Bean with Bacon Soup

Winter is soup season!

There’s nothing quite so good in the winter as a lovely bowl of soup.  This Bean with Bacon Soup is definitely one of our favorites.

I have a confession to make. For all my talk about fresh, homemade food, I love bean with bacon soup. And yes, I mean the stuff in the can with the red and white label. I know – it is a terrible secret, and I’m trusting you not to tell a soul.

It is a childhood thing I suppose. Our elementary school didn’t have a lunch program, so we ate in the classroom. Our Mom usually sent soup in the winter. I can still picture my metal lunch box on a wooden desk, and occasionally having to ask the teacher to take the lid off my thermos when it was stuck too hard for me to get it off.

After a tough morning of wrestling numbers and letters around the classroom, that first whiff of bean and bacon soup was a wonderful respite. I never got tired of that smoky goodness. Even now I don’t mind a bowl every once in a while. This version, however, is several notches above the canned stuff, but not a whole lot tougher to make. It just takes more time.

Cheaper cuts of bacon will work great!

We usually get our pork from a local producer, and after the bacon has been smoked and sliced, there are always some odds and ends left over.  Those are the best for this soup. You’re going to cut the bacon into small pieces anyway.  In the supermarket, look for “ends and pieces”.  They’re usually cheaper.  Regular, sliced bacon will work very well too.

Whatever bacon you use, the first step is to get it completely cooked. It should be deeply brown and crispy, with all the fat rendered out. So to get started, chop about 1/2 pound of bacon in a small dice. Put the bacon in a cold, 5 quart dutch oven or heavy soup pot. Turn the heat on medium, until the bacon begins to sizzle a little. Turn the heat down very low, and let the bacon cook, uncovered until it looks like the photo below. This can take a half hour or so. There is no rushing this – the heat must be kept very low, or the bacon will start to burn which is not going to be all that yummy. You want just the barest sizzle going on.

I know bacon sometimes gets a bad rap, but as you can see from the photo above, you’re going to render out nearly all of the fat. There are just under 4 ounces of bacon left, and this is a big pot of soup, so that is just the right amount.

Lots of fresh veggies and fast-cooking Pinto beans – so good for you!

You’re going to add plenty of veggies to this soup, along with fast-cooking pinto beans, all of which are very good for you, so don’t worry about a little bit of bacon.

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Bean with Bacon Soup

Author: Donalyn

Dried pinto beans are best for this soup. If you use a different variety of dried beans, look up the cooking time for that kind of bean, and adjust accordingly.

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time3 hours hrs

Total Time3 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Course: Soups and Stews

Cuisine: American

Meal: Dinner

Servings: 8

Equipment

• 5 quart dutch oven

Ingredients

• 8 ounces smoky bacon, finely diced
• 1 ½ cup diced carrots
• 1 ½ cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced white onion
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 15 grinds black pepper
• 2 cups tomato or V8 juice
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 4-5 cups water
• 1 pound dry pinto beans, rinsed and picked over
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon Siracha hot sauce
• additional salt if needed

Instructions

• Add the finely diced bacon to a cold 5-quart heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Turn heat to medium until bacon begins to sizzle a bit, and then reduce heat to very low. Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until bacon is very crispy and all of the fat is rendered. Note: take care to keep heat under pan very low to prevent burning, and remove from heat when bacon is crisp, even if it's less than 30 minutes.
• When the bacon is cooked, scrape it into a wire strainer that is suspended over a bowl to catch drippings.
• Reserve the bacon and measure about 2 tablespoons of the drippings back into the pot, leaving all of the caramelized bits in the pan.
• Add the carrots, celery, onion, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 8 minutes.
• Add the minced garlic and cook another couple minutes.
• Add the tomato juice, chicken stock and 4 cups of the water, and stir to combine.
• Dump in the beans, which have already been picked over and rinsed well.
• Add the remaining ingredients, except the reserved bacon. Stir to combine.
• Place the lid on the pot, leaving a little space for steam to escape, and simmer over low heat for about 2 and a half to 3 hours, stirring every so often. If it begins to seem too thick, you can add more water, as needed.
• Once the beans are soft, add the cooked bacon back to the pan and cook another 15 minutes or so. Taste, and add more salt if needed. How much salt you need to add to the soup overall is going to depend on how salty the bacon is, so be cautious and only add a bit at a time.
• Serve hot with cornbread, or crackers.

Notes

Stove leftovers in the refrigerator.  This soup can be frozen - thaw entirely before reheating.  I sometimes double the batch to get into the freezer for stocking up some winter meals.

Nutrition

Serving: 10g

Like many tomato-based soups and stews, this soup will benefit from a little sitting time for the flavors to deepen and meld. You can make it the day before, and then reheat it to serve.  That makes it a great choice for making ahead on the weekend to enjoy on a busy weeknight.

I always like to serve soup with some homemade bread.  Buttermilk Cornbread is very fine with it [probably my go-to, most of the time] and a nice yeast bread, like Anadama Bread, makes a great flavor compliment.