Homemade Bean and Bacon Soup

This homemade bean and bacon soup is made entirely from scratch and yet just as easy! I soaked navy beans overnight and then simmered them with sautéed onions, carrots and celery in a light tomato and chicken broth. A one pot soup I know you'll love! Oh and my favorite part is the many pieces of Applewood bacon throughout! So good!

Course Soups, Stews & Chilis

Cuisine American

Keyword bacon, bean, homemade soup, navy bean, soup

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1 30

Total Time 2

Servings servings

Calories 330

Author Laurie McNamara

Equipment

Lodge EC7OD13 Enameled Cast Iron Oval Dutch Oven, 7-Quart, Oyster White

Ingredients

1 pound dried navy beans
2 quarts cold water
8 slices applewood smoked bacon
3/4 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup diced celery
1 clove garlic minced
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth plus more as needed
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 pinch sugar
1½ teaspoons kosher salt more or less to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper more or less to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

The night before: sort through 1 pound of navy beans, discarding any broken peas and debris. Place into a large bowl and cover with 2 quarts of water. Cover and let the beans soak over night then drain. They will still be quite firm.
Place 4 strips of bacon into your (cold) 6 quart Dutch oven. Heat over medium and cook until crispy, turning every so often. Transfer cooked bacon to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with the last of the bacon. Once cooled, coarsely chop the bacon and set a side.
Drain all but 2 tablespoons of bacon fat from the pot. Add in the onion, carrot, celery and a pinch of salt and stir to coat in the bacon fat. Cover and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally until softened. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Next, add in the beans, broth, tomato sauce and a pinch of sugar. Stir and bring to a boil. Once the soup is at a boil, reduce to medium-low heat, crack the lid a sliver so only small amounts of steam can escape and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until beans are cooked through and are tender.
Transfer 1/3 to 1/2 of the soup to a blender. Remove the plug from the lid and carefully hold a kitchen towel over the hole while your puree the soup until smooth. Add the puree back to the pot with the remaining soup and stir until combined.
Add in half of the chopped bacon, taste and season with 1-1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, more or less to taste.
It may be necessary to thin the soup out with more chicken broth if it's too thick.
Ladle soup into bowls and top with reserved bacon pieces.

Notes

If using canned beans you will need about 3 (15 ounce) cans of navy beans. Drain and rinse the beans and add them to the sautéed vegetables. Use 4 cups of low-sodium broth (instead of 6 cups) and follow with the remaining ingredients. Cook for 30 minutes with the lid askew, taste and season to taste and adding more broth in the end if needed.

Nutrition