Bean with Bacon Recipe

Made it while chatting with friends — effortless.

I've been making this in my new Instant pot with great success. My family swears it is the best soup they've ever had in their lives. Co-worker smelled it at work and asked for the recipe - now they swear it's the best too, lol. Part of the secret is we use bacon ends from a local meat company instead of regular bacon. I also followed someone else's suggestion to add tomato sauce or paste to make it a bit more like the campbell's bean with bacon of our youth. (This recipe is waaaay better). I use dried beans which I "soak" in the instant pot (about 30 minutes time to pressure cook for 4 minutes) and then I rinse the beans and the pot, turn on the saute function and saute the chopped bacon ends, add the veggies to saute them, then everything in the pot to pressure cook again (usually 40 -50 minutes to reach pressure, cook at high pressure for 20 minutes, then let it decompress/cool for 10-15 minutes). One and a half hours to awesomeness. = ) I've used navy beans, black eyed peas, great northern, and white beans. All are fine.

Made this for dinner tonight and it was a big hit with my husband and myself! I followed the steps except I put everything in the crockpot on high for 6 hours after sautéing the onion and celery and cooking bacon in the oven. I also used chicken stock because I like better than bouillon but yum yum! Fabulous recipe this will be a new favorite!

College student here! I love how easy it is to make this soup. I let the beans soak overnight in the crockpot, then turn it on and add everything the next morning. Voila! By dinnertime, I'm ready to eat with no effort except ladling and grabbing a pack of crackers. I have a lunch sized tupperware that holds exactly the right amount of soup for a meal, so I fill that up and then empty it into ziplock freezer bags -- that way I can thaw it out one portion at a time (fridge ~24hrs, submerged ~5?) and I know it will fit in my lunch tupperware. Tips: I usually use Great Northern Beans because they're easier to find, petite diced tomatoes go down easier, I do half turkey bacon and half turkey Kielbasa to cut down on fat and add flavor, and (like another reviewer said) I add both carrot and garlic. A little basil doesn't hurt either. So delicious! Thank-you Karena :)

Delish! This one is a keeper! I added 3 cloves minced garlic, used fresh instead of canned tomatoes (not keen on the BPA's in the canned stuff) and when it was done, I blended about half and added it back in, to make it creamier. I didn't have ground cloves, so I used five whole cloves and then picked them out at the end. I also cooked it in my pressure cooker (13 minutes to done, thank you very much). I did do a 1 minute pre-pressure cook to soften the beans beforehand too, because I'd forgotten to soak them overnight. Awesome recipe - thank you for sharing it!!

Karena, you've done yourself proud with this one. This is an adult version of the stuff we got from a can back when we were growing up, and it is wonderful. I made it as per the recipe and it turned out very well. Personally, I like the amount of bacon used, regardless of the fact that others have cut the amount down. At my 8,000 foot altitude, I need to boil the beans a tad longer (like about 3 times as long!) to get them started getting soft, but that's normal. Next time I think I'll substitute chicken broth for the 4 cups of water to give it just a little added richness next time. Thanks, Karena!

This was an outstanding soup for a cold winter day. Everyone had 2 bowls, including a 4 year old niece. I omitted the cloves, per other reviews, and used great northern beans and a quart jar of home canned tomatoes, chopped pretty finely. I also used 2 cans of lower sodium chicken stock and added enough water to make 4 cups, thus eliminating the bouillon cubes. Before I added the tomatoes, I used an immersion blender to thicken it up a bit. Oh...my...gosh...It was so good!!!!

Just to add more flavor, try boiling your beans with some finely chopped garlic. Don't add the chicken broth or salt until they are soft and tender. I use "Better than Boullion". Add the tomatoes and bacon at the end. Also, I like to puree about half the soup in the blender with canned diced tomatoes and chilis before adding it back into the soup. This adds a little kick to it. Delicious!

We really liked this!! I did use a package of 7 beans, and I cooked it in my pressure cooker. I will soak beans even when I cook them in the PC.

Made this soup sans the tomatoes and the cloves. Instead of the cloves I added 1/2 tsp. of thyme, 1 chopped carrot, and about a cup of roux (white sauce). Instead of using stock in the roux, I used milk. Made the soup creamier. Also used a stick mixer to blend! It was delicious!

Wow! Considering I really dislike clove it was great and it turned out perfect in my new enameled cast iron 4.6 qt Dutch oven. To make sure the beans would be soft, I read others had trouble, I quick boiled let cool and refrigerated overnight then drained rinsed to begin cooking. Also, I used bacon trimmings that I buy in bulk and stewed tomatoes. The bacon trimmings have more flavor in my opinion for flavoring in beans and greens etc.

I did make a few adjustments (substituted 2Tbl olive oil for 1/2 the bacon grease, added some diced carrots) but this recipe is fantastic! Whole family loves it!

very well done - bacon makes everything better

This bean and bacon were delicious.

This is a really great recipe foe beginners like me. Simple ingredient list and easy preperation. Next time I’ll substitute a ham bone for the bacon. Suggestion, however. Use you slow cooker and set it to high for the first house, then to medium for 4 more hours. Gives the beans a long time so soften up and take in the broth, herbs and spices.

Great recipe. I use ham bouillon instead of chicken, and I add a ham bone if I have one, if not just diced ham. It freezes great, so I also make a big batch, and freeze some.

Good hearty winter soup and even my wife loves it. I've made it as written and with minor changes to accommodate what I have on hand. You really can't go wrong.

Followed recipe. It is YUMMY Comfort food at it's best.

The best Bean and bacon soup I have ever had!!!!

This was definitely a great tasting soup. Next time I make it though, I’ll soak the beans overnight as I did find the beans hard to digest.