Basic Bean Soup
Submitted by twebb
Basic bean soup with homemade vegetable scrap stock, sautéed mirepoix, and cooked beans, half puréed for body, half left whole. Vegetarian, fiber-rich, freezer-friendly.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
45 minREADY
60 minA back-to-basics bean soup that wastes nothing. The stock comes from vegetable peels, leaves, and stems you’d otherwise toss, simmered with bay and pepper for half an hour. The bones of a great soup come for free.
Half the beans get puréed with stock for creamy body, the other half stay whole for chew. That two-texture trick is what separates a thoughtfully built bean soup from a flat one-note bowl.
A spoonful of mustard and tomato paste at the end is the surprise. The mustard sharpens, the tomato adds umami depth, and together they keep the soup from tasting boring no matter what bean you start with.
Pro Tips
- Save vegetable scraps in a freezer bag through the week so the stock comes together with no extra trimming work
- Use any cooked bean, navy, cannellini, pinto, or kidney all work, just match the bean to the soup’s intended weight
- Purée the beans with an immersion blender right in the pot if you have one, fewer dishes
- Crushed fennel seed is a small detail that makes the soup taste rich and rustic, don’t skip it
Variations
- Add a parmesan rind to the simmer for a salty, umami depth
- Stir in a cup of small pasta (ditalini) or rice for a heartier minestrone-style bowl
- Top with crisped pancetta or olive oil-fried sage leaves for a finishing flourish
Ingredients
Directions
To make vegetable stock: Bring all ingredients to a boil.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Strain and reserve liquid.
To make soup: Sauté onions, carrots, and celery in olive oil until browned.
Add one cup beans and one cup stock to sautéed vegetables.
Purée remaining beans and stock together.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
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