ahhhh 15-bean soup in the slow cooker

For me it is the comfort food of all comfort foods.

It’s also wicked cheap, wicked easy, and wicked healthy, sort of, I guess, depending on your style of eating. If you’re a low carb or paleo person this will not sound healthy to you. If you normally eat Double Big Macs for dinner your body will thank you for this meal.

This recipe made enough for 2 adults and 2 preschoolers to eat a very hearty dinner, plus another probably-too-much lunch for mama, and enough leftover for another hearty meal for the 4 of us. One full recipe of this 15 bean soup cost me just under $10 total, and about $1 per serving. That is hard to beat! The extra sausage and rice are not particularly necessary and leaving them out would lower the cost to around 75¢ per serving! Here is how it worked out for me:

$2.79    15-bean soup
$0.00   6 cups homemade chicken broth
$3.00    pork neck bones
$2.50    1 lb smoked sausage
$1.10     1 can organic diced tomatoes
$0.10    2 tablespoons Real Lemon
$0.50    rice
—————————
$9.99   Total

My twist on the 15 bean soup slow cooker recipe

The basic recipe I use for 15 bean soup slow cooker recipe is the version on Hurst’s website, but I do change it up to pump up the flavor.

Here’s my version

The ingredients:
1 bag Hurst’s 15-bean-soup
2 pounds pork neck bones
2 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound smoked sausage (optional)
1 tsp chili powder OR cajun season to taste (optional)
6-7 cups of water, broth or a combination
1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz.)
2 tablespoons lemon juice

The very first thing you need to do is…

Throw away that nasty packet of “flavoring”.

Seriously.

THROW THAT SHIT IN THE GARBAGE!!!

I mean, what is it? It just says “flavoring”.  {{shudder}}

You don’t need it. This is so full of flavor, you don’t need fake-o seasoning stuff.

Pour your beans onto a clean dishtowel and spread them out. Run your hand across them, looking for anything weird, like a little rock (very rare!) or a particularly funky bean. I don’t often find anything.

Now pour the beans into a bowl or strainer and rinse them. Dump them into the slow cooker. Don’t pour them in gently. Don’t treat them gingerly. Dump them in and say, “HA! I cast you into the pits of hell!”

Cut, chop, dice, or quarter the onions. Do this BEFORE you start drinking!

 

Struggle with the “easy open” package of sausage. Curse a little. Find the kitchen scissors. Jab at the package over and over until you finally get it open. Cut into whatever size slices or chunks you like. Decide you probably shouldn’t have started drinking just yet.

 

Add to the slow cooker the neck bones, onions, garlic, seasoning and sausage. Don’t add the tomatoes or lemon juice yet! Acids should be added after the beans have cooked through all the way. If you like a really thick dish, add 6-7 cups of liquid. If you like it slightly more on the soup side, add 8 cups of water. If you add only 6 cups, check it after about 5 hours (3 hours if you are cooking on the high setting) to make sure there is enough liquid.

Cook it on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 5-6 hours. Scoop the neck bones out, scrape the meat off and then put the meat back in.

About 30 minutes before you plan to serve it, add the tomatoes and lemon juice. I like the brightness that the lemon juice adds, so I usually use about 3 tablespoons, but check the taste after 2.

Eat!