There’s nothing quite as comforting as a steaming bowl of hearty soup on a cold winter day, and I think this 15 Bean Soup is just about as cozy as it gets. Packed with a flavorful mix of dried beans, smoky ham hock, and savory kielbasa, it’s a meal in itself. Aromatic vegetables, tomatoes, and a few umami secrets round out the soup’s foundation. As the soup simmers, the more tender legumes break down to create a naturally thickened base, while heartier beans retain their shape, adding wonderful texture. This recipe is perfect for weekend cooking and makes plenty to enjoy all week long.
Why I love long-cooking bean soups
The year has started off much colder than I expected — and colder than in recent winters. The cheapskate in me keeps the thermostat set pretty low, so spending time in a kitchen warmed by the stove and oven is a welcome respite from the chill.
More than ever, I appreciate long-cooking soups. The effort is homey and inviting, and the aromas make you want to swear off ever leaving the house again. And just when your tummy can’t take the teasing anymore, the soup is ready: Savory and hearty and accented with smoky pork flavors.
My favorite thing is to load up a big mug full of bean soup and binge-watch something, curled up on the couch. But it’s also the kind of soup that draws a family together around the table for comfort, nourishment, and catching up on the day.
If yours is a bean-soup-loving household, too, you might want to check out my Cuban Black Bean Soup and Senate Bean Soup.
15 Bean Soup is —
- Hearty and Satisfying: A medley of beans, smoky meats, and rich broth makes this soup a complete meal.
- Flavorful and Complex: Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes, and a smoked ham hock create layers of umami flavor.
- Naturally Thickened: The more tender legumes in the mix break down as they cook, giving the soup rich texture without flour or cornstarch.
- Great for Meal Prep: This recipe makes a big batch and reheats beautifully for easy weekday meals.
- Budget-Friendly: Beans are an affordable source of protein, making this soup both tummy- and wallet-friendly.
Main Ingredients and Substitutions
Beans — This 15 Bean Soup is actually made from a bagged mix of 15 beans. In the U.S., I would imagine that this mix, or something similar — say, a 10- or 8-bean mix — will be easy to find at most big-box stores. You can also make your own mix of dried beans, but be sure to use a scale to measure out a pound.
Smoky meats — A ham hock with bone and some kielbasa flavor-charge this humble soup with salty goodness. In a pinch, you can use bacon instead of the ham hock, maybe 4 or 5 strips. Cook the strips in the pot first, remove to cool while cooking the aromatics in the rendered fat, then chop up and return to the soup.
Aromatics — This soup starts with a base of sauteed aromatic vegetables — onions, celery, carrots, garlic — to create a flavorful foundation upon which to build.
Umami seasonings — Bean soup has a mild, savory flavor, so I kick things up a bit with a few choice layers of umami: mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and smoky ham.
How to Make 15 Bean Soup
Ready to make the recipe? Skip to the recipe card now to get the full ingredient list, quantities, prep/cooking times, and detailed instructions. Or, keep scrolling for a visual walk-through of making the soup.
Prep notes
Here are some helpful guidelines for prepping the recipe ingredients. Anything that simply needs to be measured out of a container – such as dried herbs and liquids – is not addressed here. Note that you can measure everything out into separate bowls or containers ahead of time. It’s a classic organizational technique called mise en place — literally, “everything in its place” — that helps the cooking workflow run smoothly.
- Beans: Pour the beans onto a sheet pan and pick through them to remove debris, especially little stones. Transfer to a large bowl and cover with tap water by 2 to 3 inches. Leave on the counter to soak overnight, or for at least 8 hours. I usually drape a light towel over the bowl. You’ll want to give the beans a nice, long soak before cooking, especially a mix like 15-beans because there are so many varied types that you can’t customize the soaking time to a particular bean (e.g., red lentils don’t need any soaking time, whereas great northern beans need at least 8 hours). So, yes, some beans in the mix will soak much longer than needed, but for this recipe, some of the beans breaking down and softening is actually a good thing — it creates a non-dairy, creamy texture for the soup.
- Peel and chop the onion.
- Scrub and peel the carrots, slice off the stem end, and then chop into 1/4″ dice.
- Wash the celery under running water. Cut off the rough ends of the rib. Slice the rib in half lengthwise, then chop in 1/4″ dice.
- Peel the garlic cloves and slice off the root end (the flat, hard end). Mince with a knife or grate on a fine-holed grater.
- Slice the kielbasa into thin moons or half moons. You’ll see in the photos below that I cut them into disks and they curled a bit as they browned, but flattened out during the cook. Slicing into half moons will prevent the curling.
Step 1: Saute the kielbasa and aromatics
In a large pot, brown the kielbasa in a bit of oil over medium heat. Kielbasa is already fully cooked, so we’re simply drawing out its flavors. Add the aromatics and saute until the onions are softened.
Step 2: Start the soup
Clear a spot in the center of the pot and position the ham hock so that rests below the level of the pot. Drain the beans (discarding the soaking water), and add them to the soup pot.
Add the bay leaves and pour in the water so that the beans are completely covered (as well as most, if not all, of the ham hock). Raise the heat and bring the soup to a boil, then adjust to maintain an active simmer (not a roiling boil). Cover the pot with the lid set ajar. The soup will cook for a total of two hours.
Step 3: Monitor the cooking soup and adjust
At first, the beans will cause the soup to foam. Skim it off with a shallow-bowled spoon, to keep the soup clear.
Cooking on the stove for a long stretch can be tricky because the soup will want to increase its boiling vigor over the direct, high heat of the burner. For reference, the photo above is a little too active. While the soon-to-be-removed foam is merely burbling, there are a couple of areas of robust bubbling (bottom of the picture).
Small to medium bubbles breaking the surface is good. Big, spitting bubbles are too much. Adjust the heat downward as needed. I often find that by the end of the cook, the heat is all the way down to medium.
Check the soup every half hour to 40 minutes if you can. Give it a big stir around the ham hock, and don’t hesitate to add more water if the beans seem to be exposed, pushing through the surface in a layer.
Step 4: Add the umami ingredients and finish
At the one-and-a-half-hour mark, reduce the heat so that the soup settles to a gentle simmer. Fish out the bay leaves. Stir in the umami ingredients — tomatoes, mustard, W-sauce. Reposition the lid and finish the cooking time.
Yes, the photo above looks a little weird! That’s not foam at the edges; that’s the actual soup that’s been thickened a bit by beans that are breaking down into the liquids.
At the end of cooking time, carefully transfer the ham hock to a bowl to cool down a bit. Some of the meat might have already fallen off into the soup, but once the ham hock is handleable, slice off any remaining ham and return it to the soup. The bone can be discarded at that point.
Storing
Bean soup is a wonderful make-ahead meal, as you can prepare it hours or days in advance, let it cool completely, and then store in the fridge for up to 5 days. It freezes beautifully, too.
Like many soups, its flavors intensify over time and it just gets better and better. Leftovers for lunch are amazing!
Winter has been a handful so far this year, and I’m grateful for soups like this, where the process is relaxing and enjoyable, and the reward of the meal is so satisfying. 15 Bean Soup is usually a main course here at Casa SoupAddict, with a side of Garlic Bread or Focaccia.
15 Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried 15 bean mix*
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 7 ounces kielbasa , sliced
- 1 medium onion , chopped
- 2 medium carrots , diced
- 2 ribs celery , diced
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 smoked ham hock or ham bone
- water
- 3 bay leaves
- 14 ounces crushed or diced tomatoes (fire-roasted is nice, but optional)
- 1 tablespoon mild chili powder
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- salt , as needed
Instructions
The night before:
- Pick through the beans to remove any stones or debris. Place them in a large bowl or pot, and cover with tap water by at least 2″. Leave to soak overnight (or at least 8 hours, if you can start early in the morning).
Making the soup:
- Drain the beans and discard the liquid.
- In a large 5.5 to 7 quart soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium until the surface shimmers.
- Add the kielbasa and saute for about 5 minutes until the edges start to turn golden (kielbasa is a fully cooked product; we’re drawing out its flavors by browning it first).
- Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic to the pot, and saute until softened (they’ll also reduce a bit in volume), about 5 minutes.
- Clear a space in the center of the pot and position the ham hock. Turn it, if necessary, so that the hock is sitting below the level of the pot (so you can cover it with a lid).
- Add the drained beans to the pot.
- Pour in 6 cups of water, covering the beans completely, plus the bay leaves. Bring the soup up to a bubbling boil, and then reduce the heat to maintain an active simmer. Skim off any foam that initially bubbles up from the ham or the beans.
- If the soup is hissing water onto the stove, reduce the heat a little. Partially cover the pot with its lid or a piece of foil. Do not fully cover.
- Start the clock — the soup will cook for a total of 2 hours from this point.
- Check the soup every half hour if you can, and add more water to keep the beans covered. You might need to add water every time you check; you might not need to add water at all. It simply depends on the rate of evaporation as the soup cooks. If the water is boiling aggressively, reduce the heat a bit so that it’s bubbling, not roiling.
- Also give the soup a good stir from the bottom each time you check the pot.
- When there are 30 minutes left in the cook, reduce the heat so that the soup calms to a gentle simmer, and fish out the bay leaves.
- Add the tomatoes, mustard, chili powder, and W-sauce, stirring well. Reposition the lid and continue to the 2-hour mark.
- At the end of the cook, turn off the heat and remove the lid.
- Carefully lift the ham hock from the pot — use tongs and a spatula — and place it in a large bowl to cool down for several minutes.
- Test the beans for doneness by smashing a few different types against the side of the pot. They should mush easily.
- When the ham hock can be handled safely, cut any remaining meat from the bone, chop it up, and add it to the soup (meat may have fallen off the bone into the soup during the cook)
- Carefully taste the soup — it’s hot! Add salt to taste, if needed.
- Spoon in the vinegar and sugar, and taste again.