15 Bean Soup
The beans are packaged by the N.K. Hurst Company, but throw away their seasoning packet and follow this recipe instead.
There are probably several versions of a 15 Bean Soup product on the market, but I think the company, N.K. Hurst from Indianapolis, was the first on the market in 1986 with its HamBeens brand, and is today the largest seller of a multi-bean soup kit made from scratch. It was a clever way to get a few legumes to the market that were not selling well on their own, possibly because of strange names like Cranberry Beans or Yelloweyes. Combined with better known varieties of beans like, Pinto, Kidney and Black Beans, plus the cool notion of eating fifteen varieties at the same time, the market took the 15-bean soup product and ran with it.
The brand name "HamBeens" came from the original seasoning packet that was included in its packaging and Hurst was the first company to think of doing that. The original seasoning packet was made to taste like ham, but today also comes in other flavors like Cajun and beef. That said, throw the seasoning packet away and go with this recipe instead. You'll be tossing some stuff you don't really want, like maltodextrin, hydrolyzed soy protein, and unidentified "natural" and artificial flavors.
This is a no-soak method, but it will require nine hours of total cooking time.
15 Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 20-oz package 15-Bean Soup (like, Hurst's HamBeens Brand)
- 4 cups chicken stock (like, Swanson's or Kitchen Basics)
- 3 14.5-oz cans chicken broth (like, Swanson's)
- 1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes (like, Hunt's)
- 12-oz kielbasa sausage, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (like, Hillshire Farm Beef Polska Kielbasa)
- 1 large sweet or yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 cup celery, finely diced
- 1 cup baby carrots, cut into thin "coins"
- 2 tbsp dried marjoram
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tsp smoked salt (like San Francisco Salt Company Cherry Wood Smoked Salt)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire black pepper (like, McCormick)
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Start with a pre-heated crock pot by filling it with hot tap water and turn it on high for 30 minutes to an hour. Empty the water before adding your ingredients to the cooker.
- Put everything except the lemon juice into the and give it a good stir. Set the temperature on high for 4 hours, then turn down the heat to low for 5 hours.
- Add the lemon juice about a half hour before serving and remove the bay leaves.
