Bean And Bacon Soup (Canned Or Dry Beans!)

Smoky bacon and creamy white beans are combined in this familiar homestyle bean and bacon soup. So flavorful and easy to make.

The recipe card will show you two different methods for making this soup: quick with canned beans or slower with dry beans. Dry beans are more economical and have a slightly better texture but canned beans are quicker. It’s up to you which one you prefer. The end result is pretty much the same. What You Need

Bacon: We love a thick, center-cut bacon for the most amount of meat with the least amount of fat. Ham will also work, and you won’t need to brown it first.

Great Northern Beans: Cooking time will increase if you use dry beans (1 hour and 15 minutes), and you’ll have to plan ahead and soak them overnight. We love the texture and flavor that comes with dried beans, but canned beans also make a great soup and turn this recipe into a perfect weeknight meal, ready in 40 minutes.

Vegetables: Onion, celery, carrots, and some tomato paste give this soup so much flavor and provide added nutritional value.

Flavor: Flavor is added to this soup with fresh garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. It tastes so similar to the store-bought version! (But better!)

Chicken Broth: We always recommend using a salt-free or low-salt chicken broth so that you can control the salt in your final recipe. Bonus points for making homemade chicken broth. You could also use a bone broth.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces thick cut bacon, diced
• 1 cup diced yellow onion (about 1 medium onion)
• 1 cup diced carrots (about 2 carrots)
• 3/4 cup diced celery (about 2 ribs of celery)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 cups chicken broth, unsalted
• 3 cups water
• 3 (15 oz) cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 lb. dry beans, see note)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper