it very gently so as not to split the yoghurt.
Prep 15 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 3-4
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and roughly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated
400g rainbow or Swiss chard, stems roughly chopped, leaves roughly sliced
2 tsp sea salt flakes
1 400g tin haricot beans, drained and rinsed (260g drained weight)
Juice of ½ lemon
150g natural or greek yoghurt, at room temperature , plus extra to serve
For the crisp garlic butter
40g salted butter
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
2 tsp aleppo pepper (optional)
Heat the oil in a large, wide-based pan, add the onion and stir-fry on a medium to high heat for five minutes. Add the garlic and chard stems, then stir-fry for five minutes more. Add the chard leaves, 750ml just-boiled water, salt and 150g of the drained beans, stir well, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
Take the pan off the heat, leave the soup to cool for five minutes, then stir in the lemon juice and roughly blend with a stick blender. (Alternatively, carefully blend in a food processor, in batches if need be.)
While the soup cools, melt the butter in a frying pan on a medium heat and, when it’s foaming, add the garlic and aleppo pepper, if using. Cook for a minute, until the garlic starts to crisp up, then add the remaining 110g drained beans. Stir, turn off the heat, then taste and adjust the salt as needed.
Add the yoghurt to the soup pan, whisk it in well, then taste and adjust the seasoning as required. Transfer to bowls, swirl through a little extra yoghurt, if you wish, top with the crisp garlic butter and beans, and serve at once.
