THIS is one of those soups that makes you feel good about your health and is still incredibly delicious and satisfying. Beans are probably the most underrated super food. They’re packed full of fiber, protein, and antioxidants, while still being super inexpensive and shelf stable. And when you get 15 different varieties all in one pot, you’ve got a serious nutrition powerhouse! I decided to make it a Vegetarian 15 Bean Soup (it’s actually vegan) this week, but you could always add some bacon, a smoked ham hock, or smoked turkey leg to your soup for a little extra smoky flavor.
What Kind of Beans Do I Use?
“15 Bean Soup” mixes are fairly common in most major grocery stores, and they are sold right along side the other dry beans. I used Hurst’s Brand, which are in many major grocery stores. They’re basically just a mix of 15 bean varieties in one bag, and they’re quite beautiful, with all their different colors, patterns, and sizes. They usually come with a seasoning packet, just like instant ramen, but I prefer to add my own herbs and spices.
What to Serve with Bean Soup
While this soup itself is vegan, I ended up topping it with some shaved parmesan. Other good toppings would be a dollop of sour cream, Greek yogurt (you could do coconut yogurt to keep it vegan), or even some shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack. And I definitely suggest serving with some crusty bread on the side (try this no-knead bread).
How to Store the Leftovers
This Vegetarian 15 Bean Soup will freeze great, so don’t be afraid of the recipe’s large volume! Just divide it up after cooking, cool, then transfer to the freezer for long term storage. This soup does take some time to prepare, but most of it is passive time. So plan this recipe for a weekend or your day off so you can keep an eye on it while double tasking with something fun, like watching a movie. :) And don’t forget to start soaking the beans the night before!
Vegetarian 15 Bean Soup
Servings 8 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 lb. 15 bean soup mix* (2.69)
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil** ($0.44)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 4 carrots ($0.45)
- 3 ribs celery ($0.46)
- 6 cups water ($0.00)
- 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes ($0.49)
- 1 tsp cumin ($0.10)
- 1 tsp oregano ($0.10)
- 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika ($0.15)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley ($0.22)
- to taste salt ($0.02)
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar ($0.04)
Instructions
- The night before, place the beans in a large bowl and add cool water until the beans are covered with twice as much water as the beans. Let the beans soak overnight, or for at least 8 hours, in the refrigerator.
- When you’re ready to begin cooking, drain the beans in a colander and rinse them well with fresh water. Set the beans aside so they can begin to warm up.
- Mince the garlic and dice the onion. Add the garlic, onion, and coconut oil to a large soup pot. Sauté over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes, or until the onions are soft and transparent.
- While the onion and garlic are sautéing, dice the celery and carrot. Once the onions have softened, add the carrot and celery to the pot and sauté for about 5 minutes more, or just until the celery starts to soften.
- Add the beans to the pot along with 6 cups of water, and stir to combine. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring it up to a boil. Once it reaches a rolling boil, turn the heat down to low or medium-low, and let the beans simmer for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- After 90 minutes, the beans should be quite soft and have broken down a bit, causing the water to look slightly thick and cloudy. Add the diced tomatoes (with juices), cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and parsley to the pot. Stir to combine, then let the soup simmer for another 20 minutes.
- Taste the soup and add salt to taste (I added 1.5 tsp). Finally, stir in the apple cider vinegar. Keep in mind that as the soup is stored in the refrigerator, the salt may absorb into the beans and taste more muted. You may need to add more salt the next day.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make 15 Bean Soup – Step by Step Photos
The night before place 1 pound of the dry 15 bean mix (do not use the seasoning packet) in a large bowl. Cover it with enough water so there is double the amount of water as beans. Refrigerate the beans overnight, or for at least 8 hours. This is what they look like after soaking. When you’re ready to start cooking, drain the beans in a colander and rinse them well with fresh water.
Dice one yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Add the onions, garlic, and 2 Tbsp coconut oil (or your favorite cooking oil) to a large pot. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent.
While the onions and garlic are cooking, peel and dice 4 carrots, and dice 3 ribs of celery. Add them to the pot and continue to sauté just until the celery begins to soften (about 5 minutes more).
Add the rinsed and drained beans…
And 6 cups of water. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let it come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low or medium low, and let it continue to simmer for 90 minutes. Stir it occasionally as it simmers.
After it’s simmered for 90 minutes, the beans should be very soft and be breaking down. The broth will look all cloudy like this, and kind of pale in color.
Now it’s time to add those top note flavors! Add one 15oz. can of diced tomatoes (with the juices), 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, some freshly cracked pepper, and a handful of chopped fresh parsley. Stir everything to combine, then let the soup simmer for another 20 minutes or so.
And now it’s looking much more vibrant. BUT we haven’t added ANY salt yet, so the flavors are still quite muted. Now it’s time to season with salt to taste. I ended up using 1.5 tsp, but I suggest starting with 1/2 tsp, and increasing from there until the flavors really pop. Keep in mind that as you refrigerate this, the salt will absorb into the beans some and become more muted, so you may need to add more the next day.
Finally, stir in a couple teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to brighten it all up, and it’s done!
Yum! I did not have time to soak the beans, so I used my instantpot and it turned out great! I sauteed the onion, garlic and veggies using the saute setting, added the dry beans and water, cooked for 45 mins on high- pressure/sealed, let the pressure release naturally for 10 mins, then added in the tomatoes/spices at the end. Didn’t have apple cider vinegar, but still tasted great.
Happy to hear it Erica!
Almost sweet, but lacking at first. Maybe I didn’t let it cook long enough for the flavor to really set in, as I increased the amounts by 25% without adjusting cooking time. Comes alive when you add a good helping (I put 1 tsp per 2 servings to start and add more later) of chili powder to it. A good base that is easily further expanded upon, even by amateur cooks like me.
Made this with 60 oz. of canned beans:
7.5 oz. each of northern beans, navy beans, lima beans, black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, white beans, and garbanzo beans.
Delicious Elexis!
This looks fantastic! A question, though… I want to make this for a family dinner, but my mother is allergic to tomatoes. Any idea what a good (still vegetarian) substitution would be? Do you think it would work by just omitting the tomatoes entirely?
You can either just leave the tomatoes out, or maybe try puréeing some roasted red peppers? I’ve never tried the red peppers in it, that’s just an idea off the top of my head. :)
This worked out extremely well! Just finished and it was delicious. I topped mine with sour cream and a vegetarian powdered parmesan I found; I imagine it could be veganized with vegan sour cream and a good vegan ‘parmesan’ powder. I omitted the fresh parsley because we didn’t have any and also tossed in two dried chile peppers and some liquid smoke.
I’m making this for dinner so I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m going to adjust it for the crockpot so wish me luck!
Anyone try this in a crock pot?
I did and it turned out great. Just wait until the beans are soft before adding the spices and tomatoes.
Made this with canned beans. Just eyeballed amounts of other ingredients and liquid. it is delicious. Added chicken (2 tsp ) of better than bullion and left out salt. Will garnish with pesto. Not exactly your recipe but very good.
How many cans of beans did you use?
I made this twice so far, I found the second time it was better adding the salt both before and after the 90 minute simmer. It felt like the flavors developed more and I also found I didn’t have to keep adding salt later in the week. Great tasting soup and perfect for fall and winter, I love eating it with a nice crusty bread if I can.
I made this soup last weekend and I was surprised by how much flavor it has. And of course, it was even better the next day. My husband like it so much, he had it for breakfast the day after I made it.
I added a few bay leaves, a can of tomato paste, and about a dozen sliced white button mushrooms. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks. Suzanne
I made this before and it was DELICIOUS. Making it again now and can’t wait for it to be ready. Bean soup is such a simple recipe but this one is so tasty.
I made this soup. It’s very easy to make and very tasty! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Hi, is it possible to make this soup using a variety of tinned organic no salt added beans? how will I alter the amount of liquids to the recipe?
You would need to adjust the recipe quite a bit, both with the amount of liquid used and the cooking time. Unfortunately I would really need to do some testing to find the best method before offering any advice on how to do that.
As someone who isn’t super versed in recipes and cooking, this was pretty easy to make! (As I have been finding with all the recipes I make from this site, really.) It made a lot and I was really happy about that because it was able to feed myself and my fiance for a week! I was really happy with how well it kept in the fridge, too. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
This is delicious. Thank you for putting so much time into this recipe and this site.
You really need to add a few more pop-ups and slide out videos & ads just to make it even more annoying. It’s a shame that you provide some good information and then ruin the experience with all the slide-outs! I won’t be back.
That’s unfortunate because you’ll be missing out on some fabulous recipes. This is the first website that I go to when looking for something new and delicious.
I hate to point out the obvious, but most every site has them now. Whether you go back to any one of them should depend on how much you like the awesome CONTENT they provide, not the annoyance of the ads.
I always buy the Hurst’s HamBeens brand 15 bean soup and make it according to package directions in my slow cooker (directions for the slow cooker option are on their website). You don’t have to pre-soak for the slow cooker (winning). The seasoning packet is actually vegetarian, despite the name (http://hurstbeans.com/contact-us/faq/beans-seasoning). I really like the flavor; it’s like bbq baked beans. I often add greens at the end for some more veggies. You could use up whatever veggies you have in the fridge on this recipe too (carrots, celery, peppers, etc would all go well in my opinion). Just wanted to let your vegetarian and kosher readers know that they actually can eat HamBeens!
Thank you, I was wondering about that pack!
I make a variation of this but your recipe sounds much better! Going to try your seasoning combo. With leftovers, I will put in 8×8 pan and make a box of cornbread mix to put on top. Sometimes I add shredded cheddar too. It’s so good. Kind of like tamale pie but more cornbread-y.