This delicious 15 Bean Slow Cooker Soup recipe is easy to put together, packed with veggies, and slow cooks to perfection in as little as 6 hours for a great family meal!
This soup gets its flavor from smoked ham hocks, a small can of V8 juice, carrots, tomatoes, chicken broth, and a blend of seasonings.
Jump to:
Why You'll Love It
My top 5 reasons to love this slow cooker soup!
Slow Cooker Meal - Who doesn't love a great meal that simmers for hours with little to no effort from you! Set it and forget it means you can step away for a while, then come back to a hot, homemade meal.
No Pre-Cooking - The ham hocks are smoked, so there's no need to cook them first.
Short-cut trick - Using the frozen chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery blend means you don't have to simmer them before using them. Just toss them in the slow cooker!
Flavor boosters - This soup gets most of its flavor from 3 main ingredients - ham hocks, canned tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, and a small can of V8 juice (a trick my Cajun dad taught us).
Ham hocks - ham hocks are usually easy to find at your grocery store, so there's no need to wait until you have a ham bone to make this soup (but if you to already have a ham bone, use it).
Ingredients
For an extra hearty meal, serve with my jalapeno cornbread.
15 Bean Soup Mix - contains a variety of starchy, dried beans. Usually, they are located on the same isle as rice.
Ham hocks - be sure to purchase the smoked ham hocks since they are already fully cooked. If you have a ham bone, you can use it instead.
Canned tomatoes - for added flavor, use the canned tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano added to them. Sometimes labeled Italian tomatoes.
V8 juice - I love this little trick! Just one small can of V8 adds extra flavor to the soup.
Chicken broth - any flavor broth will do, but generally chicken or vegetable broth is used for this soup.
Frozen seasoning blend - contains chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery - located in the frozen vegetable section of the grocery store, this handy time saver is my go to for just about all recipes calling for onion, bell pepper, and celery!
Seasonings - I like to use my own seasoning blend of thyme, rosemary, garlic, and black pepper. The beans come with a bag of seasoning so you could use that instead.
How to Make It
This 15 Bean Soup only requires a few easy steps!
Step 1 - Place all the ingredients in your slow cooker, except for the ham hocks. Give it a good stir, then place the ham hocks on top.
Step 2 - Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
Step 3 - Remove the ham hocks and pick the meat off them. Return the meat to the slow cooker. It's very important to taste test the soup, then add additional salt if needed!
Step 4 - Serve with toasty French bread, a side salad, or top with green onions.
Expert Tips
- You can skip the thyme, rosemary, and pepper and use the seasoning packet that comes with the dried beans if you don't want to throw it out.
- Prep your ingredients the night before you plan to cook the soup by soaking the beans and slicing the carrots.
- This soup will thicken considerably the next day and will take on more of a "stew" consistency. It's quite good, but if you want it soupier, simply add some chicken broth.
- Soaking the beans is optional but I always soak them to help prevent them from bursting open while being in the slower cooker for an extended amount of time.
Recipe FAQs
I recommend soaking them since this soup is cooked for only 6 hours. We want to ensure the beans are nice and tender.
This soup will slightly thicken naturally as it cools off and will thicken up even more after it's been refrigerated!
Yes, the beans will be too mushy if you overcook the soup. Do not cook for more than 6 hours!
This bean soup is already very flavorful thanks to the ham hocks, tomatoes, V8, and seasoning. The only thing you might want to add at the end is salt.
You can top the soup with shredded cheese, croutons, sliced green onions, or avocado cubes.
Serve with cornbread, biscuits, crackers, or French bread. Serve with a sandwich such as a grilled cheese sandwich. Another option is a simple garden salad.
Storing Leftovers
Store any leftover 15 Bean Slow Cooker Soup in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The soup will thicken in the fridge, so you could add additional broth at this time. However, the soup is really good without adding any additional liquid and tastes better the next day!
More Delicious Soups
If you’d like some recipe inspiration delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for my email newsletter on my subscribe page.
If you tried this recipe, please rate it and leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from you!
Recipe
15 Bean Slow Cooker Soup
Equipment
- Slow cooker
- Measuring spoons and cups
Ingredients
- 20 ounces 15 Bean Soup mix, rinsed and soaked overnight I use Hurst's HamBeens Brand
- 5 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 14.5 ounces Canned diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano or use plain diced tomatoes
- 5.5 ounces V8 vegetable juice this is the small can
- 2 cups frozen chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery blend in the freezer section of the store
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 2 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 pound smoked ham hocks or use a ham bone
- salt (added after the soup has cooked!) see Step 4.
Instructions
- Place all ingredients except for the ham hocks in your slow cooker. Give it a good stir to thoroughly blend. Then place the ham hocks on top.
- Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
- Remove the ham hocks and pick the meat off. Put the meat into the soup.
- Taste test for flavor! This is the time to add salt, a little at a time, to get the taste to your preference. I usually add ½ teaspoon of salt at a time until it reaches my taste preference.
Notes
- You can skip the thyme, rosemary, and pepper and use the seasoning packet that comes with the dried beans if you don't want to throw it out.
- Prep your ingredients the night before you plan to cook the soup by soaking the beans and slicing the carrots.
- This soup will thicken considerably the next day and will take on more of a "stew" consistency. It's quite good, but if you want it soupier, simply add some chicken broth.
- Soaking the beans is optional but I always soak them to help prevent them from bursting open while being in the slower cooker for an extended amount of time.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy to my readers. I'm not a nutritionist and I don't guarantee the accuracy of this data. The data may differ according to the brands I used versus the brands you use. To calculate the data yourself using your brands, try using an online nutrition calculator or app.
Leave a Reply