White Bean Soup with Bacon

A Simple Soup, A Bowl of Comfort.

A bowl of bean soup doesn’t sound like the most exciting thing ever, until you have one placed in front of you. That super-savory, rich, almost smoky scent wafts up at you, and suddenly that cream-colored bowl of tender white beans in a delicate, garlicky broth is really speaking to you. For us, simple food like this white bean soup offers the most supreme comfort. Because we’re using canned white beans—Great Northern or cannellini, it’s up to you—the soup is ready in no time, and the recipe is so straightforward that once you’ve made it you’ll probably have it memorized. For more bean soup goodness, try our White Bean and Ham Soup.

5-Ingredient Bean Soup? 5-Ingredient Bean Soup!

Actually, you can squeeze by with just four ingredients. But the soup is best if you’ve got all five on hand. Here’s what you’ll need for this bacon and white bean soup recipe:

• Bacon.
• White beans.
• Stock. Chicken or vegetable—whatever you’ve got!
• Fresh garlic.
• Parmesan rind. This one is optional, but if you’ve got one, add it!

Hey! There’s A Parmesan Rind in My Soup!

If you’re not in the habit of saving your Parmigiano-Reggiano rinds, there’s never been a better time to start saving them. But it’s not only a question of waste-not want-not—those tough ends of a hunk of Parmesan may not be very easy to grate, but they are loaded with lovely Parmesan flavor. Simmered in a soup—just plop a piece of rind into the broth as it bubbles—a Parmesan rind will infuse the soup with deep umami richness, and a bit of subtle creaminess, too. If you don’t have one, this white bean soup recipe will still be delicious—it has bacon and garlic, after all—but you may want to adjust the salt slightly.

How To Make White Bean Soup with Bacon

This might be one of our very best, easy recipes ever—five ingredients, 20 minutes and dinner is done. We’re leaning on some favorite flavors—bacon, garlic, Parmesan—and letting a little simmer do the rest. Here’s how to make this easy bean soup:

1. Cook the bacon, just until it’s crisp. Take out the bacon, and pour the bacon fat into a container (no need to discard it—save it for another day!).
2. Simmer the stock, bacon, garlic and Parmesan rind for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Fish out that Parm rind (if you used it) and serve! Serve with some crusty bread, if you’ve got it, and a simple green salad.

Tools You’ll Need:

• Stock pot.
• Ladle.
• Sharp knife.
• Can opener.

More Simple Soup Recipes

We like soup. Like, we really like soup. We make a ton of it, in case you hadn’t noticed. The thing is, soup is easy! It’s soothing! It’s a one-pot meal! It’s even (often) pretty healthy. There are so many reasons to love soup. And here are five soup recipes to love right now:

• Garlic Soup
• Chicken and Rice Soup
• Easy Chicken Ramen Soup
• Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Pantry Cooking At Its Finest

How are you doing? We’re turning to the kitchen, day in and day out, for comfort and nourishment. We hope this simple soup brings you both of those things. If you try it, let us know. Snap a photo, and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so we can see your handiwork!