Bean and Potato Soup

This simple bean and potato soup recipe is incredibly easy and quick to make. It is rich and full of flavor! A vegan and gluten-free homemade hearty healthy soup for you all!

This delicious soup is so easy to make and guarantees satisfaction for you all! It has a creamy texture to it, full of flavor and body. You make this soup with beans, potatoes, and pasta sauce.

This creamy, nutritious pinto soup is the best filling and comfort meal for lunch or a side dish for dinner. My family never gets enough of this tasty soup and always asks for more! This is a stable winter soup recipe in our household.

Find more easy soup recipes: gluten free potato soup, vegetarian broccoli cheddar soup.

How to Cook Dry Beans and Store Them

Get your ingredients ready—here’s how to cook dry beans and how to store them.

1. First, in a larger pot, rinse one cup of beans with cold water.
2. Then, add 5 cups of cold water and one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice (something acidic) and let it soak overnight.
3. The next day, drain the water and add fresh cold water to cover the beans.
4. Season it with salt to taste and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Adding salt before cooking beans will prevent the beans’ skin from coming off while cooking.
5. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 45 minutes or until the beans are soft inside and have a firm shape.

Cooked beans freeze well, too. Put them inside an air-tight zip lock bag, let the air out, and flatten and freeze. Use it within three months.

I usually cook a couple of pounds of beans at once and freeze them.

What Potato Holds up Best in Soup?

It depends on the type of soups you are making. If you want the potatoes to retain their shape after cooking in the soup, then use waxy potatoes such as red and Yukon gold potatoes.

However, baking potatoes, such as russet potatoes, are high in starch and a great choice for making creamy and thick soups.

How does Bean Soup Get Thick?

Always add a thickening agent gradually to avoid lumps.

• Use potatoes with high starch and mash them into soup.
• Cornstarch and rice flour are other options.
• Use other pureed vegetables such as winter squash, carrots, or corn.

Why is my bean soup not thick?

• Insufficient cooking time: It takes time for presoaked beans to cook and release their starch.
• Bean variety: Pinto, navy, and kidney beans are great for thickening the soup.
• Liquid ratio: Add the right amount of liquid to the beans.
• Mash half: Take half of the cooked beans and mash them and then add them to your soup.
• Use thickening agents: Use rice flour, wheat flour, or cornstarch. Mix a small amount with cold water, then add it slowly while stirring to the soup. Then, let it simmer to thicken.

Ingredients

• Beans. I used homemade cooked kidney, northern and pinto beans. Use other beans like black beans, navy beans, or white beans.
• Diced potatoes. I used russet potatoes. It is starchy and makes the soup thick and yummy. Use any other potato you like better.
• Pasta sauce. It is easy and quick to make soup with a pasta sauce that already has tomato, onion, garlic, and herbs in it.
• Water. Help to thin up the pasta sauce and cook the diced potatoes. You may use broth or stock.
• Butter. Adds lots of flavor and creamy texture to the soup.
• Seasonings. Salt and pepper to taste
• Lemon to serve. 

How to Make Bean and Potato Soup

Follow my detailed instructions to see how to make bean and potato soup in your own kitchen.

1. Put diced potatoes and cooked beans in a pot.

2. Then, add tomato sauce and water.

3. Add butter and season it with salt and pepper.

4. Bring it to a boil and cover it. Let it simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and the soup has come together.

5. Serve this soup hot with fresh lemon. or with sour cream, diced avocado, or crunchy toasted bread.

Tips and Tricks

• Cut potatoes into small pieces so they incorporate well with beans and cook fast too.
• Add spices and herbs of your choice.
• If you are using canned beans, drain the water and rinse it.
• Make this bean and potato soup creamy by adding a cup of sour cream or yogurt.
• Add more butter if desired.
• Since we do not add flour to thicken the soup, starchy potatoes work the best. You may use sweet potatoes too.
• The soup thickens up as it cools down.

Substitutions and Variations to this Recipe

• Use any beans you have on hand; you may even use lentils.
• Make your sauce with fresh or canned tomatoes, saute onion and garlic, and season it with herbs and spices of your choice; Basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, cumin, curry, and ginger are great options.
• Make this soup a white creamy soup by using sour cream, soft cheeses, or yogurt instead of tomato sauce.
• Use small pasta instead of potatoes.
• Add in some eggs or other proteins to make it more filling.
• Add in some other vegetables: spinach, kale, carrots, corn, green beans, or peas.
• Make the soup in a crock pot, slow cooker, or instant pot.
• This soup recipe is vegetarian.
• Substitute butter with avocado or olive oil and make it a vegan soup.

Storage and Reheat

Store this soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days and heat it on the stovetop or microwave it. Freeze it in an individual serving freezer-safe bag and use it within 3 months. Defrost them a night before in the fridge.

What to Serve with it

Serve this soup as a light meal for lunch with diced avocado, sour cream, roasted nuts or seeds, or toasted bread. or naans.

Serve it as a side dish with main dishes:

• Juicy extra-lean ground beef burger patty
• Sourdough starter hamburger patty.
• Sweet and sour chicken gluten free
• Best chicken kebabs in the oven
• Easy old-fashioned salmon patties

You and your family will love this healthy, hearty soup. It is quick to make, and the ingredients are readily available and easy to find. Customize it to your taste by adding your favorite spices and herbs.

Do not forget to share how you did! I love to hear from you!

Please rate, common, and share this recipe on Pinterest! Thank you!

Find more delicious nutritious beans and soup recipes:

Baked beans recipe, gluten free sweet and sour chicken, vegetarian broccoli cheddar soup.