Why This Recipe Works So Well In A Crock Pot

Usually we think of using a crock pot as a dump and go vessel for quick dinners. But if you take a little extra time to learn some easy tricks for creamy textured beans and flavorful vegetables, and using the best bean soup spices, you'll find that your slow cooker is also a great tool for building layers of flavor.

This 15 bean soup crock pot recipe is a testament to that theory, a recipe your family will devour.

• Comfort Food Satisfying: 15 Bean soup is hearty, without seeming heavy.
• Budget Friendly: Simply stated, dried beans are very inexpensive
• Healthy. Full of fiber, protein and low in calories, what’s not to love? When it comes to easy, cozy and inexpensive you can’t beat a pot of 15 bean soup.
• Large Batch: 15 Bean Soup will feed a crowd. Great for family gatherings or meal-prep leftovers.
• Hands Off: Making 15 bean soup in a crock pot is a hands off easy meal that will fill your house with an amazing comfort food aroma.
• Pretty much a complete meal, all you need is some bread or a fresh green salad.

I don’t like to use the word “best” because it’s very subjective. But this Slow Cooker 15 Bean Soup is our house specialty recipe and we rank it as extremely flavorful. I think you’ll agree, it’s the best. As I learned in Culinary School, always chose quality ingredients and take those extra steps to prepare them correctly.

Let’s take a look.

Ingredients You’ll Need

To start building this 15 bean soup in the crock pot, you’ll start with the beans, broth and ham.

• Chicken Broth
• A mix of dried beans. Preferably selected from the bulk section of your grocery store, or one bag of mix dried beans.
• A meaty ham shank. Or left over ham bone with meat attached. If there’s not much meat left on the bone, add diced ham to make it meatier and to add ham flavor.
• A dried chile pepper, Guajillo is a commonly found in supermarkets.
• Bay Leaves.

1. Step 1: Rinse beans thoroughly and soak them overnight with enough water to cover by one inch. Don’t fret, if you haven’t soaked them, go ahead and cook them knowing it will take a little longer for them to soften.
2. Fish out any bad beans. The next morning, drain the beans and add the chicken broth. Place the ham hock on top of the beans and float in the bay leaves and the dried chile pepper. Cover and cook on low for 4 – 5 hours or until beans are starting to become tender.

For The Vegetables

• Carrots, Celery, and Onion: Mirepoix is a classic flavor combination for any soup.
• Potatoes, please choose a medium starch potato such as Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes. They’ll hold their shape better than a high starch russet potato.
• Diced Tomatoes, canned tomatoes work well here. If you can find Red Gold Petite diced, the chunks are smaller and work very well in soups.
• Green Beans, fresh and sliced. You can use canned beans, drained.
• 15 Bean Soup Seasoning You’ll find this remarkably more flavorful than the seasoning packet that comes with packaged beans. Tip: I even use the seasoning for Chicken Noodle Soup.
• Seasonings: Honey, Garlic and my secret ingredient Picapeppa Sauce. I hope you take the time to seek it out and purchase. You can substitute Worcestershire Sauce.

3. Step 3: When beans are starting to become tender, chop the vegetables and sautee them in a large sauce pan in neutral oil. Cook them over medium high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add chopped garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
4. Step 4: Add the vegetables, along with the 15 bean soup seasoning mix, honey, and Pickapeppa Sauce to the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for about 1 ½ hours, or until vegetables are tender. It’s ready to serve.

Tips For Success

• Don’t skip rinsing the beans before starting this recipe. You may discover small bits of debris that needs to be removed.
• Many believe that adding salt or acids like tomato or vinegar too early in the cooking process will prevent the beans from getting soft. This can be especially important if using older beans. Source: Rancho Gordo.
• Store dried beans in a cool dark place in a glass jar or air-tight container with a lid. They will be good for about two years. After that, they are still edible, but the quality will have deteriorated.

What To Serve It With

• Cheesy Cornbread is a natural to serve with any soup and especially with 15-bean soup. Take a look at this Fried Biscuit recipe for another bread option.
• Soup and salad are also a great partnership. Consider this Baby Kale Salad. With apples and a honey cider vinaigrette, it’s perfect for Fall.
• Dessert? Who can resist brownies. Check out our favorite brownie recipe, Orange Chile Brownies.

Gathering Dried Beans For Bean Soup In A Crock Pot

While 15 bean soup mixes can be found in bags at large supermarkets anywhere in America, most every bean in that packaged mix can be found in bulk sections and at a lower cost.

• Here’s where the fun begins. Head over to your local market, Whole Foods comes to mind, and pay a visit to their well-stocked bulk section.
• Stroll the dried beans. Buy equal quantities of each and every dried bean you see.  Don't forget lentils and split peas. 
• A good store will have some lovely calico beans, tiny red aduki, and reddish-orange lentils.  Just grab everything you see.
• You’ll actually end up with more than 15 varieties for the 15 bean soup mix … all the more fun.
• Purchasing mixed beans in bulk can mean that the beans are fresher than dried beans in sacks that you purchase at the supermarket. And you can separate out the kidney bean varieties that need special cooking attention and are not slow cooker friendly. (see tip above)

Dried Bean Storage

• When you get home mix all the beans together fearlessly. Hopefully you've got at least ten varieties, sixteen or twenty even better. 
• Make sure you have a large container with a tight-fitting lid that will hold the loot, preferably clear, so that you can admire the beans colors and shapes.
• Always keep a container of mixed beans in your pantry. They’ll keep you warm and comfort food cozy all Winter long. This stash will last you all season … and beyond.

Crock Pot 15-Bean Soup Storage

• Store 15-bean soup in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 4 – 5 days.
• Can you freeze bean soup? Yes. This soup freezes very well for up to 3 months.
• Reheat stovetop, or for individual servings, in a microwave safe bowl. Use the power setting feature and adjust it to 50% power. Reheat in 30 second increments, stirring, for a gentler reheating experience.

I consider soup and stew recipes to be my speciality, so if you're looking for more recipes, don't miss my category for Soup Recipes . You'll find lot of recipes, including the most popular on my site for Anthony Bourdain's New Mexico Style Chili. And this quick and easy weeknight recipe for Black Bean and Ham Soup.

And if you like using your crockpot for comfort food recipes, take a look at this recipe for Beef Stew With Mushrooms. It’s a very popular recipe on my site and your family will flip over this one.