Looking for Mayocoba beans recipes? Take a look at this Mayocoba bean soup with potatoes. A thick, hearty, delicious and healthy bowl of soup, and a recipe large enough to feed a hungry crowd. Perfect for a cozy Winter Sunday family dinner.
I’m proud to add this to my growing list of bean soups, like this favorite for Hearty Red wine Bean and Beef Soup.
What You Can Expect From This Recipe
This mayocoba bean soup recipe is a hearty, healthy soup, bright and complex with flavor.
It makes a large batch of soup that will feed a crowd or provide a lovely stash of leftovers. After all soup always tastes better the next day – right?
Once the vegetables are prepped, the soup comes together quite easily.
Most soup recipes start with a customary Mirepoix to create a base layer of flavor. And this recipe takes advantage of it’s flavor beginnings. For this recipe, we’re keeping the vegetables chunky for a true comfort food experience.
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.
Use your slow cooker to make easy work of cooking the Mayocoba beans. This is a method I’ve used for over 40 years for cooking any variety of dried beans.
Depending on which side of the “soaking beans” fence you’re on, you can either soak the beans overnight in water and then cook in chicken broth the next morning, or simply cover the beans in chicken broth and start them in the slow cooker early in the day. I’ve done both, don’t find much advantage to the over-night soak, so I subscribe to the no-soak method.
Once the Mayocoba beans are tender, you will finish the soup stove-top.
A quick puree of cooked onion, garlic and fresh parsley and lemon added at the end, gives this soup an extra special boost of flavor.
The result is a hearty “stick to your ribs” bean and potato soup. A no meat, gluten free and healthy dinner.
They’re a great bean to use as a substitute for Cannellini or great Northern beans. It’s a popular bean all over Mexico but especially in the state of Jalisco, where you often see them used to make super creamy refried beans. I’ve also used them in this Chorizo Albondigas Bean Soup.
What Are Mayocoba Beans?
Mayocoba beans, sometimes called the Canary Bean or Peruano Beans, have a thin skin, a buttery taste and a creamy texture that performs well on its own or as a component with other ingredients.
They’ll soak up any flavor that you throw at it and still hold their shape. Mayocoba beans are a wonderful addition to mixed vegetable and potato soup because they take well to a variety of seasonings…particularly herbal.
Mayocoba beans are originally from Peru, has now made its home growing in Eastern Colorado. Colorado is nationally a major producer of dry beans. A combination of altitude, bright sunshine, fertile soils and Rocky Mountain water provide the prime mixture of elements for dry beans to flourish in taste and color. (source Colorado Dry Beans).
Let’s get started:
Ingredients You’ll Need
Ingredients To Make Mayocoba Beans In The Slow Cooker
- Two cups Mayocoba beans, rinsed and picked over.
- Chicken Broth
- Lard, Crisco or butter. Adding fat to the slow cooker will make any dried bean creamier.
- Bay Leaf
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make The Soup
- Potatoes: I like to use packaged petite Yukon Gold Tomatoes. The skins are thin, so no peeling required. Simply rinse and quarter. Any waxy potato will work, like red-skinned potatoes. Save those starchy russet potatoes for Baked Potatoes.
- Carrots
- Celery
- Onions: Sweet or yellow onion.
- Garlic
- Canned Tomatoes: I like to use Petite Diced. Their small size are more pleasant in the soup and they break down easier.
- Lemon: Lemon will add a delightfully bright flavor.
- Parsley: Italian flat leaf.
- Spices: Rosemary, Dill, Thyme, Basil, Oregano, Salt and Pepper.
Step by Step Instructions
- Step 1: Cook the beans in the slow cooker. Add the Mayocoba beans, chicken broth, a scoop of fat and a bay leaf. Cook on low for about 5 hours or until beans are soft and cooked through. You can also cook them in a Dutch oven stove-top, partially covered.
- Step 2: Heat oil over medium heat until hot. Add chopped onion, sliced carrots and celery. Cook for about 7 minutes or until fragrant and starting to become tender.
- Step 3: Add potatoes, cooked beans (bay leaf removed) and canned tomatoes, 2 cups of chicken broth and all spices and seasonings. Simmer uncovered until potatoes are tender. About 20-30 minutes.
- Step 3: While the soup is cooking, in a small skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add the remaining onion and saute until softened about 3 minutes, add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Step 4: Scrap the onion and garlic into a food chopper. Add the parsley and lemon juice. Puree until smooth. Stir the puree into the soup and simmer for about 5 minutes longer. Taste and adjust seasonings for salt, or perhaps more lemon juice.
Questions You Might Have
Rancho Gordo is a company that is the expert on all things beans. You can order them directly from their online store to be shipped to your home. Also check your local specialty or Farmer’s markets. I’ve never found them for sale in major grocery store chains.
Dried Cannellini or Great Northern Beans.
Purchase 3-14.5 ounce cans of Cannellini or Great Northern Beans. Drain and rinse before adding them to the recipe.
When cooked properly Mayocoba beans are mild with flavor, creamy and delightfully buttery. You’ll also find a very mild sweetness to their flavor.
Tips For Success
- If you’d like to make this soup creamier, mash some of the beans with a potato masher or fork. If using a fork, press them against the side of the slow cooker before adding them to the soup.
- Use Petite Gold potatoes. The skins are tender and the potatoes don’t need peeled. Just rinse and quarter the potatoes.
- Use vegetable broth to make this soup vegetarian.
More Bean Soup Recipes
And if you’re a soup lover like us, you won’t want to miss my Soup Category. You’ll find lots of delish ideas. Including the most popular on my site, Anthony Bourdain’s New Mexico Style Beef Chili. And a personal favorite for this 15 Bean Soup Crockpot Recipe.
What People Are Saying:
Ms. Lee Ann: “I want to thank you for you Lemony Potato Soup with Mayocoba Beans! It was my first time using this particular bean and they are an absolute delight.
Additionally, I typically use the recipes of others only as inspiration but for whatever reason I felt compelled to follow this one to a T (except I used red potatoes because it’s what I had on hand). I’m so glad I followed my instinct! Wow! This is definitely going into regular rotation at my home. Plus, it’s nutritious and economical to boot. I served with homemade cornbread and the meal was a hit!
Many thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!” Regards, Leeann
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Lemony Potato Soup with Mayocoba Beans
Ingredients
- To Cook The Beans
- 2 cups Dried Mayocoba beans 1 pound, Washed and picked over
- 6 cups Chicken broth divided
- 2 Tablespoons Lard or Crisco
- 1 bay leaf
- To Make The Soup
- 2 Tablespoons Neutral oil canola or vegetable oil works well here
- 2 large sweet onions or yellow onions, chopped – divided
- 2 medium carrots peeled and sliced
- 2 ribs celery, with leaves diced
- 1 pound potatoes Petite Gold, rinsed and quartered
- 2 15-ounce cans chopped tomatoes undrained
- 1 tablespoon oregano dried, preferably Mexican
- 1 tablespoon basil dried
- 1 teaspoon thyme dried
- 1 teaspoon dill dried
- 1 teaspoon rosemary dried
- 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
- To Finish The Soup
- 1 tablespoon Neutral Oil
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- ½ cup flat-leaf parsley fresh, rough chopped
- ½ lemon juiced
Instructions
- To Cook The Beans
- Rinse the mayocoba beans in a colander. Pick through them to remove any bad beans. Place the beans, 4 cups of chicken broth, lard and bay leaf in a slow cooker. Cook on low until beans are tender. Cooking time will depend on the freshness of the beans. Plan on about 5 hours.
- To Cook The Soup
- Once beans are tender, heat oil in a 6 quart Dutch Oven.
- Add one chopped onion, carrots and celery. Cook for about 7 minutes or until fragrant and starting to become tender. Add potatoes, Mayocoba beans (bay leaf removed) and tomatoes. Pour in the 2 remaining cups of chicken broth and all spices and seasonings. Simmer uncovered until potatoes are tender. About 20-30 minutes.
- To Finish The Soup: While the soup is cooking, in a small skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the remaining onion and saute until softened about 3 minutes, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Scrap the onion and garlic into a food chopper. Add the parsley and lemon juice. Puree until smooth.
- Stir the puree into the soup and simmer for about 5 minutes longer. Taste and adjust seasonings for salt, or perhaps more lemon juice.
- Serve and garnish each bowl with parsley and paprika – all optional.
Notes
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- If you’d like to make this soup creamier, mash some of the beans with a potato masher or fork. If using a fork, press them against the side of the slow cooker before adding them to the soup.
-
- Use Petite Gold potatoes. The skins are tender and the potatoes don’t need peeled. Just rinse and quarter the potatoes.
-
- Use vegetable broth to make this soup vegetarian.
- Substitute 3- 14.5 ounce canned beans for dried beans. Rinsed and drained.
- Adding Crisco, lard or butter to the crockpot while cooking the Mayocoba beans will make them delightfully creamy
Nutrition
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We really enjoy this soup! During 2020 when we were all having our groceries delivered, I was sent mayocoba beans as a sub for another bean. Having never heard of them, I searched for a recipe using them and found this one. What a happy accident! Even my husband, who isn’t the biggest fan of soup in general, is happy to eat this.
Thank you!
Excellent. Thank you
Have you tried making this in a slow cooker? I’d like to dump all the ingredients into mine before work and come home to delicious soup!
his recipe would work great in the crockpot … except for the potatoes. I’m afraid that long cook would compromise their texture. You might come home to some mushy potatoes.
I might cook the potatoes in advance and then add them when I get home, and let them cook in the crockpot for about 30 minutes to absorb some flavor.
Let me know if you have any other questions. And enjoy that soup.
I guess we are finally going to get some snow this weekend what a great time for this soup! I do have a few questions: what kind onions, on the diced tomatoes do you use all of the juices, which brand of tomatoes did you use, do you use flat or curly parsley?
On the New Mexico Red chile I bought some from the Shed and from Savory Spice which is better for this soup? Thanks for a prompt reply can’t wait to make this!
Thanks
Katherine
Hi Katherine. Yes! Keep those fingers crossed for snow. Thanks for all of your questions, I’ll change the recipe to be more thorough. Sweet onion or yellow onion. Don’t drain those tomatoes. I like Red Gold Diced tomatoes from King Soopers, but I also stock up on chopped tomatoes at Costco. Great question about the parsley. Flat leaf. I learned in Culinary School that curly leaf doesn’t have the flavor, so mainly used as garnish at restaurants. I think Savory Spice has excellent products, but I’d most certainly reach for that powder from the Shed. Just because I love that place soooooo much. 🙂
I made this tonight and it was very good. I only changed one thing by adding a diced Hatch pepper with the onion and garlic near the end to pep things up. It made a huge amount and I’m looking foreword sharing some tomorrow! I bought my beans at Kroger and the bag said they’re from Mexico.
I made this soup tonight and wow! I found these Mayocoba beans (which I I had never heard of) at my favorite discount grocery store so searched around for a recipe other than just making them refried. First of all, this made a HUGE amount. My Dutch oven was nearly full. I’ll make a half batch next time and will still have more than enough for two people for several days.
I followed the recipe exactly except I only had one large onion so halved it for the two different preparations. The broth is so flavorful I just want to drink it and the beans are creamy and delicious. The lemon provides the right amount of acidity and tang and compliment the potatoes (I used red) I make a lot of soups and this will be one of my keepers. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Why is this dish so high in sodium? It seems all the ingredient are fresh and healthy. Are the beans high in sodium?
I went back into the recipe and changed the ingredient “Chicken broth” to “Low Sodium Chicken Broth”. That reduced the sodium from 472 to 72. Amazing isn’t it. Will make me rethink next time I’m grabbing chicken broth off the shelf.
I also think canned tomatoes can have quite a bit of sodium.
Thanks for the recipe Lea Ann. I made it vegan (used veggie broth). You really need to get up here to Brighton. It’s currently chili fest time. The chili roasters are going and there’s still great fresh produce (especially corn) as well as the dried staples. Make sure to visit Palizzi’s, Berry Patch Farms and of course Lulu’s too. So much yumminess! Also our King Soopers carry items you might not see down in the Ranch, like cassava and nopales. Bon appetit!
I really enjoyed learning about the mayocoba bean. And so interesting that I can find these here in CO.
I did not know CO was a major dried bean producer, I’ve never heard of this bean, and i would have not thought of using lemon and potato soup in the same sentence. Having said that, I enjoy dried beans and lemon flavor so I would be all over this soup.
“So many dried beans, so little time.” Truer words were never spoken. 🙂 This is fabulous because I just happen to have a pound of these beans in the pantry. Now I know what to do with them. Your recipe looks perfect. Thanks!