This Pinto Bean Soup was inspired by cooler temperatures, and I also found half a bag of unused, dehydrated pinto beans in my pantry. Inevitably I’ll try a recipe that calls for a cup or a pound or some quantity that’s less than what beans are sold in, and the leftovers sit in my cabinet for ages. So when I came across these pinto beans the other day I decided to try a new recipe.
I do prefer the texture of canned beans for soups, so if you have those handy or want to pick those up instead, go for it. You’ll add them at the same time in the cooking process, you just get to skip the hydrating step.
I also think this would work with Great Northern Beans, navy beans, or even kidney beans.
You’ll recognize the basics of a classic chicken noodle soup with this ingredients list. I didn’t add noodles because I think the beans add enough starch, but you could easily throw in a shredded or cubed chicken during the last step for additional protein. If you do this, I suggest reducing the quantity of beans by the amount of chicken you intend to add. I used 3 cups of pinto beans, but if I added 1 cup of chicken to the recipe I would only use 2 cups of beans, and so on.
One more tip. If you chop up the onion and it seems like too much, add it all anyway. Beans are like most legumes and require a lot of seasoning so they don’t absorb the flavor. The onion and garlic help a lot here. Also make sure you use six cups of actual chicken broth instead of substituting a few cups of water. You’ll end up with a bland soup if you do that. I promise the flavor of Pinto Bean Soup is nicely robust as written.
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