Who will keep you warm and cozy on these cold winter nights? These savory, aromatic Garlic & Bacon Brothy White Bean Soup most definitely will.
Beans and broth simmered with garlic, shallot, bacon, rosemary, and thyme. This soup is bursting with flavor, and is so easy to make. You’ll definitely want to add this one-pot meal to your dinner rotation.
- Servings– about 8 cups
- Total Time– 8 hours soaking time + 80 minutes cook time
Bacon & White Bean Soup Ingredients:
- Dried Beans– a sturdy white bean such as cannellini, Great Northern, or navy beans work great for this.
- Chicken Broth– chicken broth is light but flavorful, making it a great choice for broth forward soups, where the liquid is the star of the show.
- Whole Head Garlic– for flavor and texture. While the garlic simmers, the cloves turn soft and buttery and add to the overall flavor of the broth.
- Bacon– bacon adds a salty element and a nice texture contrast to the creamy beans and garlic.
- Aromatics– shallot, ginger, bay leaves, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, and fresh sage.
- Salt and Pepper
- Crusty Bread– for serving
How to Make Bacon & White Bean Soup:
- Soak Beans– add dried beans to a mixing bowl and submerge in cold water. Place bowl of beans in the refrigerator, and leave to soak overnight. Soaking dried beans will drastically reduce cooking time and make them easier to digest. When ready to cook, drain beans.
- Prepare Bacon, Garlic, and Shallot– cook bacon in a frying pan until crisp, a few minutes per side. Carefully place on a paper towel lined plate to drain. Peel garlic cloves. Peel shallot and cut in half.
- Simmer–
- Pour chicken broth into a large pot and bring to a boil.
- Add drained beans, peeled garlic cloves, peeled shallot, thumb of ginger, sprig rosemary, sage leaves, bay leaves, and sprig of thyme. Turn heat down to medium and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Add chopped cooked bacon and simmer for 20 minutes longer.
- Check beans for desired tenderness and add salt and pepper if needed. If beans aren’t quite done, continue simmering, checking every 10 minutes until ready.
- Finish & Plate– Carefully remove herbs, shallots, and ginger, leaving garlic cloves and bacon. Serve immediately with crusty bread.
More Soup & Stew Recipes You Will Also Love:
- Black Eyed Pea Stew
- Easy Spicy Sausage & White Bean Soup
- (The Best) Slow Cooker Chili
- Avgolemono (Creamy Greek Lemon Orzo Soup)
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Creamy Mushroom & Pearl Couscous Soup
If you try this recipe, please leave a star rating and review in the recipe card below! I always appreciate your feedback. Follow me on Instagram and Pinterest for more garlic goodness and travel inspiration!
Garlic & Bacon Brothy Beans
Beans and broth simmered with garlic, shallot, bacon, rosemary, and thyme.
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Frying Pan
- Large Pot
- Tongs
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried great northern beans
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 bulb garlic peeled
- 1 shallot peeled and split in half
- 1 thumb ginger
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 sprig sage
- 2 strips bacon cooked and chopped
- Salt & pepper
- Crusty bread
Instructions
- Soak Beans– add dried beans to a mixing bowl and submerge in cold water. Place bowl of beans in the refrigerator, and leave to soak overnight. Soaking dried beans will drastically reduce cooking time and make them easier to digest. When ready to cook, drain beans.
- Prepare Bacon, Garlic, and Shallot– cook bacon in a frying pan over medium-high heat until crisp, a few minutes per side. Carefully place on a paper towel lined plate to drain. Peel garlic cloves. Peel shallot and cut in half.
- Simmer– Pour chicken broth into a large pot and bring to a boil. Add drained beans, peeled garlic cloves, peeled shallot, thumb of ginger, sprig rosemary, sage leaves, bay leaves, and sprig of thyme. Turn heat down to medium and simmer for 40 minutes. Add chopped cooked bacon and simmer for 20 minutes longer. Check beans for desired tenderness and add salt and pepper if needed. If beans aren’t quite done, continue simmering, checking every 10 minutes until ready.
- Finish & Plate– Carefully remove herbs, shallots, and ginger, leaving garlic cloves and bacon. Serve immediately with crusty bread.
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!
These sound amazing!! Any idea if the recipe is freezer friendly?
Thank you so much! I haven’t tried freezing this particular version, but I’ve frozen regular brothy beans (without the garlic and bacon) and it worked very well.
In the instructions it says to peel the garlic cloves, but the photo shows a whole head of garlic, chopped off at the top, but not fully peeled since the bulb is still in tact. Do you recommend separating the bulb and peeling each individual clove or leaving it as pictured?
Hi, Erica! You can do it either way. Personally, I like to eat the whole cloves in the soup so I peel them individually before they go into the pot. It makes it so much easier than trying to peel them after they’ve softened. To peel garlic quickly, there’s a great trick where you can put the individual unpeeled cloves into a mason jar or glass tupperware and vigorously shake them for 20-30 seconds. The skin basically falls off. But if you would like just the essence of garlic without whole cloves in your soup, you can just cut the top off of your bulb and peel most of the layers.
I want to make this right now ! Can I use canned beans so I don’t have to wait for them to soak?
Absolutely! Canned beans won’t need to simmer as long since they are already cooked. 15-20 minutes usually does the trick but generally no more than 30 or they will start to get mushy.
My soup is almost done ~10 minutes to go, but there’s hardly any broth, would love to have at least double this amount would you recommend increasing any of the ingredients ? My house smells amazing….
Thank you so much for making, Leah! I hope you enjoyed it! I’m so sorry for the delayed response, I had surgery this week and am just now catching up on messages.
Disappearing broth can happen for a few reasons:
– Beans have soaked up too much broth, which can happen more with certain types of beans or if they weren’t soaked long enough.
– Heat is too high and broth is evaporating
– Living in a high altitude area causes water to boil at lower temperatures, and will evaporate faster.
In any of these cases, adding more broth during cooking shouldn’t be an issue. If doubling the recipe, you can double the broth and beans, adding more broth as needed, and double your favorite aromatics, such as garlic or herbs.
I hope this helps!