Skip the can – this Homemade Bean and Bacon Soup is hearty and filling and filled with veggies and chunks of bacon!
Growing up, Sundays were always the same. If we had morning church, we would come home from church, and lunch would be soup and sandwiches. I don’t remember ever having anything but soup and sandwiches for lunch on Sundays.
My mom would heat up several different kinds of canned soup, then make up a bunch of peanut butter sandwiches. We are a family that likes to dip, and peanut butter sandwiches got dipped into the soup. So the majority of the sandwiches were just peanut butter, but there were always some with peanut butter and honey. (And for the record – I must have always loved the sweet and salty combination, because to this day, I love a peanut butter and honey sandwich dipped into my soup!)
One of my favorites on those Sunday afternoons was the bean with bacon soup. I don’t know why I loved it so much, but I would always choose it over the chicken noodle or split pea with ham.
Well, my daughter has this love of soup. She would probably eat homemade soup every day if I made it for her, but since that’s just not possible 🙂 we always have a few cans of chicken noodle soup on hand. That girl can eat an entire can of soup for lunch herself.
One day, at the grocery store, I was letting her choose out a few cans of soup. And there I saw it – the Bean with Bacon soup. I decided to buy a can to have on hand for if I ever wanted to eat it for lunch.
Fast forward a few weeks, and my daughter gets home from school, asking for soup for lunch. I go to the pantry, and not a can of her beloved chicken noodle soup left. She sees my can of Bean and Bacon soup, and asks for it. I begrudgingly say yes.
And then she only eats like 2 bites of the soup. After she left the table, I decide to eat a bowl of it for lunch since it was already open and out.
And I ate about 2 bites of it and was done.
I don’t know if my tastebuds have just grown up, or what, but I did not like it. It tasted overwhelmingly of smoke, and not like real smoke. Like liquid smoke.
It tasted completely fake.
I was sad, but only for a minute. Because right then, I decided that I needed to make a homemade bean and bacon soup – with flavor from real smoked bacon.
One eye opener for me when I visited the Culinary Institute of America with Jones Dairy Farm last year was that a lot of companies use liquid smoke to flavor their meats and bacon. I felt duped. When something says smoked, I’m thinking it’s actually spent some time in a smoker, but that isn’t always the case.
For my soup, I knew I wanted actual smoked bacon, not liquid smoke or bacon that had been flavored with liquid smoke. So naturally, I chose my favorite Jones Dairy Farm bacon – their Dry Aged Cherrywood Smoked Bacon. I’ve said it here a thousand times before, but no other bacon compares to this bacon in my eyes.
After choosing the perfect bacon, the rest was pretty easy. Some beans, veggies and chicken broth are cooked together. Half of the mixture is pureed to give you that thick, creamy texture. Add in some tomato sauce and stir in the bacon – it’s the soup that blows that soup of my childhood out of the water. Seriously – this bean and bacon soup was so good – there will be no more cans of soup in my future!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE THIS HOMEMADE BEAN AND BACON SOUP BELOW!
Homemade Bean and Bacon Soup
Ingredients
- 8 oz. Jones Dairy Farm Cherry Hardwood Smoked Bacon diced
- 1 cup diced yellow onions
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3 cans 15 oz each Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
- salt and pepper
- 1 can 8 oz tomato sauce
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a soup pot or Dutch oven until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Discard all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease.
- To the hot bacon grease, add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook over medium heat until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute. Stir in the chicken broth and beans. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a bubble then reduce the heat to low and let the soup simmer for 1 hour.
- Remove half of the soup to a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Return the puree to the soup pot and stir into the remaining soup. Add the tomato sauce and 3/4 of the reserved bacon and stir to combine. Taste and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let the soup simmer until it is heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve topped with the remaining bacon.
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I am in a working relationship with Jones Dairy Farm, and this post has been sponsored. I’m so glad to be able to work with companies and organizations that I truly believe in. Thank you for supporting them, too.
Chris says
I couldn’t find cans of great Northern beans in the store I can only find them in a bag dry. Do I have to let them soak in water before I use them then?
Deborah says
You’ll need to cook the beans before you use them if you are using dried beans.
Barb Babbitt says
I made this soup from another recipe years ago. Then I saw this one was very similar. The only change I made was 1/2 cup of Smokey barbecue sauce instead of tomato sauce. Blending part of it was a great thought. Wasn’t part of my original recipe. Thanks 😊
Linda R says
I am making this tomorrow. Do you happen to know the calories per 1 cup serving?
Deborah says
I’m afraid I haven’t measured how many 1 cup servings are in this recipe, sorry I can’t help you!
Erin says
Wonderful recipe! Like many of the reviewers, the bean & bacon soup in a can was one of my favorites growing up. So happy to find this recipe which tastes much better than the canned soup. It was easy to make and my whole family loved it – one of my daughters has already requested I make this again for her birthday!
Mary Duckett says
This was delicious! I used dried navy beans and soaked them. I will definitely make it again.
Elaine says
this recipe sound pretty good, it’s almost like mine I use dry beans & crushed tomatoes plus 1/8 tsp of ground cloves, try adding the ground cloves next time you make it, I think you will like it, makes it taste like Campbells
Melissa says
This exceeded expectations. I made a few changes: used 1.5 C of each diced veggie, 12 oz tomato sauce, and I left the bacon in the entire time for more flavor.
Elise says
Hot dang this was good! I love that it tastes wholesome and creamy without dairy or gluten. Going to make this again for a family reunion!
T Rozell says
This was good. Not what I had thought it would be though. The canned version has a smoky flavor. This does not.
Lynb says
We have made this soup many times. It is excellent.
MARTHA PANGBURN says
A cold and rainy day. What better way to get through the day than a simmering pot of homemade comfort! This is WAY better than canned. This is a keeper.
Katherine A Anderson says
I substituted applewood smoked bacon, added a few more carrots and garlic! Loved it!
Soup Seeker says
I’ve been looking for a Bean & Bacon soup for a long time. This is the one I’ll make again! Mmm!
Joe Lopez says
I made this with added frozen honey ham bone from Christmas. It was truely easy and fast. Smells awesome. Trying not to serve too soon. I love B&B soup. Added also a potato for relief of my grumpy tummy. I think if you like it more beanie like I do you could add some dried potato flakes to thicken it more. But a awesome base to a plutherea of other variations that are now running through my mind. Excellent. I think that the family dinner has gone missing for a very long time. These recipes and cooking, in general, brings the family together. There is truely no place like home. Hope everyone has a full table. Great things to all and thank you for sharing.
Karen Bragg says
I too loved bean with bacon from a can when I was a kid. This is such a huge improvement. I did make a couple of changes. I had a ham bone so made some ham stock and used that in place of chicken stock. I also used the ham in place of bacon. It still gave that smoked hearty flavor. Perfect for cold weather.
Carol L. says
This takes me back to Mom’s cooking. Looking forward to trying it.