This bean and bacon soup recipe makes a hearty bean soup perfect for hungry families! The bacon makes it extra tasty! It makes a great main dish, especially on weeknights when you don’t feel like cooking. Serve with cornbread and biscuits for a perfect meal. It’s easy to make with about 5 minutes prep time and then simmer.
This bean and bacon soup recipe is delicious and easy to make with about 5 minutes prep time. It’s warm and savory and very filling.
This soup makes a great main dish, especially on weeknights when you don’t feel like cooking. Serve with cornbread or homemade biscuits for a perfect meal. It also makes a nice complement to sandwiches like grilled cheese or cold cut lunch sandwiches.
You can easily double or triple this recipe. While you’re making it, make some extra and freeze so that when you have a particularly hectic day, you can just warm it up and have dinner ready.
You can freeze it in individual portions and microwave it for an easy lunch. If you have access to a microwave, take it frozen in the container to work or school and it will be partly defrosted by lunchtime.
Ingredients for the soup recipe
Bacon – Bacon is the ingredient that makes the bean and bacon soup extra delicious! You can use whatever kind of bacon you like. To save money, I like to buy the bacon in the “ends and pieces” packages. It’s the same bacon, but since the pieces are irregular it is a lot cheaper than the full-size strips. Bacon ends and pieces are perfect for soups and seasoning things like baked potatoes and breakfast items.
Onion – I like to use white onions for this recipe. You can use yellow onion, but they have more bite. For a little more color, you can garnish the tops with green onions when you serve the soup.
Garlic – The recipe calls for 2 cloves of garlic, but you can adjust to your taste if you like. You can also use garlic powder if you prefer.
Ranch-style beans – It is possible to use other beans for the bean and bacon soup recipe, like pinto beans or Great Northern Beans, but I prefer the Ranch-style beans. Ranch-style beans already include green chiles and some seasonings that make this recipe a lot easier. If you have more time and want to experiment, you can try other beans and add some canned green chiles.
Cooked rice – I add the rice to give the recipe more body. If you want to stretch it a little further, you can add a little more rice than the recipe calls for and it will still taste good. We usually cook rice in our handy rice cooker and keep some in the fridge so it’s easy to use on the spot with any meal or to add to recipes like this.
Stewed Tomatoes – The recipe calls for stewed tomatoes, but pretty much any canned tomatoes will work. Just make sure if you use a different kind, that you cut them to bite-sized pieces. You can also use diced canned tomatoes or diced fresh tomatoes if you prefer. This recipe is a good way to use tomatoes from your garden.
Paprika – There are varying flavors of paprika, but the typical paprika at the grocery store is made of a combination of dried peppers that are very mild in flavor, and that paprika adds a sweet taste with a subtle touch of heat.
To make the bean and bacon soup recipe
Start by dicing the bacon and frying lightly in a large saucepan. Next, sauté the onions and garlic in the remaining bacon fat. This preserves a lot of the delicious bacon flavor! Then add all of the remaining ingredients and simmer for at least 1 1/2 hours to allow the flavors to blend. It’s Ok to let it simmer longer.
Recipes that go well with this soup
Best Ever Easy Cornbread Recipe
Garlic Salad Recipe – Creamy And Delicious Coleslaw Like Recipe!
The BEST Cole Slaw Recipe Ever!
PrintEasy Bean And Bacon Soup Recipe
This bean and bacon soup recipe makes a great family dinner. It’s a hearty bean soup perfect for feeding hungry families when you don’t have a lot of time or you don’t feel like cooking. It’s easy to make with about 5 minutes prep time and then simmer.
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
8 slices bacon, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 (16 oz.) cans ranch-style beans
1/2 cup cooked rice
1 (8 oz.) can stewed tomatoes
2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper and paprika
4 cups water
Instructions
- Fry diced bacon in a saucepan. Drain.
- Saute the onions and garlic in the bacon fat until the onions are golden.
- Add the remaining ingredients.
- Simmer 1 1/2 hours to allow flavors to blend. Add water as needed during cooking.
Notes
I usually serve this soup as-is since it is so easy, but if you like, you can garnish with additional fried bacon pieces, chopped green onions or parsley
More soup recipes you might like:
Homemade Chicken and Turkey Soup Recipes
Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe
Easy Potato Soup Recipes – Potato Bacon Soup
Easy Homemade Soup Recipes and Tips
This bean and bacon soup recipe is in Volume 1 of our Dining On A DimeCookbook:
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We don’t have ranch style beans here in New York so I faked it with plain pinto beans, leftover BBQ sauce, and some pickled jalapenos. I also added a red bell pepper since the carrots I thought I’d add seem to be missing from the fridge! Delicious. I made a little extra bacon and saved it for a garnish.