Soup Beans — Photo:
Greg DuPree; Food Stylist: Ali Ramee; Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood

Active Time:

3 hrs 20 mins

Total Time:

11 hrs 20 mins

Servings:

To explain this Appalachian dish, you'll need to borrow a bit from each word in the title: Soup Beans. The beans, pinto only, are tender, smoky, and creamy. They're resting in a broth that's more concentrated and flavorful than a pot of typical pinto beans, but it's still thin enough to need cornbread to complete the ultimate spoonful.

This dish was likely born of necessity. It fed farmers in the Southern Appalachian mountain range for generations. It was perfected in the long, brutal winters when going to a supermarket for dinner was out of the question. It was shared, family to family, before a recipe was ever committed to paper. But it remains one of the most comforting dishes to anyone who's ever been lucky enough to sop up some.

Learn how to make soup beans, and you'll come to appreciate this dish's importance in Appalachian cuisine.

What Is In Soup Beans?

It starts with pinto beans. You can make this exact recipe with black-eyed peas, pink eyes, or limas too; just adjust your cook time for the size of the bean. However, if it's made with anything other than pinto beans, it's bean soup, not soup beans.

For flavor, we use two kinds of pork—bacon and ham. Both provide subtle hints of smoke and salt, and both leave behind tender morsels of meat to make this dish more robust.

Everything else—spices, aromatics, toppings—are open to interpretation. We like the trinity of celery, onion, and bell pepper; they provide a nice base for building on the meaty flavors of the bacon and ham. Chicken stock is our pick for building out the rich broth, but you can use any broth or stock you have on hand. Homemade is even better.

What To Serve With Soup Beans

It's not soup beans without a wedge of cornbread, some tart chow-chow, and possibly a side of fried potatoes. We finished this recipe with scallions, but in the earliest days of spring, you'll see ramps and green onions fresh from the field used too.

What Do Soup Beans Taste Like?

The beans themselves are cooked until they're tender and creamy, but there's no cream in this recipe. Instead, the beans sit in a broth that's better described as pot likker, the richly flavorful liquid that's left behind after cooking beans or greens. But here, unlike say collard greens or classic chicken noodle soup, the pot likker is thick. It will seem like it could almost coat the back of a spoon. (One might say that's the sign of a good pot of soup beans.)

The ham and bacon provide meaty savoriness to the beans, and while this is ultimately just a ham-and-bean soup, the long, slow cook time pulls out flavors you won't get from the standard stovetop simmer.

How To Store Soup Beans

Soup. beans were made for leftovers, so you know they're just as good as (if not better) the next day. Keep them stored in an airtight container in the fridge up to 5 days (if they last that long). Reheat in individual servings in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Can You Freeze Soup Beans?

You'd be crazy not to, especially if you make more than you can eat (and can't pawn any off to the hungry neighbors). Just spoon any soup beans into a ziplock bag, squeeze out the air, and seal. Freeze the bag lying flat so it's easier to stack in the freezer.

When you're ready to enjoy the dish again, thaw the beans overnight in the fridge. Then reheat in the microwave or on the stove, adding broth if needed to get to the right consistency.

Ingredients

1 lb. dried pinto beans, rinsed and sorted
6 thick-cut, applewood-smoked bacon slices, chopped
1 medium (9 oz.) yellow onion, chopped (1 3/4 cups)
1 large (10 oz.) red bell pepper, chopped (1 1/4 cups)
2 medium-size celery stalks, chopped (about 2/3 cup)
2 Tbsp. minced garlic (from 3 garlic cloves)
8 cups chicken stock
1 (2-lb.) ham bone
1 dried bay leaf
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup chow-chow
Thinly sliced scallions
Cornbread

Directions

Soak beans:

Place beans in a large bowl; add water to cover beans by 2 inches. Soak beans 8 hours or up to 12 hours. Drain beans, and set aside.

Greg DuPree; Food Stylist: Ali Ramee; Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood
Cook bacon:

Heat a Dutch oven over medium. Add bacon; cook, stirring occasionally, until rendered and crispy, 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside. Do not wipe Dutch oven clean.

Greg DuPree; Food Stylist: Ali Ramee; Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood
Cook vegetables:

Add onion, bell pepper, and celery to drippings in Dutch oven. Cook over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender and lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Add garlic; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Greg DuPree; Food Stylist: Ali Ramee; Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood
Add beans, stock, ham, and seasonings:

Add soaked pinto beans, stock, ham bone, bay leaf, and crushed red pepper. Bring to boil over medium-high; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are very tender but still retain their shape, about 2 hours. Uncover and cook until liquid thickens slightly, about 30 minutes.

Greg DuPree; Food Stylist: Ali Ramee; Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood
Garnish and serve:

Remove from heat, and stir in thyme. Divide soup evenly among bowls, and top each serving evenly with chow-chow, scallions, and reserved bacon. Serve with cornbread.