Three-Bean Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes bean soup thicker? ›

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.

How do you thicken Senate bean soup? The mashed potatoes help with most of the thickening, but if the base of the soup isn't creamy enough for your tastes, sprinkle in cornstarch, or make a roux with flour.

What's the difference between Soup Beans and bean soup? The differences lie in the ingredients and the texture. Soup beans are beans that are slowly simmered in water for a couple of hours until they're soft and tender. The beans are flavored with ham, onion and garlic.

You can incorporate beans into soups, tacos, salads, and other recipes. Beans and legumes have several health benefits. Eating more of them may help reduce cholesterol, decrease blood sugar levels, and increase healthy gut bacteria ( 1 , 2 , 3 ).

How to Add Flavor to Bland Bean Soup. Some bean soup recipes may be watered down or bland…but not this one! You'll add layers of flavor to the soup by sauteing aromatics (like onion, carrots, celery, and garlic) in olive oil at the start.

It's important to note that cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch.

Blend 1½ cups cooked beans, lentils, or chickpeas with ½ cup water or broth until completely smooth. Add 2 tablespoons bean puree per 1 cup soup or stew, then stir until fully incorporated. Simmer 1 to 2 minutes, until flavors meld.

The most straightforward way to thicken soup is to puree the vegetables. Starchy vegetables in particular offer the most creaminess. Try with corn, parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, or yams. Blend half (for a chunkier texture) or all of the vegetables and liquid together.

The idea behind soaking dried beans is that it makes the beans cook more quickly and evenly. It's also been posited that soaking beans breaks down some of their complex sugars, making them easier to digest.

But if you're someone who needs to watch your sodium intake, it certainly can't hurt to drain and rinse canned beans before using them. Doing so can reduce the sodium by 40%. If you don't want to rinse, consider at least draining them first. Draining alone will “reduce the sodium by a third,” says Reinagel.

Can you make bean soup without soaking the beans first? ›

If you're the impatient, bean-hungry type, you can cook your beans from dry without any soaking at all. Here's the thing: Beans that have not been soaked ahead of time will always take longer to cook, but they will, indeed, cook.

What happens if I eat beans every day? Beans are abundant in essential vitamins and minerals, including iron, magnesium, potassium, and folate. Enjoying beans daily will strengthen your nutrient intake—allowing you to embrace better health and well-being!

If your beans are still too watery after prolonged cooking and mashing, consider adding a thickener like cornstarch, all-purpose flour, or arrowroot. To do this, first, make a slurry of equal parts thickener and water, then slowly add it to your refried beans. They should thicken considerably.

One is to add a slurry of a few tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with water during the final 10-15 minutes of cooking. You could also remove 1 cup of the beans before serving, puree in a blender, and then stir them back into the soup for a thicker consistency.

The white beans will break down and thicken the soup as it simmers, but if you'd like an even thicker stew, dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in water and add to the broth towards the end of the cooking process.