Slow Cooker Bean Soup with Tomato (Dump and Run)
Slow cooker bean soup, a hearty, delicious and very simple vegan dish given a huge flavour boost by sun-dried tomatoes and balsamic vinegar.
This recipe is so easy, all you need to do is soak the beans, then chop the ingredients, chuck them in the crock pot and come back later, a real dump and run winner!
Crock Pot Bean and Tomato Soup
I love cooking with beans, they are cheap, nutritious, versatile and really tasty.
They appear in vegan soups like this slow cooker tomato and bean soup, my cabbage and white bean soup and spicy black bean soup.
They also help make meat go further in my very Hungarian babgulyas or bean goulash or Spanish-influenced chorizo and butter bean stew!
I've even made them the star in my butter bean curry and the classic rajma masala curry.
I use raw cannellini beans in this recipe and soak them overnight, then chuck a load of ingredients in the slow cooker and walk away.
Yes, this dish is a "dump and run" recipe!
Then I come back, chuck in some more ingredients and walk away again.
Add some bread, and your dinner is served.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use tinned beans?
Yes, but with a caveat! Using dried beans adds a depth and richness to the body of this soup that you will not get using pre-cooked beans.
You can add some of the liquid from the can of the beans, but this only goes part of the way. You also need to be very careful about salt when doing this.
If you are going to use canned beans in this Crockpot bean soup, then you want 2 400g (14oz) tins of beans.
To cook simply throw everything in a slow cooker and cook on high for an hour.
What is tomato passata?
Tomato passata is crushed, sieved tomatoes; it is often labelled as passata in the US.
How long will this soup last?
It will save in the fridge for 5-7 days and should be reheated as it is needed.
Does the size of a slow cooker really matter?
Yes, a slow cooker needs a body of ingredients to cook efficiently and not dry out.
Increasing the size of this recipe has no impact on the cooking time. So if you want to scale this up for a larger slow cooker, then feel free.
Can I throw the passata and balsamic in with the beans?
Yes, but I prefer the fresher flavour you get by adding them later in the cooking process.
Can I cook this on the stovetop?
Yes, follow the general instructions here, but cook the beans for 2-3 hours on a low heat until they are cooked.
Then throw in the passata and balsamic vinegar and cook for another 20-30 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
This simple slow cooker bean and tomato soup needs only one thing, as far as I am concerned. That is bread!
I tend to toast off some ciabatta bread in a griddle pan with a little olive oil, then scrape it with a garlic clove.
If you are not sticking to a vegan diet, then some cheesy garlic bread goes with this wonderfully. As does a few parmesan shavings to garnish.
However, if you are vegan, then this vegan garlic bread works exceptionally well!
Equipment Used
I only recommend brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- 2.4 Litre Slow Cooker.
- Kitchen knife.
- Chopping board.
- 1-2 litre mixing bowl for soaking beans.
- A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons.
Vegan Slow Cooker Tomato and Bean Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 175 g Dried Cannellini Beans ¾ Cup
- 1 Small Onion 100g
- 1 Small-Medium Carrot 100g
- 2 Medium Celery Sticks 100g
- 100 g Sundried Tomatoes in Oil ½ Cup
- 4 Garlic Cloves
- 750 ml Vegetable Stock 3 Cups
- 1 tablespoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 500 ml Tomato Passata 2 Cups
- 2 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
- Salt (as required)
Instructions
- Place the beans in a large bowl and cover them with around 1 litre (1 quart) of water, and allow them to sit for at least 3 hours, 8-12 hours is better.
- Chop the onion in half, peel it and cut it into a 2-3mm (⅛") dice.
- Cut the carrot into a 2-3mm (⅛") dice.
- Cut the celery into a 2-3mm (⅛") dice.
- Peel the garlic and dice it as finely as you can.
- Cut the sundried tomatoes into a 5-6mm (¼") dice.
- Throw the onions, carrot, celery, sundried tomatoes, garlic, vegetable stock, oregano and bay leaf into a 3-4 litre slow cooker and stir.
- Drain the beans and add them to the slow cooker. Add the lid and cook on low for 7 hours.
- After 7 hours, pour in the tomato passata, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar and stir, return the lid and cook for a final hour.
Unfortunately, this recipe is not a keeper for us. After 10 hours on low and an hour on high, the beans were still not quite soft, but the rest of the soup was turned into mush and tasted very bland.
Hi Katharina... I'm sorry to hear this and I have no idea what went wrong because I cook this all of the time, it's one of my go to winter dishes that we have for lunch.
However I will try to troubleshoot a few things.
1) Did you soak the beans? failing to do this will have an impact on the cooking.
2) Did you use old beans? I've had the occasional packet of beans that I've pulled form the back of the cupboard to use them up and they would not cook no matter what I did with them.
3) What size slow cooker did you use? If you used a large (5-6 litre) family slow cooker the beans will not be sat in enough liquid to cook them.
Szervusz csillagom!
Where in Hungary? My people are from the northeast ! Absolutely loved visiting there. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hey Andy... We are on the edge of the Alföld in the countryside about halfway between Budapest and Debrecen, glad you enjoyed the soup 🙂
Hi is there other beans you can use? I am in the UK and want to try this recipe
He Amanda, I'm from the UK too 🙂 You can use practically any beans you want in this dish, it is all very fluid so go float aroud the supermarket and see what takes your fancy. They often sell mixed bags of dried beans and they would bee perfect, you may need to adjust the timing though although you will not be able to overcook in the crockpot so put it on nice and early and see how it goes 🙂
Classics are classic for a reason. This sounds delicious.
I'll disagree (a little) about the beans, though. I love finding how different a recipe can be when I just change the beans.It usually has to be a bit more of a jump, though - you're talking about various kinds of white beans, and I'll use navy beans and it will essentially be the same - but then I'll use black beans and it will be different, and red beans will be different, and chick peas... Though then, they all beg for slightly different seasoning, which changes them still further!
Disagreeing is allowed Anne, no one has all of the answers... I find it makes very little difference to what I cook, however would never sub out the sort of beans I typically make stuff like this with for chickpeas which I find completely different beasties altogether 🙂
Teeheee, I would kill for a Curry plant, it really holds me back on cooking Indian food and cannot get one for love nor money over here, I have tried 🙁
I keep seeing a 15 bean thing in US recipes and am very confused by it all, we grow 3-4 different types of beans as conditions in different years produce massively different yields... I usually don't think twice about the time of bean I use other than size to be honest.
You're making me wish I owned a crock pot! 🙂 Looks so delicious!
Cheers chap, you could do this in a really low oven for the same time and get the same results... A crockpot is just a much more energy efficient way of cooking 🙂
I just grew my first tomatoes this past summer. Does that mean a mud hut is less than 5 years out? Hahaha This is a great way to use up the odds and ends of random dried beans left from other recipes, thank you!
Haha, be afraid be very afraid 😉 We scaled back our tomato production the last couple of years after accidentally growing 300kg of them a couple of years back, we are still using up the tomato sauce we made to preserve them 😮
I asked my mom last night what her favorite comfort food was and she said ham and bean soup. I'm totally forwarding this recipe to her cause I know she loves to rock her crock pot!
Your Mom has great taste 😀 I love ham and bean soup too and make one using smoked Ham Hock that really is special. Hope your Mom enjoys the recipe!
There's nothing better than coming home to a slow cooker full of soup. I can't wait to try your recipe!
'Souper' Kathy, please let me know how you get on.
We love crock pot soups, and this one sounds fabulous! I love how hearty it looks.
Cheers Chris, us too! Such a wonderful lazy but seriously tasty way of cooking!
I've got a bunch of dried beans in the pantry and this would be a great recipe except that I can't take Worcestershire sauce for the anchovies. What else could I use?
Interesting question, I've never considered people not liking Worcestershire sauce it is such a favourite in our house 😉 It would change the dish massively but you could use something like Balsamic vinegar that will give the dish a rich, almost sweet and malty back flavour although you may want to leave off the capers in that case and maybe go for a garlic crouton...
I can't imagine how good this is with all of your homegrown ingredients!! Looks amazing!
Thanks Whitney, it is noce to still be cooking our own produce at this time of year, sometimes it does not work out that way but our harvest has been great this year!
This sure looks like one hearty soup. I probably have said this many times... I need to get myself a slow cooker.
Thank you, I love my Slow Cooker, opens up so many lazy day options and is a really frugal way of cooking 🙂
I have experimented alot lately with my Crockpot and this recipe will definitely be made this Winter!!
It certainly is crockpot season for us, I love the chuck it all in and having something big hearty and warm ready for days on end 🙂
Love, love, love this 🙂 I'm a huge fan of bean soup, and making it in the slow cooker is so tasty 🙂 A slow simmer...and dinner is served. And your colors in this photo are just beautiful 🙂
Thanks Paige it really is a simple dish and it tastes fabulous, all boxes ticked on a lazy day for me 🙂
That is deliciously straightforward soup! (I totally expected sambal oelek to be in the ingredient list!) I envy you your mud hut.
Cheers Jeff, whilst I am a fan of adding the exotic to some of my food I love getting back to the stuff that comes out of my garden sometimes 🙂