Quick Answer: Termis beans — also spelled termes or turmus — are lupini beans, the yellow seeds of the lupin plant, prepared as a salty street snack in Egypt. Sold in paper cones along the Nile corniche and loved at festivals, they are soaked, boiled and brined for days to remove their natural bitterness, then eaten with salt, cumin and lemon.
What Are Termis Beans?
Termis (Egyptian Arabic for lupin beans) are the flat, round, golden-yellow seeds of the white lupin plant, Lupinus albus. Across the Mediterranean the same bean answers to many names: lupini in Italy, tremoços in Portugal, turmus in the Levant and altramuces in Spain. In Egypt, though, termis is in a class of its own — a beloved national snack scooped into paper cones by street vendors, most famously along the Nile corniche, and eaten one bean at a time by squeezing the tender bean out of its skin. When Egyptian Streets asked readers to name their favorite snacks, termis and leb (roasted seeds) topped the list, tied to family outings, beach days and long summer evenings.
The bean’s history in Egypt is genuinely ancient: lupins are believed to have been cultivated there as far back as the 22nd century BCE. It is also a fixture of Sham el-Nessim, Egypt’s spring festival, where families picnic outdoors with termis alongside fesikh, eggs and spring onions. Few snacks anywhere can claim a four-thousand-year head start.
Why Do Termis Beans Need So Much Preparation?
Raw lupini beans are not ready to eat. Traditional bitter varieties are loaded with quinolizidine alkaloids — the compounds that make the raw bean intensely bitter and, in quantity, toxic. The entire culture of termis preparation exists to wash those alkaloids out. Modern “sweet lupin” varieties are bred to be low in alkaloids, but the traditional Egyptian bean still goes through the full debittering ritual, and the ritual is non-negotiable: skipping steps leaves beans that are both unpleasant and unsafe.
How Are Termis Beans Prepared?
Home recipes vary in timing, but the method — documented in Egyptian home-cooking references such as Healthyish’s Egyptian termis recipe — follows the same four stages:
- Soak: Rinse the dry beans and soak them in plenty of water for 12 to 24 hours, until they swell.
- Boil: Drain, cover with fresh water and boil for around 30 to 60 minutes until tender.
- Debitter: Move the beans to well-salted water and soak, changing the water repeatedly — some cooks manage it in hours, traditional methods take several days of daily changes — tasting until no trace of bitterness remains.
- Season and store: Keep the finished beans covered in lightly salted water in the fridge for up to a week. Serve with extra salt, ground cumin, a squeeze of lemon and, if you like heat, chili.
To eat termis like a local, hold the bean, nick the skin with your teeth and pop the soft yellow bean straight into your mouth, discarding the skin. It is a slow, social snack — closer to shelling sunflower seeds than to eating a meal.
What Do Termis Beans Taste Like?
Properly debittered termis are mild, buttery and gently nutty, with a firm, satisfying chew and a salty finish from the brine. The joy is in the seasoning: cumin adds warmth, lemon adds brightness, and the ritual of popping bean after bean is half the pleasure. If a bean tastes bitter, it was not soaked long enough — bitterness is the bean telling you it is not ready.
Are Termis Beans Healthy?
| Strength | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Very high protein | Among the most protein-rich legumes, often compared with soy — a filling snack for vegetarians and vegans |
| High fiber | Supports digestion and gut health and helps you feel full on a small handful |
| Low fat, low starch | A lighter alternative to chips and fried snacks |
| Naturally gluten-free | Suitable for gluten-free diets when prepared plainly |
| Micronutrients | Provides minerals including calcium and iron |
One essential warning: lupin is a recognized allergen — it is one of the 14 allergens that must be declared on labels in the EU and UK — and it can cross-react with peanut allergy. Anyone with a peanut allergy should avoid termis unless a doctor says otherwise.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| High protein, high fiber, naturally gluten-free | Days of soaking and water changes before they are edible |
| Cheap, filling and widely available around the Mediterranean | Under-prepared beans stay bitter and are unsafe to eat |
| Ready-to-eat brined jars and tubs skip the work entirely | Not safe for people with lupin or peanut allergies |
| A snack with thousands of years of cultural history | Hard to find fresh outside Mediterranean and Middle Eastern grocers |
Termis Around the Mediterranean
Egypt gave termis its most famous home, but the bean belongs to the whole Mediterranean. In Portugal, tremoços arrive free with a beer in countless bars, eaten the same pop-the-skin way. In Italy, lupini are a Christmas-season and street-fair staple, sold from brine-filled tubs. In Spain, altramuces show up as a bar snack, and across the Levant the same bean is turmus, while Greek and Turkish vendors sell their own local versions. The preparation barely changes from country to country — soak, boil, brine, season — because the chemistry of the bean demands it everywhere. What changes is the setting: an Egyptian paper cone by the Nile, a Lisbon bar counter, an Italian fairground. If you travel the region, termis is one of the cheapest and most authentic snacks you can buy, and one of the few whose recipe has survived essentially unchanged since antiquity.
How Do You Serve Termis at Home?
Serve them the Egyptian way: drained from their brine, piled in a bowl, with small dishes of fine salt, ground cumin and chili flakes alongside, lemon wedges for squeezing, and a bowl for the discarded skins. Eat them within the day once they leave the fridge, and return any leftovers to fresh lightly salted water. They pair naturally with mint tea, and at Sham el-Nessim they take their place on the picnic cloth next to colored eggs, spring onions and green salad.
Where Can You Buy Termis Beans?
In Egypt, the answer is “on any corniche,” but elsewhere look in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean grocery stores for dry lupini beans, or in the international aisle for ready-to-eat brined lupini in jars — the shortcut most home cooks outside Egypt actually use. Dry beans keep for months in a cool cupboard; prepared termis keep about a week refrigerated in their brine. If you enjoy exploring snack traditions from other cultures, pair this guide with our caterpillar treats guide — another food with a surprisingly deep story behind it — and our look at family activity favorites like The Happy Trunk.
Verdict
Termis beans earn their four-thousand-year reputation. Properly prepared, they are a salty, protein-packed, endlessly poppable snack with real nutritional substance — but respect the process: the debittering soak is what stands between a delicious snack and a bitter, unsafe one. If the days-long preparation sounds like too much, brined ready-to-eat lupini deliver the same flavor with none of the patience required.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are termis beans in English?
Termis beans are lupini beans (also called lupin beans) — the yellow seeds of the white lupin plant, Lupinus albus. In Arabic the snack is also called turmus, and in Portugal the same beans are known as tremoços.
Are termis beans the same as lupini beans?
Yes. Termis is simply the Egyptian name for lupini beans prepared the Egyptian way: boiled, debittered in salted water and eaten as a snack with salt, cumin and lemon.
Why are lupini beans soaked for so long?
Traditional lupini beans contain bitter, toxic alkaloids. Soaking, boiling and repeated changes of salted water leach those alkaloids out. The beans are only ready when a tasted bean has no bitterness at all.
Are termis beans good for you?
Yes — they are high in protein and fiber, low in fat and starch, and naturally gluten-free, which is why dieticians often praise them. The exception is allergy: lupin is a declared allergen and can cross-react with peanut allergy.
How do you eat termis beans?
Pick up a bean, bite gently to split the skin, and squeeze or pop the soft inner bean into your mouth, discarding the skin. They are typically seasoned with salt and cumin and finished with lemon juice.