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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pam says
This soup is delicious with so much flavor! I did add extra broth the next day because it was too thick. I will make this again.
Cindy says
I’ve made this recipe twice in the past two weeks. The first time it was great but way too salty. My own fault for doubling the bacon (love bacon) and using regular chicken broth. Today I made it again with the 8 oz. of bacon the recipe called for and low sodium chicken broth. It was perfect! Beyond great! Thank you so much for your recipe. Canned bean and bacon soup was a favorite of mine growing up, but when I got older the canned taste bothered me. Now I’m just thrilled I get to eat it again.
Deborah says
I’m so glad it was a success!!
Sharon says
We had this for dinner tonight. I made it just as written (a rarity for me), and it was delicious! My husband made sure there was enough left over for him to take to work for lunch tomorrow. Thank you!
Marcia says
I made this last night (exactly as written) and my husband and I both thought it was delicious! Bean with bacon was always my favorite growing up but, like a lot of you, my taste buds changed over the years. Now I can enjoy my old favorite, in a new and much better way, again! Thank you for sharing.
Carol says
I cannot wait to make this soup. An all time favorite as a kid, but do not like the canned soup anymore. I think your recipe will hit the spot for me and family.
Shannon says
made this and while it was really good, it was way too salty. Between the chicken stock, the tomato sauce and the bacon it was salt overkill. Good thing I didn’t add any salt because there is no way we could have even ate it.
Will be making it again but will try and offset the salt somehow.
Erica says
this soup is perfect! I have never even had bean and bacon soup but needed to make something with the bacon in my fridge. I will be making this again it was absolutely to die for. followed the recipe exactly.Thank You!!
Barb says
Making this a second time since the first time was outstanding. Family said first try was too thick. Still great though. Thanks for posting.
Heather W says
I made this soup tonight…. YUM!!! I doubled the recipe and it turned out perfectly. I did add a bay leaf and some thyme….added a little depth. I will definitely make this again. In the mean time I can’t stop eating it😊😊
Patti says
Thanks for the recipe. It just finished cooking and I devoured a bowl. It was fabulous. I tweaked it a bit by adding a 6 oz. ham steak chopped which I added in the beginning of the cooking. YUMMY!
Patti says
Sorry, I just realized this soup calls for canned beans. But you could soak dry bean, cook them, and use them and it may help.
YVONNE MYERS says
I just bought a can of it too and thought it tasted like a chemical, I used to love it.
Alice Anderson says
Where do you find great northern beans. Never heard of them
Deborah says
You should be able to find them at any grocery store, but any white bean should work.
Jennifer says
PB sandwiches dunked in soup, it’s quite a strange combo! Growing up it was butter sandwiches dipped in soup! Lol this is my favorite soup of all time, I’ll have to try making it! Thanks! 💜
LindaS says
Thank you so much for this recipe! It was a hit. I did do a few modifications based on what I had and what my family likes. First of all, I had just finished making Split Pea Soup with a ham-hock. I took the bones from that ham-hock that were already used and put them in some water in my crockpot. I let them cook overnight then added the veggies. I only had one bag of white beans in my freezer (dried beans that I cooked and froze) but I started the soup anyway – in my crockpot! I knew I needed more beans so I bought 2 cans to add, but instead of adding them whole I put them through the food processor with some liquid from the soup. Now I had a great creamy soup with the veggies and some of the beans showing. I also had a few tomatoes left over from canning that were starting to go. I cut off the bad parts, peeled them and cut them up very small. I added them to the crockpot and let everything cook for another hour. Oh my gosh, what a great combination. Between the creamy beans, the cooked beans, the cooked veggies, the tomato sauce, the bacon and the extra tomatoes tossed in near the end, i was PERFECT. Definitely a WINNER!
Linda
Deborah says
I love that you were able to make it work from what you had on hand. I’m so happy you loved it!
Linda S says
Deborah, I had to come back and let you know how much I am enjoying this soup. So far I’ve made it tree times since Oct 1st. It’s my go-to now when I eat lunch at home. (almost every day) My second batch was in the fridge and my hubby wasn’t eating it so I put it in portion size freezer bags and froze it! Warmed in hot water, put it in a bowl and zapped 😉 for 1 min in the micro Delish! The third time I made it, I made a change. I had some vegetable soup that I had canned this summer but the pepper slipped in my hand and it had too much pepper. I figured I’d find a way to fix it later. I put a quart of that with a quart of ham-bone broth plus the beans, veggies and bacon in my crockpot and it came out WONDERFUL! Your recipe has inspired me to have bean soup with bacon almost daily, following the recipe pretty much but using what I have. Thank you! Yum! Yum! Yum!
Oh btw, I’ve been slipping in two bay leaves for an extra layer of flavor.
Deborah says
I’m so happy that you have enjoyed it so much! And I love how you have adapted it to make it work for you as well!
Linda S says
Hi Deborah, I just had to come back one more time to tell you that your soup is still on my rotation of soups. We really do love it!
Steve says
Please explain how you got the soup into freezer bags without souping the kitchen!
Steve says
In addition, canned beans have too much sodium for me so I have to use dried beans.
Linda S says
Steve, put a plastic bag into a container then use a wide mouth funnel (find one in canning dept. @ Walmart if you don’t have one) to pour the soup into the bags. Also, you can use dried beans. I do and it’s still delicious! Just estimate the right amount. A few more or a few less won’t make a huge difference in this soup. Your other option would be to cook the beans, then borrow a can from a friend. (or buy one regular size can of chopped tomatoes – I’ve seen them as low as 15 gr. of sodium.) Once the beans are cooked, measure them with the empty can. Keep that can by washing and drying it whenever you use it so you can measure things. Or just use a liquid measuring cup. I think most cans are 15 ounces and a liquid measuring cup is 16 oz. You can get it very close. Good luck and enjoy this wonderful soup!
Laura T says
Just made this tonight and it was incredible. I doubled the bacon (cause I love me some bacon) and the cherry smoked makes it perfect. I’m sure it wouldn’t have had the same taste with Oscar Meyer. Thx for the great recipe. By the way after pinning over 1000 recipes this is the first one I’ve ever commented on.
Deborah says
It seriously made my day to hear that this is your first comment – thank you!! And I’m thrilled that you loved the soup. (I love that you doubled the bacon, as well!)
Tracy says
Didn’t realize so many people were bean and bacon soup lovers too. I used to eat the Campbell’s version in my younger years. Can’t wait to try this one.