Make your own 15 bean soup mix for pantry food prep, easy weeknight meals, and meatless Monday meals. This is an easy to assemble soup mix that is also easy to cook with and can be used in many different dishes.
14 bean soup is an interesting and somewhat basic soup that’s great for feeding a crowd, making in advance for freezer meals or meal prep, or just as an economical soup option. There are several different ways to customize your soup mix and flavors, depending on what you prefer.
What beans are in 15 bean soup?
If you don’t want to buy a pre-made 15 bean soup mix, you can mix up your own bean types. I would personally avoid red kidney beans or white kidney beans in a simmering soup mix, as they have anti-nutrients that are only cooked out under sustained temperatures like pressure canning. Smaller beans, with a pre-soak and cook before assembling the soup will normally be safe and easily digestible.
Make your own soup mix with various types of beans, navy beans, black beans, pinto beans, small white beans, chickpeas or garbanzo beans, Great Northern beans, baby lima beans, large lima beans, pink beans, cranberry beans, black eyed peas, yellow split peas, green split peas, green lentils, red lentils, and yellow lentils. You could also add adzuki beans, which are small red beans, or mung beans which are small green beans, though these smaller beans should probably be added to the mix a bit later in the cooking process.
If you garden, there are dozens of different bean varieties you can grow, that you could also add to your bean soup mix. Some unique ones to grow could be Scarlet Runner bean, 1000 year old cave bean, and Cherokee trail of tears bean. Or, just grow out a pack of multi-bean soup mix and skip planting the split peas.
how long does it take to cook 15 bean soup?
It takes 4 hours, to overnight, depending on if you want to pre-soak and boil the beans before assembling and fully cooking up your soup. I prefer soaking all beans and peas for at least 4 hours, and up to 8 hours. Rinsing and discarding the soaking water, adding new water, and bringing the beans to a rolling boil. Then, rinsing them thoroughly again before beginning the soup assembly process.
If your family is not sensitive to beans, and doesn’t get gas or intestinal discomfort from them, the boil and rinse after soaking may not be necessary for you. Since my family is sensitive to beans, doing the extra steps of the pre-soak, boil and rinse, and then cooking with the beans, helps us enjoy the meal more.
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How to Make 15 Bean Soup For Pantry Meals
Description
A basic bulk soup with 15 bean medley or a homemade bean medley.
Ingredients
- 4 cups of 15 bean soup mix (or 13, or 12 or whatever you’ve mixed up)
- 6 cups chicken broth or vegetable stock
- 1–2 large yellow onions
- 1 head garlic
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 4–6 large carrots, grated or finely diced
- 2 cans crushed or diced tomatoes
- 1–2 cups diced chicken breast, cooked, or other meat of choice
- Other spices and salt to taste and preference
Instructions
- Pre-soak your bean mix in 8-12 cups of water for 4-6 hours. You can soak overnight if your mix contains large red or white kidney beans.Then, discard the soak water and rinse the beans thoroughly.
- Throw beans into a stock pot and bring to a simmer with enough water to cover the beans. Simmer for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse again.
- In your stock pot, or slow cooker, combine prepared beans with your broth or vegetable stock, the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots. At this point, you can also add bones to your soup if desired. Some people make this soup with ham hocks.
- Stir the soup and let it cook on the stove top (keep at a low simmer), or in your crock pot, until the largest beans are tender. Alternatively, run it in an instant pot on meat stew, it’ll cook a lot faster. I do prefer the slow cooker method myself.
- Once the beans are tender, you can remove the bones and re-add in any meat from them. Then add your tomatoes and any pre-cooked meat you want to add in.
- Add any spices or flavor variations. This bean soup recipe is simple on the spices, you can add your own twist. At minimum, add salt and pepper.
- If the liquid level is too low, or you like a broth-y soup, add more stock or broth at this point as well. Bring back up to a simmer and let it heat through.
- Serve soup hot, with crusty bread and butter if desired.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups of 15 bean soup mix (or 13, or 12 or whatever you’ve mixed up)
- 6 cups chicken broth or vegetable stock
- 1-2 large yellow onions
- 1 head garlic
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 4-6 large carrots, grated or finely diced
- 2 cans crushed or diced tomatoes
- 1-2 cups diced chicken breast, cooked, or other meat of choice
- Other spices and salt to taste and preference
Making 15 Bean Soup:
- Pre-soak your bean mix in 8-12 cups of water for 4-6 hours. You can soak overnight if your mix contains large red or white kidney beans.Then, discard the soak water and rinse the beans thoroughly.
- Throw beans into a stock pot and bring to a simmer with enough water to cover the beans. Simmer for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse again.
- In your stock pot, or slow cooker, combine prepared beans with your broth or vegetable stock, the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots. At this point, you can also add bones to your soup if desired. Some people make this soup with ham hocks.
- Stir the soup and let it cook on the stove top (keep at a low simmer), or in your crock pot, until the largest beans are tender. Alternatively, run it in an instant pot on meat stew, it’ll cook a lot faster. I do prefer the slow cooker method myself.
- Once the beans are tender, you can remove the bones and re-add in any meat from them. Then add your tomatoes and any pre-cooked meat you want to add in.
- Add any spices or flavor variations. This bean soup recipe is simple on the spices, you can add your own twist. At minimum, add salt and pepper.
- If the liquid level is too low, or you like a broth-y soup, add more stock or broth at this point as well. Bring back up to a simmer and let it heat through.
- Serve soup hot, with crusty bread and butter if desired.
Flavor Variations of 15 Bean Soup:
I enjoy making a tex-mex style variation on the 15 bean soup, by adding in 1 tablespoon of cumin, 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika, and 1 or 2 jalapeno peppers. Then serving it with a side of rice, and some grated aged cheddar. For this variation, using some ground beef can also make it more chili-like.
If you’re working with a ham hock or leftover ham bone, you can serve the soup with a topping of Parmesan cheese to compliment the smoked ham flavor.
You can also add more veggies to your soup. Dehydrated greens make a great secret addition, and are a powerhouse of nutrition. If you like more tomato, you can also use tomato powder to make a thicker, more chili like, soup.
Other heavier vegetables like corn, green peas, green beans, kohlrabi, radish, beets, or other heavy duty vegetables. I’d avoid most cabbage family though, like broccoli or kale, unless in a greens powder.
Storing Your Soup:
This heavy bean soup freezes well, and can be frozen for later reheating, lunches, or quick meals. Freeze in single serving, or family serving, size containers. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and then reheat on the stove top, or in the microwave, as needed.
You can also mix up the bean soup mix as a base, and keep the mixed beans in your cupboard for when you want to assemble the soup. If making from scratch, you can also make up your own seasoning packet by mixing your favorite seasonings, dehydrated veggies, tomatoes, and other powdery ingredients in a jar. Simply blend up 1 or more batches worth in a jar, and set aside with a tag for how much of the blend a batch of soup will need. This type of blend can also make a great and artistic gift, especially if you layer the different types of beans in a large jar, and attach the seasoning packet on the outside with an instructional sheet.
Back to You:
What’s your favorite bean or beans combination for 15 bean soup? What flavor combinations do you prefer with your soup mix? Leave a comment.
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