This easy Navy Bean Soup slow cooker version is really easy to make! Just dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker and 5 hours later, you will have a hearty vegan navy bean soup.
Don’t you just love soups that practically make themselves?
I love recipes that I can drop into a slow cooker and do my chores while it cooks in the kitchen
This navy bean soup slow cooker version is the perfect “dump and cook” type of soup.
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What spices do you put in navy bean soup?
– Dill
– Parsley
– Lemon Pepper
– Thyme
– Cloves
– Cayenne Pepper
– Mushrooms
– Bell Peppers
Tips for making this navy bean soup in the slow cooker
– Make sure your carrots are thinly diced. I kept mine thick and it took much longer to cook them. I think if you can get your carrots to be as thin as a quarter, it will be perfect
– Finely dice the artichoke hearts
– You can also use an immersion blender to mash parts of the soup. Be sure to not mash everything because you will have a creamy, blended soup.
– Use a small, round sweet potato in this recipe. If you want tips on how to pick the perfect sweet potato, check out my tips on baking the perfect sweet potato.
– I am not a fan of using veggie broth or broth of any kind in any of my cooking. I used rice water in this recipe and have used coconut water in the past. If you don’t have a problem using broth, use it in place of rice water.
P/s: Here is how I easily make rice water
– You can use a pressure cooker instead of slow cooker to make this navy bean soup. Choose the “Beans” option on your pressure cooker or instant pot. Add the coconut milk at the very end
Do you have to soak the navy beans before cooking?
Yes, if you are cooking the navy bean soup stove top. Since it takes a long time to cook dry navy beans, its easier to pre-soak them and cooking them. Place about 5 cups of water to 1 cup of dry navy beans on the stove top. Cook for 2 hours or until they can be mushed easily
Navy bean soup slow cooker version doesn’t require soaked navy beans. You can add about 1 cup of navy beans to the slow cooker along with the other ingredients and set it to cook on high. It will take about 6-7 hours to fully cook it.
Or, you could do what I did and cook with canned navy beans which save so much time! Sometimes, its fun to take a few shortcuts.
Why are they called Navy Beans?
They are called navy beans because it is a huge part of the diet for members of the US Navy. According to Wikipedia, it is a popular ingredient in their recipes in the 20th century.
There are several other theories out there on why they are called navy beans. However, the US Navy version is the widely accepted version.
You can also substitute Navy beans with white beans, cannellini beans, pea beans or go outside the box and use some red beans.
What can you make with Navy Beans?
Parsley Hummus (Substitute chick peas with navy beans)
…. and of course, Ribollita!
What other soup recipes do you recommend?
This navy bean soup recipe is just one comforting soup recipe in a long line of soups recipes on Healing Tomato! Why do I have so many soup recipes, especially if I am living in Florida?
That’s because I LOOOOVE soups.
The one thing downside to living in Florida is that our soup season is very short. I consider Florida soup season to be about 1 month long. The soup season in NJ used to last about 3 months and it gave me a chance to try several recipes.
So, with a short soup season, I cram about 20 recipes into the season because I can’t get enough of soups. Here are some of my favorite soup recipes
Avocado Soup
This is a soup where I put cream cheese (sub with vegan cream cheese) and avocado together in a soup recipe and it was the best soup recipe ever! Add a little spice by throwing in some jalapeno
Healing Tomato Soup
This soup is very near and dear to my heart. Its made with freshly roasted campari tomatoes (my favorite tomatoes) and roasted red bell pepper. Together, they come together to make a hearty soup recipe that is simply irresistible.
Pumpkin Soup with Butter Beans
This pumpkin soup is not an ordinary pumpkin soup. I added butter beans which are the larger version of navy beans to the soup and it gave the soup an amazing texture.
Sweet Potato Soup
This sweet potato soup has ginger in it which adds a nice spice to it. The soup takes very little effort to make which is good because you don’t want to spend hours cooking it when you would rather enjoy eating it.
Now, it’s your turn to tell me what soup you would recommend. What’s your favorite soup recipe to make?
Navy Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 Tbsp ginger crushed
- 1/4 cup celery finely diced
- 1/4 cup red onions finely diced
- 1 can navy beans I used a 16oz can
- 1 sweet potato
- 1/4 cup artichoke hearts finely diced
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 1/2 cup diced tomatoes from a can
- 2 tsp dill
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 Tbsp lemon pepper
- 1 Tbsp thyme dried
- 1 Tbsp parsley dried
- 5 cloves
- 2.5 tsp salt adjust to taste
- 1/2 cup rice water or broth of your choice
- 2.5 cup water
- 1.5 cup coconut milk
Instructions
- Set your crock pot or slow cooker on high settings and heat for 5 minutes
- Add the oil, garlic and ginger
- Add the onions and celery
- Cook for about 7 minutes or until they have softened
- Add the remaining ingredients (except coconut milk) in the order listed
- Mix well and close the lid to the slow cooker
- Cook for about 5 hours or until the carrots and sweet potatoes have cooked
- Using a potato masher, gently mash some of the soup
- Add the coconut milk and mix well
- Close the lid and cook for about 30 more minutes
- Serve the soup immediately
Have quesitions? Tried a recipe? Want to voice an opinion?