Crock Pot 15 Bean Soup Recipe - Ham and Beans Soup (2024)

FAQs

Do beans have to be soaked before cooking in a crock pot? ›

Beans freeze beautifully! I freeze them in two-cup portions, which makes it easy to pull out just what I need for a recipe. With beans made in the slow cooker, pre-soaking them is far less important than with other cooking methods. The long cooking time means that those beans will definitely soften!

Purée your soup or stew a little.

If you've got an immersion blender, you can stick it directly into the soup to purée. Otherwise, remove a cup or two of the soup, pour it in your blender, and carefully blend until smooth. Return the blended soup to the slow cooker and give it all a stir — and you'll have thicker soup.

You can add cornstarch. Add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water. whisk until combined. Stream into your bean soup and cook on low heat until it starts to thicken.

Absolutely! One method is to mash a portion of the beans against the side of the pot with a spoon. This will release some of their starches and help thicken the soup naturally. You can also use an immersion blender to partially puree a small portion of the soup, creating a thicker base.

Slowly heating raw kidney beans in a slow cooker may increase the toxicity of the beans. Studies have found slow cookers do not reach a high enough temperature to destroy the harmful bacteria in undercooked beans. The PHA toxin is destroyed at 212°F when cooked for at least 10 minutes.

On top of that the soaking can reduce cooking time considerably, which might be the biggest advantage. Discarding the water the beans were soaked in and using fresh water to cook them reduces the sugars that cause flatulence.

Soup Thickening Method: Cornstarch Slurry

About this method: One of the most common ways to thicken sauces and soups is with a starch-based slurry, and cornstarch is a popular choice. Cornstarch is flavorless, easy to mix up, and versatile, which makes it a go-to pantry ingredient.

15 BEAN SOUP® is low in fat, high in fiber, kosher, and easily feeds your family for under $1.00 per serving. Great for stove top, slow cooker, or pressure cooker.

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.

Not Adding Acid

If a soup is tasting bland in the bowl, consider adding acid rather than salt. A squeeze of lemon or lime, or a dash of yogurt or sour cream can add brightness to the bowl.

How do you make ham and bean soup less gassy? ›

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.

Yes. Incredibly effective? You bet. This trick works because the instant mashed potatoes are naturally starchy and therefore are similar in form to other commonly used thickeners, such as cornstarch, only without the clumps.

Put beans into the slow cooker and add enough water to cover beans by 2 inches. Turn cooker to HIGH and cook beans until they're tender and cooked through, about 5-6 hours for unsoaked beans. (You can also cook the unsoaked beans on low, which would take about twice as long.)

Modern cooking websites often say it doesn't matter. In a way, they're both right. Soaking beans can help improve the texture of the final product once the beans are cooked and reduce the gas produced when the food is being digested. But it isn't necessary to soak them.

Cook low and slow—patience is key. To cook on the stove, bring the pot of beans (soaked or unsoaked, with olive oil, salt, and any seasonings plus 2 to 3 inches of liquid covering them) to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat so that your beans are barely but steadily simmering and cover with the lid.

For black beans, white beans, red beans, garbanzo beans:

Soak at room temperature for 8 hours or over overnight. Drain and rinse well.