My dad loves bean with bacon soup. It is one of his favorite comfort foods when he is sick. My mom always tries to keep a few cans of bean with bacon soup on hand just for my dad.
Bean with bacon soup is actually one of the few canned soups that I remember eating as a kid. We did not eat much canned soup, but bean with bacon soup was one canned soup we often had in the cupboard.
I have never really been a fan of canned soup though. Even as a kid I did not really enjoy it. Yes I would eat it, but I never really liked it.
I have always preferred homemade soup and bean with bacon soup is no exception. The homemade version so much better than the canned version. It is so easy and inexpensive to make, and tastes so much better.
And big bowl of this is perfect for a cold day.
Slow Cooked Bean With Bacon Soup
Skip the can and make bean with bacon soup at home.
Ingredients
- 3 cans navy beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 lb bacon, cooked and diced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 can chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 cups milk
Instructions
- Cook onion in oil until tender and slightly browned.
- Place cooked onion, chicken broth, beans, bacon, and molasses into a crockpot. Stir well and cook on low for 2-3 hours
- Add milk, stir well, and cook 30-40 minutes more or until completely heated through. Salt to taste and serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 305Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 626mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 7gSugar: 3gProtein: 18g
Nutritional values are approximate and aren't always accurate.
I LOVE this post! My Dad and I had Bean with Bacon soup (from a can) every Sunday after church when I was growing up. I think I loved it because he did. I wish he were still here so we could enjoy a bowl. I’m going to try your version this week. It sounds delicious!
That’s funny! Bean with Bacon Soup is one of the only canned soups I ate as a kid, too! I remember it fondly–although I also remember it wasn’t all that great! As an adult, and a cook, I knew I could make it taste better at home. Thanks for the recipe!
Kids will love this, a half pound of bacon could really make a difference.
How funny for me to find this in my in-box today! I was just at the food store last night and I almost picked up a can of Bean with Bacon soup. I wondered if I could find a homemade version and decided against purchasing the canned soup!
Can’t wait to try this!
I forgot to mention….I love your dishes! Would you mind sharing the maker?
@Alison, Those are made by the same company that makes fiestaware, in fact I think they are in the same line as fiestaware. They are part of the diner collection. I have fiestaware as my main dishes and love them. Last year I found the diner collection on sale for a really good price and picked up just a couple of pieces to add to my main dishes. I got the blue and red trim because they match the fiestaware colors that I use as my main dishes, but they had several other colors available. I found mine on sale at Macy’s and then used a 20% off coupon. They are not cheap, but they are sturdy and really nice. I love them!
I am totally going to make this. I love beans at Cracker barrel and these remind me of them.
Thanks!
Yum! I haven’t had a homemade bean with bacon, but I can only imagine how divinely better this is than canned. 🙂
I made this for supper tonight! Totally awesome!!! Made cornbread on the side, because I’m from Oklahoma, too, and any kind of beans should require cornbread… 🙂
@Pam, I am so glad that you enjoyed it! My husband would agree that beans and cornbread have to go together. 🙂
Lynn, how much home cooked beans equal the three cans of canned beans? I can’t wait to try this recipe but want to cook my own beans because of the sodium content on the canned.
@Karen Osmon, Great question. I should do a post on that. One can of beans is about 1 1/2- 1 2/3 cups beans, depending on the beans. I takes about 2/3 cup of dried beans to equal about 1 1/2 cups cooked beans. So 2/3 cup of dried beans should equal about one can of beans. I hope that makes sense and works for you.
@Lynn,
Thanks Lynn, makes perfect sense to me!
great question. great answer. thanks you two!
In order to be any good, that canned bean with bacon soup needs milk added & not water.
Beans are great, as so many ways they can be prepared & mixed — a pot of black bean mix soup simmering on the stove right now.
Dad
yes! i totally agree. (i didn’t know if anyone besides me made it that way) and the picture looked rather watery… @Karen what would i do to make a “creamier” version of this soup? substitute the broth with milk or what???
This sounds delicious! Just added it to my menu for this week.
Thanks!
I just made this, and have duly posted your link on facebook. I should have made cornbread, too, because it only makes enough for two without it, haha! Quick dinner for me tomorrow, yaay! I just browned the chopped bacon and onion together in the soup pot about 10 minutes and eliminated the extra oil. Then added the beans and all the rest with some salt and pepper and let it simmer for about 20 more minutes while I watered my plants. Thanks so much for the yummy meal! 😀
another question, what size of can of chicken broth? the big (like 48oz-ish) can, or the small (soup sized) can?
The small soup sized can.
what would happen if the molasses were left out? Sounds like a yummy meal my roommate may enjoy but she can’t have molasses. Thanks!
They add a lot of flavor and sweetness, but you could probably use some other sweetener and have it work okay.
My daughter can’t have dairy products. Could I use rice milk? Or something else? I LOVE Bean and Bacon soup and would definitely like to make this.
I think it would probably work fine. It might not be quite as creamy, but I think it should work.
I’ll bet your daughter could tolerate camel milk, which is becoming more and more popular. Do a web search and see if you can locate it in whatever area of the country you’re located. Dr. Kaayla Daniel has a whole article about it in her last newsletter @ the Naughty Nutritionist. It’s amazing stuff.
Christine – you could leave the milk out completely and use a potato masher to mash up a little bit of the beans (right in the crockpot) until it is the consistency you want. I never add milk and always us this method to thicken up bean soups.
Lynn – this sounds like a good recipe. I will try this soon. I haven’t ever sweetened up my beans in soup before and it sounds yummy, like bean soup meets baked beans….LOL Thanks for all the great ideas and recipes.
regular molasses? blackstrap molasses?
I use regular molasses because that it what I usually have, but I think blackstrap would probably work also.
I believe black strap molasses has less sugar (but more iron) so you might want to add a little sugar if you use it. I tried making pork n beans with blackstrap, and they weren’t quite right because of this.
I live up north and we eat a LOT of soups, so this is one I make often. I like your recipe, Lynn, and would add this hint from an Amish friend. Either boil or steam (like in a Can Cooker) a few small, new potatoes, or even a couple of huge old things you can’t seem to get rid of, and mash them up (no milk or anything added, just plain old mashed up potato) and add it to the crock pot shortly before you’re done cooking. It’s adds extra ooomph to the soup for kids playing outdoors in the snow or men out shoveling. Besides, if I’m inside cooking for them I can’t possibly be outside doing the shoveling, right?! ;-o)
I have never heard of doing that. It would be a great way to make it a little more filling and a way to use up a few extra potatoes you might have. I will have to try that sometime. Thanks!