Last night, along with the collard greens, I served Cajun 15-Bean Soup. I made it a little differently than my usual recipe, so here’s my updated version. (The old version used Gimme Lean sausage, so if you’re into fake meats, you might want to check it out on the FFV website.
Cajun 15-Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 20 ounces dried mixed beans (you can find these prepackaged in most grocery stores), rinsed
- 12 cups water
- 1 large onion — chopped
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1 clove garlic — minced
- juice of one lemon
- 15-ounce can stewed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt — or to taste
Instructions
- I saved some time by putting the beans into the pressure cooker with 8 cups water, cooking at high pressure for 15 minutes, and then releasing the pressure and cooking until the beans were completely cooked. If you use a pressure cooker, I advise letting the pressure come down naturally rather than quick-releasing. And if you have a quick-release setting on your PC, do not use it! I had beans stuck in my valve when I tried that.
- If you don’t want to pressure cook them, then place the washed beans in a pot with 12 cups of water, bring to a boil, and simmer, covered,for 60-75 minutes until beans are tender.
- When the beans are almost finished cooking, brown the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic in a non-stick skillet.
- Add onion mixture, stewed tomatoes, and lemon juice to beans along with the spices and simmer 30-45 minutes. (If you started the beans in the pressure cooker, add 2 cups water at this time if they seem dry or thick.) Add liquid smoke and salt at the end. Serve with bread or over rice, or just by itself, as I did.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s) | Cooking time: 1 hour(s) 45 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 8
Nutrition (per serving without salt): 276 calories, 13 calories from fat, 1.4g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 298.3mg sodium, 227.5mg potassium, 47.8g carbohydrates, 20g fiber, 5.7g sugar, 17.3g protein, 7.7 points.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Here are the old comments from before the blog was moved:
rooneycj said…
love this blog – was directed here from weight watchers.
wondering – would you say this is an 8 serving or 12 serving recipe?
1:50 PM, January 31, 2006
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SusanV said…
Hmmm. I hadn’t really thought about it. My first instinct is to say that it’s 8 servings. That would be 8 fairly big servings. But you could count it as 10 or 12 small servings, too. I probably wouldn’t be satisfied with one of those servings, though.
I’m glad you found the blog! It’s nice to know that people on weight watchers are being directed here.
10:35 PM, January 31, 2006
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Pat said…
Susan,
I made this soup yesterday. Didn’t have paprika, chili powder so I used Chef Paul’s Blackened Redfish Magick from DH’s spice pantry and left out the salt and liquid smoke. I served with rice and large green salad. Mmm–mm. Thanks for your inspiration!
2:34 PM, January 23, 2007
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Anonymous said…
I soaked the beans in water overnight for 12 hours. Rinsed them in the morning and added them to a slow cooker along with the other ingredients.
I put the onion, celery, & pepper in a food processor along with some carrots. I sauted the veggies in a little olive oil for 15 minutes.
I cooked the soup on low for 8 hours. I think I added too much water (12 cups) because it seemed a little watery.
We added croutons and feta cheese to our bowls of soup. I agreed that while it was good I think the amount of water diluted the flavors.
6:16 AM, August 01, 2007
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salina said…
so this soup was pretty amazing a added more spice to it and i served it to my family of non vegans and it was a hit. thanks- Salina
6:47 PM, February 02, 2008
Thanks for all the help. I’m trying to cut out the fat and salt from my vegan diet and your site really helps. I’ve lived with congestive heart failure since 1998. I lost a lot of weight for a few years, but my weight came back with a vengance. I hardly eat anything, but still put on 60 lbs. Last month I was told I have diabetes, very controlled diabetes, but still diabetes. Just had my thyroid checked and it’s at the borderline hypothyroid. Everything I read says this is the way to eat to beat diabetes and heart disease, but it can cause hypothyroid in some people. This is a challenge, but I love eating vegan. Thanks for your help.
This is probably a dumb question but are the beans supposed to be soaked before the cooking you describe above?
No, they’re cooked without soaking. The bean mix includes lentils and split-peas that would be too mushy if soaked before cooking, so I just cook them unsoaked until all the beans are tender.
Hi,
What type of bell pepper would work best?
Thank You
Green is traditional, but any bell pepper will do.
Susan – I know this is an old recipe but I have to tell you that I made this for dinner last night with one of your cornbread recipes and it was AWESOME! I use this website all the time when I am trying to plan my dinner menu and I have never been disappointed! You are a gifted cook and photographer! Thank you so much for taking your time to post all the recipes! I wait with bated breath for your cookbook to be published…..
Nita, thank you so much for the kind words. You don’t know how much they mean!
I tried this out today, i left out the celery (not a fan) .. & i didn’t have paprika or cayenne, and used lemon pepper instead of a lemon . but besides all of that I absolutely loved it!
I just ate it with some saltines…
i can only imagine how good it would be with all of the spices i’ll follow the recipe fully next time.
THANK YOU!
Haha, your recipe is EXACTLY as mine. I always “cheat with the hickory smoke flavoring. I was looking for something else in the way of veggies or grains, so I’m adding butternut squash? And a veggie broth simmered and strained from the skins & seeds of the squash with celery, carrots, peppercorns, bay leaf, shallots s&p. The broth right now is better than the soup. Can’t wait to combine the two!
Thank goodness I found this recipe.. I have a 15 bean package with one of those nasty seasoning packets that has been in my pantry for ages. I’ll be making this very soon!!
Wow! This is a really good recipe. It was my first 10 bean soup (I didn’t have 15 varities-ha!) I think my taste buds are dead, so no insult to your cooking, I just tripled all the spices listed. The thyme and the liquid smoke really give this such a good flavor! Next time, I think I’ll triple the veggies as well.
Everyone else mentioning it being too watery- I used a super big pot (large surface area) and I kept having to add more water. Keep in mind the size of your stock pot when it comes to how much should be used.
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