15 Bean Soup

southern chef in louisiana's Note:

Yummy 15 bean soup. I cook this a lot. I like to serve it with fried chicken and cornbread.

• Total Time: 4 hrs
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 1 (1 lb) bagof regular15 bean soup mix or 1 (1 lb) bag cajun 15 bean soup mix
• 1 large onion , chopped
• 4 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 (15 -30 ounce) can whole tomatoes , crushed
• 3 stalks celery leaves , included chopped
• 2 -3 ham hocks or 1 ham bone , with meat still on it
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary (crush with fingertips before adding this releases the flavor)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes

Directions:

1. Wash the beans; put in large pot and cover with water. Bring to boil; stir and remove from heat. Cover and let sit 1 hour. After that hour, drain beans and set aside.
2. Add oil to pot. Sauté your ham hocks, onion, and celery until tender.
3. Next add garlic and sauté 2 minutes more.
4. Add your beans and cover with water (about 2 inches over top of beans).
5. Add tomatoes with the juice, parsley, rosemary, black pepper, bouillon cubes, and about 1 teaspoon of salt to start with.
6. Mix well. Bring to boil; stir, reduce heat cover and simmer for 2 to 21/2 hours or until all the sizes of the beans are tender.
7. Keep watching it and stirring it every once in a while. You may need to add more water; you want it to keep a consistency a little thicker than a soup.
8. Taste it after it cooks--you may need more salt or pepper.
9. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, add the flavor package that comes with the beans.
10. Serve by itself or over rice.

Reviews

[deaster]

i cook this all the time. This was a great recipe but i suggest that you soak the beans overnight in chicken broth with a package of onion soup mix and two bay leaves. The beans swell and soak up the broth and seasoning. i also suggest that you brown hot italian links removed from casing and add that to the beans the last 30 minutes of cooking. cook them also in chicken broth instead of water.

[MizzNezz]

This is a very hearty, thick, comforting soup. I used ham hocks and I think sauteing them was the key to more flavor here. We liked the addition of tomatoes too. Nicely seasoned, and very easy to make. I was very happy with the way this turned out. Very good!!

[Chef #207447]

My family really enjoyed this soup. I wouldn't change a thing. Thank you for the recipe.