Tomato Soup with Beans | Step-by-Step Recipe
Soups·Soups with Grains

Tomato Soup with Beans | Step-by-Step Recipe

Ever since Europeans brought tomatoes back from the New World, using them in cooking has become as common as using beets in Ukrainian borscht. In fact, tomato is a regular ingredient in borscht recipes too. Besides salads and main courses, tomatoes are a great ingredient for soups.

Soups made with tomato are generally called tomato soups, and there are endless variations. I read somewhere that many well-known food brands make canned tomato soups. You can season such soups to taste and serve them hot or cold.

Tomato soup is usually made with tomato paste or very finely chopped tomato pulp. Tomato paste, or simply “tomato”, is made from fresh tomatoes and sold in jars. In essence it is a concentrated tomato product that is ready to cook with.

Most “store-bought” tomato juices are made from tomato paste simply by diluting it. This process is sweetly called “reconstitution”. A less concentrated form is canned tomato pulp, which is very popular in European cuisines, especially Italian.

Often a small amount of tomato in a first course completely changes the flavor of the soup. I remember that as a child I didn't like vegetable soup, but add literally a teaspoon of tomato paste and it became a completely different, pleasant soup.

And I still love tomato juice to this day. At one time our favorite snack to go with it was canned stewed beans in tomato sauce. I don't know why, but I liked the taste despite the frightening list of ingredients. That gave me the idea of cooking a vegetable tomato soup with beans. To jump ahead, it worked, and it was very tasty. Tomato soup with beans is not difficult to make, although the beans take a long time to soak.

Tomato soup with beans

More with tomatoes and beans

Bean Soup Without MeatVegetarian bean soup the Balkan way: soaked dried beans, carrot and celery root fried with onion and tomato, dried mint and savory, fresh tomato at the end.Borscht with Beans on Meat BrothThick homemade borscht with white beans, beets, cabbage and tomato on a rich broth of pork ribs, beef ribs and chicken. Step-by-step recipe with photos.Bob Chorba, Bulgarian Bean SoupBob chorba, a thick, spicy Bulgarian bean soup with carrot, celery, tomato, mint and savory. Simple step-by-step recipe with photos that warms you up.Stewed Beans with Onion and TomatoesStewed red beans with fried onion in fresh tomato sauce with garlic and dill. A simple, filling meatless dish — soak the beans overnight, then 30 mins.Pumpkin Chili with Red Kidney Beans and TomatoesEasy vegetarian pumpkin chili with red kidney beans, tomatoes and mixed hot peppers, spiced with smoked paprika, cumin, cinnamon and a spoonful of cocoa.

Ingredients

2 servings

  • Beans (dried) 1 cup
  • Potatoes 1-2
  • Leek 1
  • Carrot 1
  • Celery 50 g
  • Tomato paste 1 tbsp
  • Butter 1 tbsp
  • Parsley 2-3 sprigs
  • Spices: salt, ground black pepper, nutmeg to taste

Step-by-step recipe

  1. Practically any beans will do, whatever you have. Just keep in mind that colored beans will tint the broth. Beans are slow to cook, so it is best to soak them in cold water for a few hours beforehand. Ideally, soak them overnight. After soaking, drain the water and sort through the beans by hand, looking out for dark spots and little holes, which may be a sign of bean weevils. Throw those beans away. Sorting a cup of beans takes only a few minutes.

    Vegetables and soaked beans.
  2. Bring 1 l of water to a boil in a pot. Add the beans to the boiling water and cook for 15 minutes at a gentle simmer. It is better to cover the pot with a lid.

    Cooking the soaked beans in 1 l of water.
  3. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Add the potatoes to the pot and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.

    Adding diced potatoes to the soup.
  4. While the beans and potatoes are cooking, cut the leek into thin strips (rings). You can use regular onion instead, it doesn't matter much. What matters is to fry and stew the onion in butter. Melt the butter in a frying pan, fry the onion in it, then stew it covered over low heat.

    Frying the leek in butter.
  5. After 10 minutes, add the finely chopped celery root and the carrot, cut into cubes or small pieces of any shape. Stew covered until the beans and potatoes are cooked. The onion and carrot should cook for 30 minutes in total. If the beans are not done by then, just take the pan off the heat and leave it covered.

    Frying the carrot and celery.
  7. As soon as the beans are cooked, add the stewed onion and vegetables to the soup pot. Add a pinch of nutmeg (a knife tip), a little salt and pepper. Don't forget that tomato paste is usually already a bit salty. Let the soup simmer for a few minutes.

    Adding the stewed vegetables to the soup.
  8. Add 1 tbsp of tomato paste, not heaped. As soon as the tomato soup with beans comes back to a boil, add the final salt.

    Adding 1 tbsp of tomato paste to the soup.
  9. Add finely chopped parsley to the tomato soup with beans and simmer it gently for 5 minutes.

    Simmering the tomato soup with beans for a few minutes.
  10. The tomato soup with beans is ready.

    Ladling the bean soup into bowls.
  11. Tomato soup with beans is best eaten right away, without reheating.
  12. Serve the soup with fresh bread. I also recommend salo with garlic, which is very tasty.

    Tomato soup with beans
Made it? Rate this recipe
Thanks for rating! 📷 Tell us how it turned out

Recipe facts
Yield:2 servings
Calories:49 kcal per 100 g
Prep time:20 mins (not counting soaking the beans)
Cooking time:60 mins
Total time:1 h 20 mins (not counting soaking the beans)
Category:Soups › Soups with Grains
Cuisine:European
Rating:
4.5 (11)
Tell us how it turned out! Your review will help others:

The maximum upload file size: 10 MB. You can upload: image. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop file here