For a good chunk of my life, I was completely turned off by bean soup. Come to think of it, I was pretty much disgusted by all beans. Silly little girl. I’m happy to report that in the past couple years, beans have become a staple in my kitchen. I like to keep bagged dried beans on hand for meals like this, but also canned beans for a quick meal or side dish.
This navy bean soup is the first instance in which I “saw the light” in regards to how awesome beans can be. We were on a cruise, enjoying lunch in the dining room, and navy bean soup was one of the starter courses for the day. I tried it, and loved it. The flavor and texture just won me over completely. Not to mention how hearty and filling it is. Isn’t it funny with all the fancier things on the menu that day, I remember the humble bean soup? It definitely left an impression.
Anyways, I finally “borrowed” the Carnival cookbook from my mom (she’ll probably never see it on her bookshelf again), which has their navy bean soup recipe. After Christmas we were all kind of burnt out on ham leftovers, so I threw the bone into the freezer and took it out last week to make this soup. But, if you don’t have a ham bone laying around, then a smoked ham hock would work just fine. It doesn’t get much more filling, heartier, or economical than a big bubbling pot of bean soup folks!
Navy Bean Soup
1 lb. dried navy beans
1/4 cup bacon, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ham bone or ham hocks
8 cups water
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp paprika
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
Place beans in 5-quart Dutch oven; cover with cold water. Soak overnight; drain.
Heat the Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and cook the bacon until crisp. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate to drain.
Add the onion, carrots, and celery to the hot bacon grease and cook for a few minutes, until starting to soften. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
Slowly pour in the water. Add the ham bone, oregano, paprika, bay leaves, bacon, and drained beans. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, and cook for 3 hours until beans are tender.Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Remove ham bone and bay leaves. If there’s any meat left on the bone, I’ll chop it up and throw it back in the soup. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.
Source: Carnival Creations, cruise cuisine from Carnival chefs
11 Comments
i’m glad you’re on board with bean soup now Laura.
I love bean soup – bean in any form, really, especially in chilis and stews. But navy beans are perfect for hearty soups and this one looks like it doesn’t disappoint!
Is it just me or does everyone start singing the Adam Sandler’s Lunch Lady Song when they see Navy Beans? No, just me?
Annnyway, Looks so delicious, I’m totally on board with the bean soup.
How can you not love Adam Sandler? One of my fav SNL skits
I love, love, love navy bean soup and have foolishly never made it before. My mom always made it growing up and now I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hi- I’ve never cooked with dried beans- when you say to slowly add the water, are you using the water that the beans were soaking in? Is that also when you add the soaked beans? Thanks!!
Karen – you’ll drain the beans after soaking, and use fresh water to add to pot when you’re putting together the soup. And yes, that’s when you add the beans as well! I forgot to add them back in the recipe, thanks for pointing that out
Thanks for responding! Hopefully this will be my first dried bean attempt
just found your blog recently and I made the homemade hamburger helper last night. It was a big hit with the kids- Thank you!!
Mmmm, this looks delicious. I could get into a bowl of this right now, especially on a rainy day like today! I love that there’s bacon in there too. I bet this soup will go well with those rustic dinner rolls
Hah, I made them on the same evening! Clever girl
Making this today. The house smells so good. Fingers crossed
I hope you don’t mind me saying I tweaked this just a tad. The navy bean soup I remember eating as a kid had a creamier consistency, so I took about a cup of the cooked beans and broth, and pureed it with 1 slice of white bread to create that creaminess. Great recipe flavor wise though, thank you for sharing. I would make this again.