Bean and Bacon Soup
With smoky homestyle flavor, this Bean and Bacon Soup is both hearty and comforting. Made with white beans, lots of veggies, and chopped bacon, it has a deliciously savory flavor that warms you up.
📌 Quick Look at Bean & Bacon Soup
- 😋 Flavor Profile: Smoky, savory, and hearty with a rich bacon flavor, mild sweetness from the carrots and onion, and a cozy tomato-bean base.
- 🕒 Total Time: About 1 hour 25 minutes
- 🥄 Texture: Thick and rustic with tender vegetables, creamy beans, and crispy bacon mixed in and sprinkled on top.
- 👩🍳 Best For: A filling weeknight dinner, cold-weather meal, or make-ahead soup that tastes even better the next day.
- 💡 Pro Tip: Mash some of the beans near the end of cooking to make the soup thicker and creamier without adding any dairy.
Summarize & Save This Content On
Skip the can and whip up your own bean with bacon soup. Made hearty with white beans, carrots, and celery, it's lightly seasoned with a round, tomato flavor, kind of like this Mediterranean chickpea soup.
With only 15 minutes of prep time, this bean bacon soup is a mostly hands-off soup, just like this creamy black bean soup. Enjoy it with a chunky or smooth texture; either way, this soup recipe warms you up from the inside out.
Why This Recipe Works
- Hearty texture: Adding the beans straight from the can (liquid and all) gives this soup a naturally thicker, heartier texture. The starch in the liquid helps create that rich, cozy consistency-no extra ingredients needed.
- Easy to make: The soup is made all in one pot and with just a couple of minutes of prep time, making it perfect for busy nights or slow-moving weekends. You can do this with vegetable beef stew as well.
- Savory taste: The vegetables are sauteed in the leftover bacon grease, which gives the bacon and bean soup recipe a more savory flavor than most.
Ingredients + Substitutions
- White beans: Any white beans can work, Great Northern, Navy, or Cannellini. Just make sure not to drain them immediately after opening them, as you want the starchy liquid in the can.
- Bacon: You'll be chopping the bacon so that it cooks more quickly. Low-sodium or even maple bacon can work for the soup.
- Tomato sauce: Not to be confused with tomato puree or paste, you want the actual sauce, as it adds the best flavor and texture.
- Chicken broth: Homemade, pressure cooker chicken broth works the best. If using store-bought, opt for a low-sodium broth.
- Paprika: If you can, use sweet paprika because it gives gentle warmth to the soup, which balances the bacon.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Dietary Modifications & Variations
- Swap the Bacon: This soup can also work with cubed ham in place of bacon. No need to brown it first, either. Sometimes I do this to use up leftover ham, just like I do when making slow cooker split pea soup.
- Leaner Bacon: Use turkey bacon in place of the regular bacon for a leaner soup. You will need to add a bit of olive oil or avocado oil to the pot for cooking the vegetables.
- Slow cooker: To make this homemade bean and bacon soup in the slow cooker, just brown the bacon first before adding everything to the slow cooker and cooking on low for 6-8 hours. T
- Vegetarian: Skip the bacon or replace it with some vegan bacon or meatless crumbles for a vegan-friendly soup. You may want to add a couple of drops of liquid smoke to give it a slight smoky flavor, or use smoked paprika instead of the sweet. Use pressure cooker vegetable broth in place of chicken broth as well.
How to Make Bean & Bacon Soup
This bean soup with bacon comes together easily, and once it's all in the pot, the hardest part is waiting to enjoy it with the savory aroma swirling around the kitchen.
Step 1: Prep and Drain the Bacon. Cook the chopped bacon over medium heat until it's crisp and cooked through. Remove the bacon and place it on a paper towel-lined plate, and reserve two tablespoons of grease in the pan for cooking the vegetables.
Step 2: Sauté the Veggies. Add the celery, onions, and carrots to the pot with the bacon grease and cook over medium heat until the onions are soft.
Step 3: Season It. Add the garlic and thyme to the pan and cook until fragrant.
Step 4: Add the Beans. Stir the beans and their juices into the vegetables, along with the broth, tomato sauce, paprika, salt, and pepper. Bring it all to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook with the lid cracked for 60 minutes.
Step 5: Mash the Soup. After simmering, use a potato masher or the back of a spoon to mash part of the beans until your preferred texture is reached. Stir in the rest of the bacon grease, if desired.
Step 6: Season and Serve. Taste and season the bean soup with salt and pepper. Serve it hot, garnished with extra bacon, or even some of these cornbread croutons.
Lyn's Top Tips
- Using dry beans: If you're using dry beans, you need to cook them a day ahead of time and store them in the fridge overnight in their cooking liquid. The liquid will then thicken as they sit, and you want to use roughly 4.5 cups of beans and 1.5 cups of liquid for the soup.
- Cooking the bacon: You want the bacon to be on the crispier side before you remove it from the pan for the best texture.
- Crack the lid: Make sure the lid stays cracked while the soup is simmering to let steam escape, keeping the soup nice and thick.
- Storing: Once cooled, store the bean with bacon soup recipe in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. Or, freeze it for up to 3 months, making sure to leave room in the container for it to expand. Let it thaw before reheating.
- Reheating: The soup thickens as it sits, so add a splash of broth to it and reheat it on the stove over low to medium heat.
Soup-er Toppings & Serving Suggestions
- Enjoy the soup with a side of crusty dinner rolls for dipping, or a batch of cheddar cheese biscuits during the cooler months for more comfort.
- Of course, during the fall, these pumpkin cornbread muffins taste delicious with the soup, too.
- Add some extra veggies by serving the soup with a side of garden salad.
Bean & Bacon Soup Recipe FAQs
Any white beans can work to make this soup. Navy beans will give a more traditional texture, whereas cannellini beans result in a creamier soup.
Yes, bean soup can be made ahead of time and even tastes better the next day. Let the soup cool and store it in the fridge overnight, taking care to store the extra bacon separately so that it remains crisp. Reheat it on the stove over low to medium heat, adding a splash of broth to loosen it up.
The beans are not drained because the liquid from them acts as a thickener in the soup. Between that and mashing the beans before serving, bacon soup has a thick and creamy texture without having to add further ingredients or complicated cooking techniques.
Bean and Bacon Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups chopped bacon about 8-9 oz
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 cans white beans 15 ounce cans, such as Great Northern, Navy, or Cannellini Beans, not drained or rinsed
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup canned tomato sauce also known as tomato puree
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper plus more to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook for 7-9 minutes, stirring periodically, until crisp and cooked through.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, carefully scoop the bacon from the grease and place it on a paper towel-lined plate. Discard all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the pan.
- Return the pan to medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots, and sauté for 6-7 minutes or until the onions start to soften.
- Add the garlic and thyme. Cook for about 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Stir in the undrained beans, chicken broth, tomato sauce, paprika, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the soup with the lid ajar for 60 minutes, stirring it periodically to keep the beans from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Using a potato masher or a large spoon, mash part of all of the beans to achieve your desired texture.
- Stir in all but a few tablespoons of the reserved cooked bacon into the soup. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper and serve hot, garnished with bacon and cracked black pepper.
Recipe Tips
- Stirring: While the soup simmers, give it a stir every 15 minutes or so to ensure it's not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Texture: For an ultra-smooth texture, blend the soup with an immersion blender before stirring in the bacon.
- Bacon: If you're using a leaner cut of bacon like turkey bacon, you'll need to add 2 tablespoons of avocado oil to the pan to saute the vegetables.
