Chili Bean Soup
Submitted by pauleric
Chili bean soup made from scratch with dried pink beans, stewed tomatoes, and chili seasoning. Half the beans get mashed for body, the rest set aside for a second meal.
YIELD
10 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
3 hrsREADY
4 hrsThis soup is two meals for the work of one. Dried pink beans get soaked overnight (or via the quick-boil method) then simmered with herbs for 3 hours until tender. Pulling 3 cups of cooked beans out of the pot before mashing reserves them for tomorrow’s burrito, salad, or rice bowl, while the remaining beans become a thick, hearty chili soup.
Mashing some of the beans with their cooking liquid is the technique that gives this soup its substantial body. Whole beans float in thin broth, but mashed beans break down into a creamy starch that thickens the entire pot without flour or cornstarch. It’s the same principle behind refried beans, just in soup form.
The finished soup gets reinforced with stewed tomatoes, beef or chicken broth, and chili seasoning mix, then heats together for 10 minutes to marry the flavors. The bean cooking liquid carries the herbs and aromatics that simmered into it for hours, so don’t drain it off. Serve with crumbled cornbread, shredded sharp cheddar, and chopped onion or cilantro for the full bowl experience.
Chef Tips
- Discard the soak water as written. Soaking removes hard-to-digest sugars and the water carries them off.
- Add salt to the soak water (not the cook water). Salted soak water helps beans absorb evenly without toughening skins.
- Save the cooking liquid. Don’t drain the beans before mashing. The flavored broth is essential to body.
- Don’t let beans boil dry during the 3-hour simmer. Check every 30 minutes and add hot water as needed.
Variations
- Swap pink beans for pinto beans or kidney beans based on what’s in the pantry.
- Add 1 pound of browned ground beef or shredded leftover cooked chicken for a meatier soup.
- Top with sliced avocado and a squeeze of lime for a Tex-Mex finish.
Ingredients
Directions
Soak beans by the preferred method.
(For each pound of California dry beans add 10 cups hot water. You may add up to 2 teaspoons of salt per pound of beans to help the beans absorb water more evenly. Heat to boiling, let boil 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for at least 1 hour, but preferably 4 hours or more. The longer soaking time is recommended to allow a greater amount of sugars to dissolve, thus helping the beans to be more easily digested. Always discard the soak water.)
Drain and empty them into a large pot.
Add 6 to 8 cups boiling water, garlic and onion salt, thyme, marjoram.
Cover and simmer until beans are tender (2½ to 3 hours.) Don’t let beans boil dry.
Add hot water as needed.
Spoon out 3 cups of the cooked beans to use another day in another way.
Mash rest of beans with their liquid.
Add remaining ingredients, plus 1 cup hot water.
Heat at least 10 minutes to blend flavors.
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