Red Kidney Bean Soup From Scratch

If you’ve never cooked bean soup from dried beans before you need to learn and I’ll show you how I do it! It’s not a big undertaking and it’s so much, so much better for you and cheaper than using canned beans. Last week I made this comforting, simple yet delicious healthy and easy red kidney bean soup from scratch and I’ll use that recipe as an example. It’s a great healthy dinner or lunch that you can meal prep for the week ahead!

You can use any kind and color of beans you want for the soup though. It’s SO good and satiating, doesn’t have a ton of ingredients and it’s good for your health too. Especially if you’re not eating enough fiber, this red kidney bean soup will provide plenty. And it’s super easy to put together too, all you need to do is prep ingredients and add everything to a cooking pot. Put a timer on and let the heat do its magic.

Red Kidney Bean Soup Ingredients

red kidney beans – when starting from scratch with dried beans, you need to soak the beans overnight in filtered water. This will help the beans cook quicker and remove antinutrients, thus helping with digestion and enhancing absorption of vitamins and minerals from the beans.

vegetables – onion and carrot are the only vegetables I added to my soup. The beauty of this soup is simplicity!

fresh herbs – I love a lot of mint with my beans, so that’s what I used! If you don’t have fresh mint leaves, use a tbsp or more of dried.

salt and spice – paprika, curry powder, dried oregano, and of course, salt and pepper (feel free to add more spice if you wish)

tomato paste – this is optional and the one ingredient we’ll add once the beans are fully cooked, as the tomatoes can prevent the beans from cooking completely if added too early

water (or stock) and olive oil – I usually use water for my soups, if you’re used to using stock – do that! The only thing you need to adjust here is the amount of salt you add to the soup. It will be very bland if you use water and forget the salt. On the other hand if your stock has sodium already, you do not want to add too much salt to the soup.

How To Make The Red Kidney Bean Soup

Thinly chop the onion, carrot and mint leaves (reserve some for later). 

Saute the onion in olive oil with the paprika, curry powder and dried oregano for about 2 minutes in a cooking pot, stirring occasionally. Add in the soaked beans and the chopped carrot.

Then add salt, a little more olive oil and the water. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 50 minutes. Do a taste test and adjust the beans for salt and more spice if desired.

After an hour of cooking, you can optionally add some tomato paste to make the broth more tomatoey. Then simmer for 15 more minutes. (I did this)

Now, take an immersion blender and blend a little bit of the soup to make it thicker. I just put the blender in the pot and blended for about 10-15 seconds, not moving it too much. You don’t want to puree everything. Just a little pulse here and there and it will thicken up the red kidney bean soup.

Add some fresh mint leaves and enjoy!

More Healthy Soup Recipes

I hope you enjoy this easy bean soup made from dried beans (whatever type you choose to use!). For more healthy soup recipes, check out these:

• Easy Vegetable Lentil Soup
• Homemade Barley Chicken Soup
• Simple Potato Cauliflower Soup

Red Kidney Bean Soup From Scratch

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Learn how to make a bean soup using dried beans! You can use this easy red kidney bean soup recipe from scratch and make it with whatever kind of beans and spices you like! It's a great healthy dinner or lunch!

4.7 Stars (3 Reviews)

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Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
• 3 cups water (or stock*)
• 1 tsp table salt (flat, or as needed)
• 1 large onion, thinly chopped
• 1 large carrot, thinly chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, thinly chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)

Instructions

1. Thinly chop the onion, carrot and mint leaves (reserve some for later). 
2. Saute the onion in olive oil with the paprika, curry powder and dried oregano for about 2 minutes in a cooking pot, stirring occasionally. Add in the soaked beans and the chopped carrot.
3. Then add salt, a little more olive oil and the water. 
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 50 minutes.
5. Do a taste test and adjust the beans for salt and more spice if desired.
6. After an hour of cooking, you can optionally add some tomato paste to make the broth more tomatoey. Then simmer for 15 more minutes. (I did this)
7. Now, when the beans have cooked fully, take an immersion blender and blend a little bit of the soup to make it thicker. I just put the blender in the pot and blended for about 10-15 seconds, not moving it too much. You don’t want to puree everything. Just a little pulse here and there and it will thicken up the red kidney bean soup.
8. Take off the heat, add some fresh mint leaves and enjoy!

Notes

*If using stock, you might need to add less salt.

Nutrition Information

Yield 4 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 163Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 0mgSodium 602mgCarbohydrates 20gFiber 6gSugar 3gProtein 6g