A Deliciously Tasty Pinto Bean Soup Recipe
An affordable dish you can make with various ingredients in your pantry and fridge is the tasty pinto bean soup recipe. You can keep this dish vegetarian or embellish the flavor with a little protein added, but either way, it goes far and is a delicious comfort meal for your family when you want something hearty and easy.
What Are Pinto Beans?
Probably one of the most popular beans in Western culture, the pinto bean is a speckled brown bean often confused with kidney beans. When cooked, they have a creamy texture and are found in many Mexican dishes. Pinto beans can be used as a main course or a hearty side dish.
No matter how you use the pinto bean, it is full of nutrients and minerals, making it a superfood and great for those who need to improve their overall health. One cup of pinto beans can give you ample protein and fiber to make up your daily dietary needs. Other minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium are also found in these beans.
Gathering Your Ingredients
If you are ready to throw together some of your favorite veggies and ingredients with some pinto beans, check your pantry first and then head to the market for the remaining ingredients below for the pinto bean soup recipe.
- One yellow onion
- One large, diced carrot
- Three cloves of garlic or one tablespoon of minced garlic
- One tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
- Eight cups of veggie or chicken broth
- One sliced stalk of celery
- Two cups of spinach or kale
- Three cans of pinto beans drained
- One tablespoon of olive oil
You can make some substations with these ingredients, such as using dried pinto beans instead of cans. If you decide to go that route, rehydrate these beans in water for about an hour before building your soup. You can use one bag to make up the three-can difference.
If you are not a fan of spinach or kale but want some greens, you can add mustard leaves, collard greens, or chopped cabbage to the soup if you prefer. You can also opt for beef broth instead of veggie or chicken to give it a more meaty taste.
If you want some additional protein in your soup, you can add one pound of either ground sausage or ground hamburger as long as your guests will all enjoy this addition. Before you start building your soup, you will want to have this meat browned first and sitting to the side.
Begin Building Your Soup
Once you have gathered your ingredients for your pinto bean soup recipe, it is time to start building your soup and developing the pinto bean flavors.
1. Wash and Cut Your Veggies
Before you start, make sure you wash all your veggies with cold water in a collander. Your carrot, onion, and celery stalk should be cut into small rounds or diced. You want the celery and carrots to be cut close to the same size so that they cook down at the same rate.
Also, rinse your green and give them a rough chop so that they will cook down. Your pinto bean cans should be drained but do not rinse them. You want to keep some flavor in the soup when you add them.
2. Saute Away
Grab your large soup pot, turn your burner to medium high heat and begin sauteing your veggies and seasonings. Add in your olive oil and let it get hot for about thirty seconds. From there, add in the garlic, celery, onion and carrot to the pan. Sauteeing these veggies first will make the soup aromatic and allow the flavors of these veggies to come through all the way. Keep stirring for about five minutes until the onions are translucent and the carrots start to tenderize.
3. Bring it All Altogether
Now that the veggies have cooked down, you can add the rest of the ingredients, starting with the pinto beans and Worcestershire sauce. Mix them and add the greens and broth, turning your burner to high heat. You want to get the soup on a rolling boil before you let it simmer. Let it reach the boiling temperature and boil for about four minutes before covering.
4. Simmer and Serve
Once you turn the soup down to simmer, cover and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Keep giving it a good stir every few minutes. Once the veggies and pinto beans are tender, you can ladle them into the soup bowls and serve them to your guests. Make sure you have hot sauce and diced jalapenos available as a topping for those who want to add spice to their soup.
Store Your Leftovers
If you have leftovers from this soup, you can refrigerate it for up to four days, if it is just veggies and beans. If you add meat to this soup, you want to limit it to three days to avoid any spoiling and potential stomach aches.
If you want to freeze it instead, you can keep in the freezer for up to three months safely. Just allow the soup to cool down completely and then add to freezer safe bags. Take a rolling pin and flatten the bag lightly so that it stores easily in your freezer.
Great For Meal Prepping
If you are looking to develop a meal prep plan and want something that will keep you full and easy to track, this pinto bean soup recipe is great, especially since you can store it for most of the week. You can adjust the amount of ingredients above to adjust portion sizes, especially if you and your partner are looking to prep this together. It can easily heat up in a microwave for a couple of minutes and make a quick lunch or dinner.
Opt for a Crockpot
If you would rather cook this in your slow cooker, just simply dump all the ingredients together in the cooker after dicing the veggies, turn it to low for four hours and enjoy later on that evening.
