Inflation continues, and many are struggling. This is another post in my series to help people get through these difficult times by using common-sense principles.

By now you know that I’m a fan of soups and one-pot meals. I have made a number of bean and lentil soups, and they are all similar, yet a bit different. Bean soups are extremely flexible and forgiving. Ingredients can be added or removed, and you can still get an excellent, delicious end product. Bean soups can also be extremely economical. A 20-ounce, 12-16-bean variety sack costs only a few dollars; the vegetable ingredients are cheap, and the meat can be anything from an Easter hambone to cut-up hot dogs.

This recipe made over 5 liters of soup, plenty to feed a large family. Only two of us were home when I made this, so we had quite a bit left over. The good news is that this soup freezes well!

Recipe adapted from the website, “Valerie’s Kitchen”

Cut up the vegetables. Exact amounts are not important.

Prepare your spices. Don’t add salt until you can taste-test at the end. The ham is already salty, as is the broth.

Here is the meat that I used. The ham bone was a gift from my sister, who had it left over from Easter. I froze it and used it all of these months later. I also had a couple of strips of bacon in the fridge. I used these for their grease and for their bacon flavor. If I didn’t have the bacon, I would have used vegetable oil. The meat that you use can vary. Try sausage, other smoked meats, or even sliced hot dogs. You can also omit the meat for a vegetarian dish. However, the meat adds a lot.

You will need around 6 cups of liquid for the recipe. That can be 4 cups from a box of stock plus two cups of water, 6 cups of broth, or, in my case, 6 cups of water with some chicken bouillon granules. I only used about a tablespoon of the granules, as they are pretty salty.

Here are the beans that I used. They are the Aldi brand and were of very good quality. I believe they were a couple of dollars. You should dump the beans and sort for broken/moldy ones as well as small rocks. This bag was very clean, and I only had about 5 beans to discard.

To soak or not to soak? That is the question. With a pressure cooker, you can use unsoaked beans by extending the cook time. I tend to soak when possible, as I believe that it makes the beans more digestible and less… hmm. Well, you know what beans can do. Pro Tip: I added a pinch of baking soda to the soak. This helps old beans hydrate better. I soaked the beans in plenty of water, overnight in a covered bowl.

Here are the beans after a night of soaking. I drained off the old water and rinsed them before adding them to the soup.

The recipe calls for 8 ounces of crushed tomatoes, but I used a whole can. If I didn’t have these, I would have used any tomato product or even condensed tomato soup. Remember, you are cooking for a family and not following some sort of heirloom recipe.

I also used my usual jar garlic. Would fresh be better? Likely, but this works too. If I didn’t have this, I would have used powdered garlic granules.

Let’s go! I rendered the bacon for its fat using the sauté setting on my electric pressure cooker (think Instant Pot). Don’t worry about the crispy stuff on the bottom of the pot; I will take care of that in a bit.

After the bacon rendered, I added the onions and cooked them for a few minutes to soften them. The onions released a lot of liquid, which made it easy to remove the fond (the flavorful, burnt-on crust) with a wooden spoon.

In went the carrots and celery, as well as the garlic. I continued to cook this mixture for a couple of minutes.

Then my spices. If you cook the spices for a bit, their flavor is intensified. However, be cautious, as you don’t want to burn them.

Now the soaked beans. Remember, you can use dried beans too, you would just need to cook them longer.

Now the chicken broth and the can of tomatoes.

Lastly, the ham bone. My electric pressure cooker is pretty full. Perhaps a bit more than it should be. However, we are going for it. A pressure cooker should be no more than 2/3 full. Probably less if I were just making the beans alone.

All of this is very simple. Now it is time to place the cover and pressurize. Since these beans were soaked, I cooked them for 25 minutes. When the cooking was done, I let them sit for at least 15 more minutes before releasing the steam. If the beans were not soaked, I would pressure-cook them for about 45 minutes and also let them rest for 15 minutes.

As an aside, I looked up this pressure cooker, and I have been using it for over 8 years. I can’t say enough about how useful pressure cookers are. Stove-top units last forever, but you have to watch them. These electric ones are also very robust. It seems that the Instant Pot craze is waning, and you can buy a new 6-quart electric pressure cooker for well under $100. I checked Facebook Marketplace and saw several used 6-quart models (a good size) selling for between $20 and $50. The Instant Pot brand is good, but so are many other brands. My unit is not an Instant Pot, but it works great.

After cooking, I took out the hambone and removed any meat, which I added back to the soup.

I tasted for seasoning, and no salt was needed. I did add a few shots of hot sauce (optional). I used a stick blender to blend some of the beans to thicken the soup. You could also mash the beans using a wooden spoon, or just leave the soup as is.

Here is the soup, plated and served with some of my homemade whole-wheat bread. The bread was made with a thrift-store bread maker that cost me $6.99. Why an avocado garnish? It was going ripe, and I needed to use it up. Necessity is the mother of invention! I also added a little grated Parmesan cheese. The soup was extremely filling and really delicious. There will be leftovers for several lunches and for freezing for a future meal.

Making food from scratch is much more economical than eating ultra-processed foods. Additionally, the food tastes so much better. I put together the bread’s ingredients in less than 5 minutes, pressed a button, and had a fresh loaf 3.5 hours later. The soup took less than 10 minutes to prepare, and then the pressure cooker took over automatically. Easy peasy.

Times are tough, but cooking from scratch and shopping at Aldi can save you both money and frustration. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can make this soup on the stovetop; it would just take longer (4 hours?). I’m pretty sure you could also make this soup in a slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours. If you go with either of these two methods, you will need to soak your beans overnight.

Bon appetite!

Mike