This delicious 15 Bean Slow Cooker Soup recipe is easy to put together, packed with a variety of veggies and beans, 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.
This recipe was originally published in 2022. I republished the post in December 2024 with beautiful new photos and more recipe tips!
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More Soup Options
Want a quicker vegetable soup? Try my Easy Hamburger Soup! Made with ground beef for a hearty meal. And everybody loves Taco Soup, with its bold flavors!
Why You'll Love This Soup
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 with Notes
For an extra hearty meal, serve with my jalapeno cornbread.
15 Bean Soup Mix - contains a variety of starchy, dried beans and peas. A seasoning packet is included, but you won't need it for this recipe. Usually, this soup mix is located on the same isle as the other dried beans and rice.
Ham hocks - be sure to purchase the smoked ham hocks since they are already fully cooked.
Canned tomatoes - for added flavor, use the canned tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano added to them. Sometimes they're labeled as 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.
Ingredient Substitutions
- If you have a ham bone and some leftover ham, you can use it instead of the ham hocks.
- Any flavor broth will do, but generally chicken or vegetable broth is used for this soup.
- Use Rotel Tomatoes instead of the Italian diced tomatoes for an extra flavor kick!
- I used HamBeens 15 Bean Soup Mix but there are other brands that are great.
What Beans are in 15 Bean Soup Mix
There's a nice variety of dried beans included in the soup mix. According to what brand you buy, the variety can vary. For the HamBeens brand, the package states that it contains "northern, pinto, large lima, yelloweye, garbanzo, baby lima, green split, kidney, cranberry, small white, pink, small red, yellow split, lentil, navy, white kidney, black bean."
How to Make 15 Bean Soup
This soup only requires a few easy steps, but be sure to follow the recipe card for step-by-step instructions!
Step 1 - Place all the ingredients in your slow cooker/crock pot, 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. Remove ham hocks, take the meat off the bone and add it back into the soup.
Step 3 - Serve with toasty French bread, a side salad, or top with green onions.
What to Serve with Bean Soup
As a Topping - You can top the soup with shredded cheese, croutons, sliced green onions, or avocado cubes.
On the Side - You can serve this soup with hot biscuits, crackers, buttered garlic bread, Mexican Cornbread, grilled cheese sandwich, or a green salad!
Recipe 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/crock pot for an extended amount of time.
Storing Leftovers
Store leftover 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!
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 saltine crackers, garlic bread, or cornbread.
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.
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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.
- Serve with crusty French bread, crackers, cornbread, biscuit, or your fav sides.
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.
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