Easy Slow Cooker White Bean Soup
Whoever discovered beans gets a big fat medal of appreciation from yours truly. They’re just incredible. Incredible and cheap. And so is this Slow Cooker White Bean Soup. This soup is thick, warm, comforting, and flavorful… and cost me LESS THAN FIVE DOLLARS FOR THE WHOLE POT. That, my friend, is the magic of beans.
Originally posted 9-9-2013, updated 3-19-2020.
What Kind of White Beans Should I Use?
I suggest using navy beans first, because they are creamy and break down easily when cooked, which will give you this nice thick texture in the finished soup. If navy beans are not available, my second choice would be great northern beans. DO NOT use cannellini beans, which are part of the kidney bean family, and require a heavy boil to break down a natural substance called Phytohaemagglutinin, which is a gastrointestinal toxin. The slow cooker does not get the soup hot enough for long enough to break down the toxins in those beans.
Do I Need to Soak the Beans?
Nope! This recipe does not require pre-soaking the beans. Some people claim that soaking beans then discarding the soaking water can reduce flatulence, but I, personally, find no difference. If you prefer to pre-soak your beans, you will need to add less water to this recipe and will probably need less cooking time. I have not tested that method, so I do not have a specific amount of water or cooking time to suggest.
Can I Use Broth in Place of Water?
This awesome Slow Cooker White Bean Soup uses a medley of spices, herbs, and vegetables to make its own flavorful broth right in the slow cooker – no Better Than Bouillon soup base this time around, folks. Of course you always have the option to use broth in place of water if you wish, just be aware that you probably won’t need to add salt at the end of the recipe, as directed below.
Can I Add Meat?
Sure, if you prefer meat in your soup I would suggest adding a ham hock or a smoked turkey leg to the slow cooker with your soup as it cooks. They will provide a wonderfully smoky flavor and will reduce the amount of salt you’ll need to add at the end.
Is This Soup Freezer Friendly?
Yes! This Slow Cooker White Bean Soup freezer beautifully. Make sure to divide it into single portions and chill it in the refrigerator first, then transfer to the freezer once cold. I like to freeze my soups in reusable Ziploc containers, but freezer bags also work great. To reheat either use the defrost function on the microwave, or transfer to a soup pot and reheat over low, stirring often, until heated through.
Love white bean soup? Check out my Chunky Ham and Bean Soup or Easy Rosemary Garlic White Bean Soup.
Slow Cooker White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.11)
- 4 carrots (about 1/2 lb.) ($0.30)
- 4 ribs celery ($0.46)
- 1 lb. dry navy beans* ($1.25)
- 1 bay leaf ($0.30)
- 1 tsp dried rosemary ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked black pepper (15-20 cranks of a pepper mill) ($0.05)
- 6 cups water ($0.00)
- 2 tsp salt, or to taste ($0.05)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic, dice the onion, slice the celery, and peel and slice the carrots. Add the olive oil, garlic, onion, celery, and carrots to a large (5qt or larger) slow cooker.
- Give the beans a quick rinse in a colander and then add them to the slow cooker, along with the bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, paprika, and some freshly cracked pepper.
- Add six cups of water to the slow cooker and stir to combine the ingredients. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
- After 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high, stir the soup and begin to mash the beans against the side of the slow cooker to thicken the soup. Once the soup is thickened to your liking, start adding salt to taste. Begin with 1/2 tsp and add more until the soup tastes flavorful to you. I used about 2 tsp total.
- Serve the soup hot with crackers or crusty bread for dipping.
Notes
Nutrition
The equipment section above contains affiliate links to products we use and love. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Crockpot White Bean Soup – Step by Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion, four ribs of celery, and peel and slice 1/2 lb. carrots (about 4 carrots). Mince 4 cloves of garlic. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic and 2 Tbsp olive oil to a slow cooker (5 qt. or larger).
You’ll need one pound of dry navy beans or great northern beans. Again, DO NOT use cannellini beans, which are part of the kidney bean family, and require a heavy boil to break down a natural substance called Phytohaemagglutinin, which is a gastrointestinal toxin. The slow cooker does not get the soup hot enough for long enough to break down the toxins in those beans.
Briefly rinse the beans in a colander, then add them to the slow cooker along with 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp dried rosemary, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, some freshly cracked pepper, and six cups of water.
Briefly stir the contents of the slow cooker to make sure all the flavors are distributed, then place a lid on top and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours.
After cooking on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours it will look a little something like this. All the vegetables will have floated up to the top and the beans will have absorbed most of the water. Test a bean to make sure they are very soft. If they’re not yet soft, cook for one hour more (they should definitely be soft by this point, unless your beans are very old. Old beans sometimes do not soften no matter how long they are cooked).
Stir the soup and smash the beans against the side of the pot, which will thicken the soup (or you can use an immersion blender). The soup at this point does not contain ANY salt, so now it’s time to add salt so you can really taste all the different flavors. Begin adding salt, starting with 1/2 tsp and adding more until the soup is flavorful. I added 2 tsp total.
Serve hot with some crusty bread for dipping!
Making this again tonight, looking forward to a bowl in the morning. I reduce the beans to 1 1/2 c. dried, and up the water to 8 cups, adding in 1 Tablespoon Mushroom Better Than Bouillon, oil my crockpot with EVOO, high setting 10 hours. I haven’t had an issue with crunchy or hard beans. I play around with the spices/seasonings. 1/2 teaspoon salt, not 2 t. Can add more salt when the soup is done, if needed. Good base recipe.
Delicious! I followed the ingredients as listed in the recipe but changed the cooking time and temperature. I placed the soup on high setting on my slow cooker before I went to bed and by lunch time the next day it was cooked through. No crunchy beans – I didn’t soak the beans overnight either. It simply has to cook for a longer time on high.Â
I agree with the others in this being bland. After reading the reviews i tripled the garlic and seasoning. So like aroung ! tbl-2 Tbl of Rosemary and 2tsp of paprika etc. Used low sodium veg broth and it was bland initially. Agree after 4 hrs the navy beans were a bit crunchy. So on it went for another 1.5 hr on high and added about 1 Tbsp of salt and some garlic powder at the end. I used about 1/2 c of heavy cream, pureed half the the soup, and 1 T of corn starch to make it a creamy soup. Next time i may just throw in extra onion etc. Ran out of my smoke flavoring liquid so i couldn’t add that but i would next time.
For others reading this. Most recipes online are very basic seasoning wise. Everyone has different taste buds and i would highly suggest seasoning extra with all of the recipes.
I use this rule of thumb for skinny taste website too.
Always add to taste folks and look at all recipes as basics to follow. I always come back to this site bc it’s just great easy to follow recipes.
I soaked the beans overnight before cooking, but unfortunately even with the cooker on high for 5-6 hours, they still didn’t seem done. I ended up basically pureeing the whole soup to mask the texture, which turned out “just okay.” I used chicken broth instead of water, so perhaps the salt in that was the issue? I love Budget Bytes, but I don’t think I’d try this recipe again.
I’ve had the same issue. I’ve made this recipe twice now–the first time I did not soak the beans and found them undercooked and crunchy. The second time, I did soak them overnight, but they ended up much the same texture. Does anyone know what the issue might be?
I used 1/lb Great Northern beans. Soaked overnight. Followed the recipe with exception being only added 2 cups water and cooked on low from 8p-6a. Beans were completely cooked and soft.
Made the recipe exactly as written. Pretty bland and flavorless.Â
This was delicious and super easy. After reading some reviews about the beans not being soft enough, I soaked them in water overnight. Texture after 8 hours on low was perfect. I used chicken broth instead of water. It smelled so good while cooking and the flavor didn’t disappoint. Next time I am going to add a little ham. First recipe I tried from this site, I will be coming back!
So delicious and smoky! Threw together in a few minutes. Can’t wait to have it tonight with q crusty loaf of bread. Now, I have to resist further testing for hours, not sure how I’ll manage!
Beth, this looks similar to something that used to be on the website and isn’t anymore. I have read that you keep a pdf of all of your recipes, so hope you still have what I’m  looking for. You had a really good slow cooker recipe, sort of like this one, but you added at some point in the cooking time two italian sausages, I think. If this rings a bell please send my way. Hope you have it and thanks in advance. It was very good!
Hi Sue! Yes, we keep pdf versions of anything removed from the website. That being said, I did not have a slow cooker recipe with Italian sausage. :( That must have been from another website. Sorry I couldn’t help!
Oh no! Thanks for getting back to me, Â I’ll keep looking.
Hi Sue,
Are you possibly talking about Beth’s ZUPPA TOSCANA recipe?
It calls for 1/2 lb. hot or mild Italian sausage.
My now-grown kids LOVE this soup.