Three-Bean Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why do you add vinegar to bean soup? ›

Wait until the beans are tender but not quite done to add a splash of apple cider vinegar and a couple teaspoons of salt to the pot. The apple cider vinegar breaks down indigestible sugars to help digestion and also brightens the flavor of the beans without the need for excess salt.

Soup Thickening Method: Cornstarch Slurry

Cornstarch is flavorless, easy to mix up, and versatile, which makes it a go-to pantry ingredient. I made a classic slurry by whisking cornstarch and hot broth until smooth in a small bowl.

Each serving of this product provides 20% or more of the recommended daily value for fiber. Dietary fiber aids digestion and makes you feel full faster, so it can help you maintain a healthy weight.

Not Adding Acid

If a soup is tasting bland in the bowl, consider adding acid rather than salt. A squeeze of lemon or lime, or a dash of yogurt or sour cream can add brightness to the bowl.

But that's exactly why you don't want to simply transfer your pot of soaked beans to the stove and start cooking them: By cooking the legumes in their soaking water, you'll ultimately still be ingesting the raffinose that transferred to the water.

While not every recipe calls for soaking beans before cooking them, if beans give you gas, soaking can help. Soaking overnight and then discarding the soaking water leaches out sugars in beans that are responsible for gas production.

It's important to note that cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch.

Prepare a roux.

A roux is equal parts flour and butter. Add flour to melted butter over medium-low heat, and cook the mixture until it's light brown. Whisk the hot liquid into the roux; use two ounces of roux for every cup of liquid. This method is excellent for creamy bean soups.

Use starches to thicken beans

Simply add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 1 cup of water or to the liquid from the baked beans (scoop it out into a separate bowl and let it cool first) and mix. Once the starch is thoroughly incorporated, pour the slurry into the baked beans dish and stir.

Research shows that consuming a cup of legumes every day is effective in reducing blood sugar levels (7). Helps fight cancer. Beans contain several phenolic compounds that have potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

What is the healthiest soup you can eat? ›

It may sound a bit strange and unusual for some, but vinegar is a common ingredient in some soup recipes, and there is a good reason for it. If you think about it, vinegar is really a flavor-enhancer (umami). That's why it is so often used in cooking, sauces, and salad dressings. The same is true with soups.

But you can tailor your embellishments to the bean, for example, using cumin and smoky ham to flavor a black bean soup garnished with sour cream and cilantro, or sweet pepper and onion confit spiked with ancho chile powder.

Adding Vinegar in Soup

It may sound a bit strange and unusual for some, but vinegar is a common ingredient in some soup recipes, and there is a good reason for it. If you think about it, vinegar is really a flavor-enhancer (umami). That's why it is so often used in cooking, sauces, and salad dressings.

Acids such as vinegar make hemicelluloses more stable and less soluble, which might slow down the softening of beans. So to make sure your red beans are at their creamiest, add the vinegar later in the cooking process, or just use it to season them at the table.

#3 - Soak and rinse beans

An added tbsp of vinegar in the water can also help, as can changing the water a few times [6]. Using hot water can speed the process too. Soaking can reduce the amount of oligosaccharides in them. Cook the soaked beans in fresh water (not the water they have been soaked in!)

Cider vinegar added at the end balances the flavor profile. It's important not to add vinegar until the end so as to maintain the mixture's pH balance throughout the cooking process.