I've attempted many white bean soups in the past, but this Bean and Bacon Soup is still my absolute favorite.
It has simple, inexpensive ingredients - a bag of dried beans, part of a package of bacon, a bunch of greens (though sometimes I use frozen peas and carrots).
It's ideal for a busy day's dinner. Just 30 minutes of prep, but then the slow cooker does the rest of the work, leaving you with a perfect meal at the end of a cold and busy day.
Leftovers of this soup are delicious and reheat well. It's a soup that warms you up and fills you up, perfect for cold winter days.
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Although this bean soup is great in fall and winter, I first created this soup one summer when I received a bunch of collard greens from my CSA. In my mind, greens go with ham and bacon, a la Southern cooking.
I'd love to tell you this is a family recipe, but really, it's more inspired by canned soup I ate as a kid. You know, the Campbell's Bean with Bacon soup (affiliate link) from a can, which you diluted with water. I loved that stuff, all those soups. They just don't taste good as an adult.
This soup, though, is the real deal. It's inexpensive, healthy, and easy to make! And I love how warm and filling this soup can be.
Ingredients
There's a secret ingredient for making a delicious, flavorful bean soup.
The secret is bacon.
You can cook your bacon however you'd like. Although I often bake bacon, I prefer to fry it here since you'll be using the grease to cook the onion and other vegetables.
Have some bacon grease already stashed away in the fridge from cooking bacon some other time? (If not, start saving it to cook with!) Use about 4 tablespoons to cook the onion and other vegetables in.
If you don't like bacon, this may not be the right soup for you. A lot of the flavor comes from the bacon. That said, you can try substituting olive oil for the bacon grease.
Other ingredients:
- dried white beans
- onion
- celery
- carrots
- garlic
- (chicken or vegetable) broth or bouillon
- chopped greens
For beans, I usually use Navy or Great Northern Beans in this soup. I've also used Black Eyed Peas. They're all great!
Onion, celery, carrots, and garlic provide some delicious flavor that make the soup more than just broth. If I don't have celery, I usually add some celery seed.
You use half broth and half water in this soup. All broth would make the soup too salty. No broth would make the soup bland. I usually use bouillon, as I keep it around.
Greens: collard greens, mustard greens, kale, chard - they're all good in this soup. In fact, slow-cooking soup like this is the ideal way to cook greens, as they mellow down delightfully.
If you don't have greens or don't want to use them, add a bag of frozen peas and carrots instead.
Instructions
Lay your bacon in a large, cold skillet. Place on the stove and cook over medium heat until the bacon is crispy. (I often cut my bacon in half before cooking it because it fits better and is easier to flip.) Remove the bacon from the skillet and set on a plate to cool.
Next, sauté your onion, celery, and carrots in the bacon grease for about 5 minutes, until the onion becomes translucent. (I forgot celery in the picture above.) Add the garlic, and cook briefly.
Pour your sauteed vegetables (with bacon fat) into a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the dried beans, bouillon or broth, and water. Chop the bacon and add it to the slow cooker. Top with the greens. Give everything a little stir, and poke the greens down into the liquid.
Cover the slow cooker and cook everything on low for 8 hours. Longer will be okay if you are leaving it all day while you're at work, although the beans may become very soft. I often cook it on high for 2 hours, and low for another 4, when I don't get it cooking as early as I mean to.
When the soup is done, give it a stir and a taste. Add pepper and extra salt as necessary.
I love using my slow cooker for this, but if you need it faster, make it in an Instant Pot (affiliate link)! Try using the beans setting.
How to Serve
This combination of some bacon, a pound of beans, and a bunch of greens makes a healthy, inexpensive meal that gives you leftovers for days. The bacon gives it hearty flavor. The greens cook down and become silky. The beans provide body to the broth.
Although filling, this soup is rather light in calories, so you can serve it with something hearty.
I like to serve cornbread alongside this soup, just as I would for ham and beans.
Not a cornbread fan? Any kind of crusty bread would be nice on the side. Maybe an easy French bread?
I hope you love this soup as much as we do.
More Slow Cooker Recipes
Want more easy recipes to make in your slow cooker or crock pot? Try these!
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Have you tried this recipe? Or have a question about it? Rate it or leave a comment below! (PS: rating my recipes helps other people find them, too!)
📖 Recipe
Bean and Bacon Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried white beans (Navy or Northern beans)
- 6 slices bacon (about 5 ounces) (prefer lower sodium)
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 2 stalks celery (chopped)
- 1 carrot (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
- 4 teaspoons lower sodium chicken bouillon (4 cubes) (see notes for instructions on bouillon vs broth)
- 8 cups water (64 ounces) (see notes for info on broth)
- 4 cups collard greens or kale (raw, chopped into small pieces) (1 bunch)
Instructions
- Fry bacon. Place bacon in a cold skillet, turn the heat to medium, and cook until crispy. How long this takes depends on your skillet and stove. I cut my bacon slices in half to make turning them easier. This step took 10-15 minutes on a weak electric stove.
- Saute the onion, celery, and carrots in the bacon grease for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook briefly. Pour the vegetables (including bacon grease) into a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Add beans, bouillon, and water. Chop bacon and add to the slow cooker. Add the greens, pushing them into the water to submerge them.
- Cook on low heat for 8 hours, until beans are tender. Stir, and add salt and pepper if desired.
Notes
Originally published in 2019. Rewritten and updated with new photos in November 2024.
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