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White Bean and Bacon Soup (Instant Pot or Crock-Pot)

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White Bean and Bacon Soup (Instant Pot or Crock-Pot)
This main course soup is hearty, healthy, and super delicious! My husband enjoyed it so much I made it twice in one week. And now, I pretty much make this every week! Cooking for one or two people, no problem, the leftover soup freezes great. Each bowl has 225 calories, 2 grams of fat. Amazingly, each serving has 12 grams of fiber!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Instant Pot Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 225kcal
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Ingredients

  • 3 (15 oz) cans white beans, rinsed and drained
  • 6 slices bacon, chopped, see shopping tips
  • 1½ cups onions, chopped
  • ¾ cup carrots, chopped
  • ½ cup celery, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (I used a 32 oz carton of Swanson’s)
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings or ½ teaspoon each oregano and basil
  • ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • Black pepper to taste
  • Chives or scallions, chopped for garnish, optional

Instructions

  • For instant pot: Add 1 can of beans and 1 cup of water to a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Next, set the Sauté button then cook bacon until crisp. Stir often. Set aside on paper towels and blot. Add onions, carrots, and celery to pot and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Mix in tomato paste then add pureed beans, beans, broth, Italian seasonings, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Cook on high pressure 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off and let the pressure release.
  • Place 2½ cups of soup in blender and puree to thicken, then add back to the soup.
  • To serve: Ladle 1½ cups into each bowl and top with a little crumbled bacon. Top with chives, if desired.
  • For Crock-pot: Add 1 can of beans and 1 cup of water to a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Sauté bacon in a nonstick pan until crisp. Set aside on paper towels. Blot.
  • To the same pan, keep bacon fat. Add onions, carrots, and celery to the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer vegetables to crock-pot. Stir in tomato paste. Next, mix in pureed beans, canned beans, broth, Italian seasonings, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Cover and cook on Low Heat 7-8 hours. or High Heat for 3-4 hours (depending on your crock-pot) Once cooked, place 2½ cups of soup in blender and puree to thicken, then add back to soup.
  • To serve: Ladle 1½ cups into each bowl and top with a little crumbled bacon. Top with chives, if desired.

Notes

Makes 6 main-course servings. Each 1½ cups.

Food Facts
Cannellini, Great Northern, and Navy are three popular types of white beans. In most supermarkets, you’ll find cans that say white beans, Cannellini, or Northern. I used cans that said white beans. 

Shopping Tips
This is one of my favorite brands of bacon. It’s called Applegate Farms Natural Sunday Bacon. It’s low in fat and calories, uncured, and contains no nitrites! Many supermarkets carry this brand. I bought it at Vons/Safeway and Whole Foods. Here’s the link to their website:http://www.applegate.com/products/natural-sunday-bacon
Before finding this healthier bacon, I had combed the supermarket shelves looking for one of the leanest regular bacon choices and Oscar Meyer Center Cut Bacon is my favorite, compared to most regular bacon. It’s much lower in fat and calories, 3 slices contain 70 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. Once cooked on paper towels, most of the fat soaks into the paper, not in the bacon, so the fat is further cut down. In my Skinny Facts, I subtracted out the fat that’s left on the paper towels!

Cooking Tips-Directions to cook on stovetop
1. To a blender, add 1 can of beans and 1 cup of water. Blend until smooth. In a large nonstick pan, add bacon and cook until crisp. Set aside on paper towels. Blot. Add onions, carrots, and celery to the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Next, add pureed beans, beans, broth, Italian seasonings, red pepper flakes, and black pepper.
2. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook on low heat until beans and vegetables are soft about 25 minutes. Place 2½  cups of soup in blender and puree to thicken, add back to soup and mix well.
3. To serve: ladle 1½ cups into each bowl and top with a little crumbled bacon. Top with chives, if desired.

WW Freestyle SmartPoints 1-Blue
WW SmartPoints 5-Green
WW Points Plus 5
SKINNY FACTS: for 1 main course serving (1½ cups)
225 calories, 2g fat, 1g sat fat, 3mg chol, 16g prot, 40g carbs, 12g fiber, 978mg sod, 5g sugar 
FACTS: for FreestyleSmartPoints
44 calories, 1g sat. fat, 1g sugar, 5g protein

Skinny Facts

Serving: 1.5cupsCalories: 225kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 16gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 978mgFiber: 12gSugar: 5gBlue Smart Points: 1Green Smart Points: 5Plus Points: 5

Comments

  2. Pat, you could substitute 1 tablespoon tomato paste with 2 to 3 tablespoons tomato puree or tomato sauce (reduce liquid in recipe by 2 to 3 tablespoons); or boil tomato puree or sauce until reduced to 1 tablespoon. You could also use ketchup and reduce the broth by 2-3 tablespoons.
    Best of luck!
    Nancy

  5. If you start with dry beans, which have been cooked, do you need to cook this soup for an additional 20 minutes in the IP? I almost think that is overkill.

  6. Leslie, I used canned beans for this recipe which are precooked yet I still cooked them longer in the instant pot. I’d do the same with the dried beans you’ve precooked. Once cooked, 1/2 of them get pureed to thicken this soup.
    I hope you thoroughly enjoy this soup. It’s one of my husbands favorites!
    My best,
    Nancy

  7. My apologies Nancy, I was using dried beans and someone else’s recipe to figure out the timing for the beans even though I used your recipe otherwise. My dinner (2 big bowls of this soup) was wonderful. Thanks for a great recipe.

  8. Regarding pressure release. Is that Quick Release? or Natural Release? The direction “let pressure release” is ambiguous.

  9. Christine, you don’t open the instant pot until all the pressure has stopped. So I guess it would be called natural release.
    My best,
    Nancy

  11. Hello Nancy. I’m getting ready to make this soup, which sounds wonderful. I just got an instant pot and have only made one dish, and can’t wait to try more of your IP recipes. I have the same question that Christine had. My IP info says that Quick Release is to turn the knob to vent the pressure and when it stops, you can open the pot. Natural Release is to just turn off the pot and not vent it. Just wait for it to cool down and the pressure reduces slowly on its own. Sooo…. Quick Release or Natural Release? Thanks so much!!

  12. When I created this soup, once it was finished, I turned the knob to release the pressure. I guess you call it quick release. In other words, it didn’t release on its own. I had to turn the knob to create the release.
    I hope this helps Carole. And I hope you thoroughly enjoy this soup. It’s a favorite in my house!
    All the best,
    Nancy

  13. Thanks so much for getting back to me. I made it tonight, and it’s awesome. I’ve made many of your recipes in the past and I’m just starting down the instant pot road. Can’t wait to try more.

  16. You do not drain the bacon fat. You use it to saute the vegetables in. It adds so much flavor to this soup, Jennifer.
    Enjoy!
    My best,
    Nancy

  17. I made this and used “quick release” at the end of the 20, and it was perfect. I misread the directions and used an immersion blender to blend ALL of the soup vs 2.5 cups, and it was still delicious – everyone in my family had seconds.

    Re the points values for WW…I found it confusing. But I blame WW’s ever-changing nomenclature for that.

  18. Paige thank you so much for sharing your feedback. It’s very helpful for others. I’m so glad you ended up loving this soup!
    Wishing you all the best,
    Nancy

  22. Yes Wendy. I have included the bacon grease in my nutrition facts.
    I hope you give this fabulous soup a try!
    My best,
    Nancy

  25. Hi Nancy. I made the soup tonight. It is so delicious! I always have success with your recipes. I had to cook my beans in the instant pot first because I did not have canned beans. It worked great! I posted a photo on the Instant Pot Community group on Facebook with a link to your site. Thank you for another delicious recipe!

  26. Lynn, many thanks for sharing my recipe in your group. I always appreciate it!
    And thanks for joining me on Skinny Kitchen. I’m so happy to hear you are loving my recipe!
    My very best,
    Nancy

  27. Love soup for lunch. Helps me not overeat!! This was great except I used only 1 can beans and puréed half of it.
    To thicken a little more I used 1/2 tsp Xanthan gum my new find at Walmart baking aisle. Great for thickening without adding more calories. Next time I’m going to cook my own beans instead of using canned. Very good recipe

  29. I followed the directions exactly making no substitutions and it was awful. It was a super thin soup and lacked in flavor. My family and I couldn’t finish it. Not sure what happened as it was thick at all

  30. Gosh Belinda, I can’t imagine why your soup was super thin. Did you add 1 can of beans and 1 cup of water to a blender and blend on high until smooth? That makes the soup nice and thick.
    This soup is my husband’s favorite and I make it almost every week. And it’s been extremely popular on Skinny Kitchen. I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you!
    My best,
    Nancy

  31. My very picky husband loved it! So did I. He started WW the 5th of February and has lost 8.5 pounds in 17 days. Can’t wait to try your other recipes. Thank you so much!

  32. So nice to hear your husband loved this soup! It’s one of my husband’s favorites.
    Amazing how much weight he’s lost so far. Congratulations!
    All the best to you both,
    Nancy

If you make this recipe, let me know how you liked it. Leave me a comment below or give it a rating. Thanks so much. Happy Skinny Cooking!

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