15 Bean Soup (Easy Healthy Soup Recipe)
🫘🍅🥕 15 Bean Soup has – you guessed it – 15 types of beans along with onion, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, and optional ham or ham hock for a hearty and rich soup that’ll keep you full and satisfied! This easy soup recipe is healthy, packed with fiber, and has so much savory FLAVOR! If you have leftover holiday ham, this is a great soup to use it up.
Easy 15 Bean Soup Recipe
- Homemade one pot soup. Saute chopped vegetables including onion, carrots, and bell peppers in the same large Dutch oven or soup pot, add soaked beans, broth, and then simmer away. If you’re looking for a slow cooker version, check out my Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup recipe.
- Pantry friendly. A bag of dried beans, a can of tomatoes, and a carton of broth are easy to keep on hand for whenever a soup night comes up.
- Family-sized batch. This bean soup recipe makes six to eight hearty servings, which is plenty for a family dinner on a chilly night served alone with crusty bread or as a starter.
- Hearty and healthy. Beans are a healthy legume filled with plant-based protein and fiber which helps you feel full longer and lends a hearty aspect to this fifteen bean soup recipe. I just love all the texture that both the veggies and beans add!
- Optional ham hock or diced ham. If you’re a fan of ham, feel free to add ham which definitely bumps up the hearty and satisfying quotient like this ham and bean soup has. If you have leftover holiday ham from Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, toss it into this soup and use it up!
Ingredients in 15 Bean Soup
- Dried Bean Mix: I use Hurst’s HamBeens bean soup mix. If you can’t find the exact Hurst’s bean soup mix, this sixteen bean mix or another similar mixed bean soup mix works. Discard the seasoning packet that comes in the bag of beans if yours has one (or save it for another use). We’re adding our own seasonings and spices rather than relying on what’s in the packet.
Wondering About Using Canned Beans?
This recipe was tested and developed with dried beans. Canned beans are possible in theory, but you’d have to track down fifteen different cans and possibly use partial cans. So I recommend making it from scratch with dried beans that you soak before beginning. Also see the FAQs below.
- Olive Oil: For softening the vegetables at the start.
- Vegetables: Onion, carrots, bell pepper. Any color bell pepper works.
- Canned diced tomatoes: Canned and undrained, since the juices add flavor to the broth.
- Seasonings: Garlic powder, chili powder, fresh or dried thyme, salt and pepper.
- Beef Broth: It gives the soup a hearty base but if you want to keep this soup vegan/vegetarian, you can use vegetable broth. I recommend using reduced sodium broth and salting the soup at the end, to taste if it needs more salt.
- Ham, optional: A ham hock or cubed ham. Ham adds saltiness and so if you plan on using it, opt for reduced sodium broth and salt the soup at the end to taste.
- Fresh parsley, optional for garnshing
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
Soup FAQs
Northern (Great Northern)
Pinto
Large Lima
Yelloweye
Garbanzo (Chickpeas)
Baby Lima
Green Split Pea
Kidney (Red)
Cranberry Bean
Small White
Pink Bean
Small Red
Yellow Split Pea
Lentil
Navy Bean
No, I don’t recommend it because you’ll need to source fifteen different cans of beans and possibly use partial cans. Therefore, I recommend making this bean soup from scratch with dried beans that you soak overnight before beginning.
Probably not because with dried beans the simmering time would be extensively long, i.e. 12+ hours, and possibly they’d never fully soften. Slow cooker bean soups generally start with previously cooked or canned beans. Make this Slow Cooker Bean Soup recipe if you need one.
Probably yes, although I didn’t test it that way. I don’t use mine enough to guesstimate what to recommend for the settings, time, etc.
How To Make Fifteen Bean Soup
- Rinse, sort, and soak the beans. Rinse the soaked beans in a colander and pick out any debris. You need to soak the beans overnight so that they cook through in a reasonable amount of time as the soup simmers. There are tricks for speeding up soaking time but for simplicity, just rinse and soak overnight. You can soak the beans in the same pot you plan to make the soup in.
- Soften the vegetables. Saute the onion, carrots, and bell pepper in olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven for about 5 minutes, until they start to soften.
- Add everything else. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, garlic powder, chili powder, thyme, ham if using, and the broth.
- Boil then simmer until tender. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 1.5 to 2.5 hours, or until the beans are tender.
- Finish and taste. Remove the thyme sprigs, and if you used a ham hock, pull it out, shred the meat off the bone, and stir it back in. Taste before adding salt, because the ham adds saltiness.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, finely diced (yellow onion may be substituted)
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced small
- 1 red bell pepper, seed and diced small (any color bell pepper may be used)
- 15 ounce bag 15 bean soup mix, beans soaked overnight
- 14.5- ounce can petite diced tomatoes, do not drain
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste (add more for an extra kick)
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme, OR 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 8 cups reduced sodium beef broth, or as needed, (use vegetable broth to keep this soup vegan if desired)
- 1 ham hock OR 1 pound cubed ham, optional
- Salt, at the end and to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, at the end and to taset
- Fresh parsley, optional for garnishing
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Beans: Rinse beans in a colander with running water washing over them in the sink for a minute or two. Pick, sort, and remove any debris. Discard the seasoning packet that came with the beans if there was one (or save it for another use). I use Hurst’s HamBeens 15 Bean Soup Mix. Goya’s 16 Bean Soup Mix is also good.
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Soak: To a large pot (the same one you’ll be using for the soup is fine) or large bowl, add the beans, and cover with at least 2-3 inches of water over the top. Soak for at least 8-12 hours, or overnight. Tip – You have to soak dried beans overnight so that they cook through in the couple hours of simmering on the stovetop. When you’re ready to make the soup, discard the soaking water, and I like to rinse the beans one final time under running water in a colander.
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Vegetables: To a large Dutch oven or stock pot, add the olive oil, onion, carrots, bell pepper, and saute over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until vegetables have softened; stir very frequently.
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Combine: Add the soaked beans, canned tomatoes with juice (do not drain), garlic powder, chili powder, thyme, broth, and stir to combine.
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Ham or ham hock, optional: If you’re adding a ham hock or cubed ham, add it now too.
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Boil, Then Simmer: Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 1.5 to 2.5 hours*, or until the beans reach your desired level of tenderness. DO NOT go by time on the clock when judging doneness; go by if the beans are fully cooked through and tender. Tips – Try a few beans, not just one or two, to be absolutely sure they’re done.*Note that it may take up to 5 hours for the beans to fully soften, depending on the hardness of the beans (old beans are harder), how fast or high your simmer was, how many times you lifted the lid, the air temperature in your kitchen, etc.
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Broth Level: Intermittently, while the soup is simmering, check the broth level. Add more broth or water if needed to keep the beans submerged and for the overall broth level to be as you desire it.
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Remove: When the beans are tender, remove the ham hock if you used one, and the thyme sprigs if you used fresh thyme. If using a ham hock, shred the meat from the bone and add the shredded ham into the soup.
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Seasoning: Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning as desired by adding salt and pepper, to taste. Flavoring Tips – If the soup tastes at all flat or boring, it likely needs more salt, so don’t be afraid to add it, sometimes more generously than you’d think. If you’re using ham, you’ll likely need less salt (since ham is already salty) than if you were to make this soup without the ham. The brand of broth used, how long you simmered and therefore how much broth evaporated causing the remaining broth to become more concentrated and salty – it all affects the amount of salt (and pepper) needed.
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Garnishing: Optionally garnish with fresh parsley, as desired.
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Serving: Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with extra fresh parsley, if desired. Optionally, add freshly shaved or grated Parmesan cheese, hot pepper flakes if you like some heat, as well as cornbread or dinner rolls.
Storage: Soup will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3-4 months. Reheat gently on the stovetop or microwave, as needed.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 140cal, Carbohydrates: 22g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 2g, Saturated Fat: 0.3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 0.1mg, Sodium: 527mg, Potassium: 957mg, Fiber: 8g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 3670IU, Vitamin C: 27mg, Calcium: 66mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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