Navy Bean Soup (Slow Cooker)

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.

Tips for making this soup

– 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.

Spices for navy bean soup

– Dill

– Parsley

– Lemon Pepper

– Thyme

– Cloves

– Cayenne Pepper

– Mushrooms

– Bell Peppers

Is it necessary to soak beans?

Soaking beans, whether they are navy beans, lentils or other grains, it is a good idea to soak them. Soaking them makes them softer and also takes away some of the lectins.

Cooking the navy bean soup stove top definetly requires pre-soaking.  Since it takes a long time to cook dry navy beans, speed up the process by pre-soaking them.

Navy bean soup slow cooker version doesn’t require soaked navy beans. But, I will sometimes soak them overnight night for nutritional benefits.

Cooking dry beans

• 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
• To slow cook them, add 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

Navy Beans Salad

Vegan Baked Beans

Couscous Salad

3 Bean Chili

Parsley Hummus (Substitute chick peas with navy beans)

…. and of course, Ribollita!

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Navy Bean Soup

Rini

Quick, easy crock pot Navy Bean Soup recipe

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 5 hrs 30 mins

Total Time 5 hrs 50 mins

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Servings 3 people

Calories 391 kcal

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
  

Video

Notes

– Make sure you thinly slice the carrots.  Otherwise, it may take longer than 5 hours to cook the soup

– I prefer rice water in place of veggie broth.  Use your choice of broth or even coconut water will do the trick

– The video shows that the artichoke is roughly chopped.  Hopefully, you don’t make the same mistake I made.  Be sure to dice artichoke finely before adding to the soup

 

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