Ham and Bean Soup Recipe - The Cookie Rookie® (2024)

FAQs

How do I thicken my ham and bean soup? ›

In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with cold water to create a slurry. Gradually add the slurry to the soup while stirring continuously. Allow the soup to simmer for a few more minutes until thickened.

If the soup tastes bland after seasoning, try adding a small amount of salt or a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten the flavors. You can also let the soup simmer for a bit longer to allow the seasonings to fully infuse into the broth.

Purée the beans.

Remove a quarter of the beans from the soup and purée them in a blender or food processor. Add the puréed beans back into the soup to thicken it. You can also use an immersion blender or potato masher to purée a portion of the bean soup.

In the House, the lore behind the soup is slightly different, per the Office of the Historian website, which reads: "Bean soup became a permanent fixture in the institution when Speaker Joe Cannon of Illinois discovered that his favorite meal had not been prepared by the kitchen staff on a hot, summer day in 1904.

To cut down on the gassy properties, you can add a little baking soda to your recipe. The baking soda helps break down some of the beans' natural gas-making sugars. I tested this while fixing one of my favorite slow cooker recipes: red beans and sausage.

This soup-thickening hack couldn't be easier. Unlike using flour, which requires either making a little roux before you start cooking or a beurre manié afterwards, or using a cornstarch slurry that can create a gloppy texture, the instant mashed potato flakes can simply be sprinkled into the finished dish.

But you can tailor your embellishments to the bean, for example, using cumin and smoky ham to flavor a black bean soup garnished with sour cream and cilantro, or sweet pepper and onion confit spiked with ancho chile powder.

Wait until the beans are tender but not quite done to add a splash of apple cider vinegar and a couple teaspoons of salt to the pot. The apple cider vinegar breaks down indigestible sugars to help digestion and also brightens the flavor of the beans without the need for excess salt.

We picked up this tip in a blurb at the end of a recipe in one our favorite cookbooks, A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider: If you simmer beans in an uncovered pot, they will end up firmer and more intact.

Do you drain canned beans when making soup? ›

Unless the recipe tells you to keep the canned beans in their liquid, you should drain your can and give the beans a good rinse before using. This will improve the flavor and texture of your finished dish. Open your cans of beans using a can opener. There may be sharp edges from opening the can.

The most obvious being a slurry — or a combination of the broth and flour (or starch). Other options for thickening a soup include blending some of the cooked soup vegetables and adding them back in; throwing in some bread; or adding in a beurre manié — aka the “reverse roux” — made from flour mixed with butter.

Although these two beans are very similar to one another, they are each a different variety. The main difference between the two is that white Navy beans are smaller than white Great Northern beans. However, they have similar culinary uses and can easily be substituted for one another.

Why “Navy”? Because of their super-charged nutritional value, low cost, and long storage life, in the 19th century the U.S. Navy began issuing these beans as standard ration for sailors on their warships. A common method for preparing navy beans is to bake them.

According to one story, the Senate's bean soup tradition began early in the 20th century at the request of Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho, who as chair of the committee overseeing the Senate Restaurant, passed a resolution in the committee requiring that bean soup be on the menu daily.

Mash beans, lentils, rice, or bread.

Rice, lentils, and beans release a lot of starch and naturally thicken soups simply from simmering, but you can also mash half the cooked rice/lentils/beans before adding to the soup for a simple way to thicken your dish.

Sometimes soup just needs to simmer longer to reach the perfect consistency. Check to see if the vegetables are tender, and then taste the broth. If the soup tastes a bit watery, give it more time.

If your beans are still too watery after prolonged cooking and mashing, consider adding a thickener like cornstarch, all-purpose flour, or arrowroot. To do this, first, make a slurry of equal parts thickener and water, then slowly add it to your refried beans. They should thicken considerably.