A substantial and affordable option for serving a large group for supper is this hearty, straightforward soup. For a delectable supper, serve it with a salad and cornbread or crusty whole grain bread.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 8 hrs 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 17 hrs |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 16 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 pounds dry great Northern beans
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 medium onions, finely chopped
- 3 carrots, finely chopped
- 1 pound cooked ham, finely diced
- 6 medium tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ¾ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Sort and wash beans according to package directions. Place in a 3 1/2-quart or larger slow cooker. Fill the cooker with water to capacity. Soak without turning on the cooker, 8 hours to overnight.
- Drain excess water and refill cooker with fresh water. Turn cooker to Low and cook until beans are soft, about 8 hours.
- Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium-low heat. Add onions and carrots; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and carrots begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add ham, tomatoes, and garlic and let simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Puree about 2/3 of the cooked beans in small batches in a blender or food processor, using the bean broth to help puree and adding extra water if needed. Add puree and remaining whole beans to the soup pot; add enough water to bring soup to desired thickness. Stir in parsley, thyme, celery salt, salt, and pepper. Simmer slowly, stirring occasionally, until soup is hot and all vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.
- Omit ham for a vegetarian version.
- You can use red or yellow tomatoes, or a mix of both.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 331 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 41 g |
| Cholesterol | 16 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 13 g |
| Protein | 19 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 488 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This turned out pretty good although I still prefer moms. The recipe submitter noted you could omit the ham for a vegetarian version but I think you’d need to add more seasoning or perhaps even broth if you did that to prevent them from being bland. I bought a package of beans that had a ham flavored seasoning packet and that worked good. I did not end up blending mine because I prefer a thinner soup. They were soft enough you could just mash them with the back of a spoon until you got the desired consistency. Overall good recipe but I think it could use some tweaks to boost the flavor.