Bean and Bacon Soup
Easy white bean and bacon soup recipe.
A classic comfort dish, this bean and bacon soup is a healthy and heart-warming meal! Filled with all of the flavours of grandma’s home cooking, this fibre and protein-packed soup works equally well as a main course or as a starter for lunch or dinner.
For the best results, be sure to use dry beans for this soup. Although you can certainly use canned beans if you’re in a pinch, I find dry beans provide a better texture and flavour to this bean and bacon soup, not to mention, they are much less expensive! This recipe calls specifically for navy beans, however, you could easily use cannellini beans, great northern beans, or pinto beans if you prefer. As for the bacon, thick or thin, American or Canadian, classic or Maple, they all pair nicely in this soup, giving it the perfect touch of salty and savoury in every bite.
More Bean Soup Recipes:
Bean and Bacon Soup
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
Description
This easy bean and bacon soup is a hearty and healthy meal packed full of protein and fibre.
Ingredients
- 1 cup navy beans, dry
- 8 slices bacon, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 ribs celery, sliced
- 4 carrots, peeled and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 5 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 handful parsley, minced
Instructions
- Add beans to a colander, rinse with cold water, and remove and discard split, broken, or discoloured beans. Transfer beans to a bowl; cover with cold water and let soak overnight, or for at least 1 hour. Once soaked, strain the beans to remove any excess water.
- In a large pot on medium-high heat, add diced bacon and cook until golden and crisp. Once cooked, remove bacon from the pan, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, leaving roughly 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pot.
- Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes until vegetables are tender and onions are translucent.
- Add garlic and thyme and cook for an additional minute until fragrant. Return cooked bacon to the pot and stir to combine.
- Add tomato paste and strained beans, stir to combine with the vegetable and bacon mixture, then add broth and bay leaf and stir again to ensure everything is well incorporated.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, roughly 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- Once the beans are cooked, add the parsley, stir to combine (feel free to add extra broth or water to adjust consistency to your liking) and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 381 calories
- Sugar: 7 grams
- Fat: 19 grams
- Carbohydrates: 36 grams
- Fiber: 9 grams
- Protein: 18 grams
Keywords: white bean and bacon soup
Nutrition Facts – need to know the amount of Iron that is in this recipe. We are on a low iron diet.
The soup contains roughly 29% of the DV of iron per serving (1/5 of the recipe).