Rustic Great Northern Bean Soup with Bacon is the kind of meal I turn to when I want something honest and unfussy. Creamy white beans, smoky bacon, and a broth that turns silky after a long simmer is simple food. The good “comfort food” kind that fills the kitchen with savory aroma.
What Makes This Soup Rustic?
A rustic soup can be defined by its simple ingredients, hearty and unpretentious nature. Usually thick, chunky it features common chopped vegetables like carrots, celery and onion. A base broth with rich aromatics. Rustic soups are often prepared in one pot. In my opinion, this Colorado inspired soup, using thick cut smoked bacon and the humble Great Northern Bean defines rustic. It’s pure Classic all-American Comfort Food.
Here in Colorado, we cook for altitude and appetite. You’ll feel both in this recipe. With smoky bacon and a rich broth, you’ll feel like you’ve just prepared a recipe you’d find in a mountain lodge. And that’s exactly where I got the inspiration to make this in my own kitchen.
It’s not fussy, a bit “stick to your ribs” in nature, without being heavy. Perfect for chilly Fall evenings or snowy days. Inspired by my stay at a lodge in the Sawatch Mountain Range let’s take a look.
Why Are Great Northern Beans a Good Choice for Soups?
I love cooking with white beans, Navy Beans, Great Northern Beans, Cannellini Beans. They’re easy to cook and creamy by nature. For this soup recipe I chose Great Northern Beans. They’re a bit larger than Navy Beans but smaller than Cannellini beans, medium-sized Great Northern beans are known for their mild, nutty flavor and firm flesh.
Great in soups and stews, they hold their shape better than Navy beans, take on the flavors of the foods they're cooked with, and are commonly used in French cassoulets.
Why Use A Crock Pot To Make This Soup
Whenever I’m cooking with dried beans, I rely on my crockpot for easy hands-off meal. You may picture a big cast iron soup pot, hanging over an open flame to make this recipe, but I find my slow-cooker a reliable method to infuse flavor and turn out creamy beans every time.
Key Ingredients
- Smoky thick cut bacon. We’ll fry it up, chop it up and add it to the soup for some deep flavor. Don’t skimp, this is the backbone of the recipe.
- Bay Leaf and Lard: Whenever I cook dry beans, I always add a scoop of lard and a bay leaf to the slow cooker. The lard makes those beans even creamier.
- Chicken Broth: Rather than using straight water to cook the beans, I love using chicken broth. It simply brings more flavor.
- Soup Seasoning: I highly recommend you make and use my recipe for Soup Seasoning Mix to make this recipe. It’s a mix of herbs and spices that really brings the “wow” factor to bean soups.
- Vegetables: A traditional mix of celery, onion and carrot … a rough chopped Mirepoix.
What is Mirepoix? (pronounced Meer-pwah) is a classic French aromatic flavor base, commonly used in soups and sauces. It’s made by lightly cooking a mixture of two parts chopped onion, one part chopped celery and one part chopped carrot. For instance, 2 cups onion, 1 cup celery and 1 cup carrot. The vegetables are cooked slowly in butter or oil to bring out thier flavors without browning or caramelizing.
Do You Have To Soak Great Northern Beans?
The short answer is no. But you probably should. I cook a lot of beans and probably soak only 50% of the time. If I’ve planned ahead for a meal the next day, I rinse and then soak in water overnight. No need to refrigerate. Drain the next morning and then proceed with the recipe. Soaking will help the beans cook quicker. If you haven’t soaked, they’ll cook up just fine.
Flavor Variations
- Green chile twist: Add a Southwestern spin and stir in roasted Colorado or New Mexico green chile peppers near the end. A little smoky flavor, a bit of heat will jazz things up.
- Ham hock swap: Use a ham hock instead of bacon for a deeper pork flavor. Just remove it at the end of cooking and when cool enough shred the meat from the bone and add back into the soup. Old school with rich flavor.
- Creamy version: Blend a cup or two of the beans and stir back in to thicken the soup.
- Vegetarian spin: Skip the bacon and add a teaspoon or more of smoked paprika, or even a splash of liquid smoke.
Step By Step Instructions
- Step 1: Place beans in a crock pot, along with the lard and bay leaf. Cover with 4 cups of chicken broth. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or until tender. Check crock pot periodically to make sure beans don’t go dry. Add more stock if necessary.
- Step 2: In the meantime, cook the bacon, turning, until browned and crisp, about 7 minutes. Drain, reserving the fat and bacon separately.
- Step 3: Heat a tablespoon of the bacon fat in a skillet. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 40 seconds.
- Step 4: Once the beans are tender, add the cooked vegetables, remaining 4 cups broth and soup seasoning mix to the crockpot. Cook for one hour.
- Step 5: Use a knife to rough chop the bacon. Add half of it to the crock pot and let it cook for another 30 minutes.
- Step 6: To serve, ladle some of the soup into soup bowls and garnish with crumbled bacon.
Presentation Tip: I love shallow wide bowls to serve any soup, it just shows off the ingredients in a perfect way.
What To Serve With Great Northern Bean Soup
- Bread: Rustic crusty bread. Nothing says comfort food like tearing off a chunk and dipping it in the broth.
- Cornbread: Homemade Cornbread is another traditional side to serve with bean soups. I happen to love the sweetness it adds to the soup. I crumble a little in with each bite.
- Salad: a simple salad. Greens with a sharp vinaigrette, like my recipe for Sweet Red Wine Vinaigrette, to balance the richness.
Storage Freezing and Reheating
- Refrigerator: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
- Reheating: Gently reheat stovetop in a saucepan until warm. Or use your microwave oven. The 50% power feature is your best friend. Place individual servings in a microwave safe bowl and reheat in 30 second increments until warm enough to eat. This lower setting helps avoid those splattering microwave food explosions.
- Freezer: Place any leftovers in a freezer safe zip-lock style bag. Fill the bag while it’s standing up, then press air out and seal well. You can store the bag laying down to optimize freezer space. Label with date and contents and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
FAQ’s
Yes, they’re a bit smaller, a bit softer once cooked and still delicious. Kidney Beans and also Cannellini Beans (White Kidney Beans) can be toxic when cooked in the crock pot. They contain toxic levels of lectin which can cause stomach and gut illness. To eliminate this threat, you need to boil these beans for 30 minutes before adding them to a crock pot meal like this soup.
More than likely they need to be cooked longer. Older beans do need a longer cooking time.
Absolutely, these types of soups are perfect for meal prep. It's even better the next day. I make a big pot on Sunday and have leftovers for a few days. Then freeze any leftovers if I’m tired of having the same thing several days in a row.
Honestly, this Rustic Great Northern Bean Soup with Bacon is one of those back-pocket recipes I lean on again and again. It's simple but not boring. Cozy without trying too hard. Creamy beans, smoky bites of bacon, broth that somehow tastes richer the next day. Make a big pot for dinner and the leftovers will taste even better the next day. It's the kind of straightforward, real-deal comfort food that never lets you down. And sometimes, that's exactly what you need.
Explore More Colorado Style Comfort Food Soups
If you love cozy, mountain-style cooking, stick around. I've got more where this came from. Hearty and straightforward, the kind of food that feels like home.
Love homemade comfort style soups? Don’t miss my Soup Stews and Chile Category, you’ll find lots of slurp worthy recipes. And this Colorado inspired favorite for Porter Beer Bison Stew. The broth is spiked with an ale from Breckenridge Brewery in Breckenridge, Colorado, for a robust bowl of stew.
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Great Northern Bean Soup with Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 pound Dried Great Northern Beans rinsed and sorted
- 8 cups chicken stock divided
- 1 scoop Lard
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pound thick-sliced bacon cooked until crispy
- 1 sweet onion finely chopped
- 3 large carrots chopped, about 1 ¼ cups
- 3 large celery ribs chopped, about 1 ¼ cups
- 4-5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 Tablespoon Soup Seasoning Mix 1 teaspoon each dried thyme and rosemarry
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Wash beans and pick out any misfits. Place beans in a crock pot, along with the lard and bay leaf. Cover with 4 cups of chicken stock. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or until tender. Check crock pot periodically to make sure beans don't go dry. Add more stock if necessary.
- Cook the bacon, turning, until browned and crisp, about 7 minutes. Drain, reserving the fat and bacon separately.
- Heat a tablespoon of the bacon fat in a skillet. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 40 seconds.
- Once the beans are tender, add the cooked vegetables, remaining 4 cups broth and soup seasoning mix to the crockpot. Cook for one hour.
- Add half the cooked, chopped bacon to the soup. Let it cook for 30 minutes.
- Discard the bay leaf, spoon soup into bowls, garnish with some of the remaining chopped bacon and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Great Northern Bean Soup with Bacon …It’s What’s For Dinner
