Garlic Soup with Beans and Bacon
By Lee Jackson ↣ Published on: December 27, 2024
This heathy and hearty French garlic soup with beans and bacon is a warm welcome for lunch or dinner. Creamy white beans with a fragrant note of garlic and pops of salty smoked bacon make for a taste and textural treat.
There's something so comforting about this super simple French inspired soup. Based on a classic Sout-Western French garlic soup (soup à l'ail), I incorporate salty pops of bacon to add even more flavour. This is a wonderful bowl of warmth on the coldest of cold days and them aromas wafting throughout the house a tempting sign of what's to come.
It's a simple soup to put together, all I need to do is remember to soak the beans the night before and then the rest is plain sailing. Ready for a bowl of healthy garlic soup?
What's Ahead?
Why it works?
Garlic might not be your first choice when it comes to a soup, but boy does it deliver on flavour without a hint of strong garlic. This soup is simple, healthy and hearty - I add bacon to my recipe because I love the pops of salty smokiness they bring. I also love this soup because it's really easy to make. All you need is patience - it's worth the wait.
Stuff You'll Need
There are only a few ingredients to the soup, nothing too taxing to get hold of. Here's what you'll need.
- Bacon - I like to use a smoked bacon slab and cut it into lardons. You can of course buy lardons or use any kind of bacon you can get hold of. You may also choose Italian pancetta or guanciale or maybe just a piece of salt pork. You get the idea... bacon!
- Garlic - lots of it. A whole bulb which usually means about 12 cloves, just use a whole bulb and you'll be good. It brings all the fragrance and flavour to the soup so don't wimp out, it mellows completely.
- Onion - to help add a little sweet backbone to the soup.
- Beans - Use a dried white bean like Navy, Haricot, Cannellini etc. Remember to soak them the night before.
- Thyme - I like a little herbal note to the soup. Thyme is good, but I'll often substitute it for whatever I have such as oregano, marjoram, tarragon, sage, bay leaves and rosemary.
- Chicken stock - a good broth is needed so use a home made one or a good quality store-bought. Buy reduced sodium to help you control the saltiness of the soup.
Step by Step
Putting the soup together is not difficult, but requires a little time and patience. The first step (not shown) is to soak your beans overnight. A good 12 hours in plenty of cold water. The beans swell to twice their size so cover them with a lot of water to account for this. Once soaked it's all plain sailing from here...
- Step 1 - Fry the lardons in a dry pan to let them leech out their smoky salty fat. Remove the lardons and leave the fat in the pan.
- Step 2 - Saute the onions, garlic and thyme in a pan until soft and fragrant.
- Step 3 - Add the beans and stir well to coat in all that flavour.
- Step 4 - Add the stock and simmer gently for 2½ - 3 hours until the beans are creamy without a hint of chalkiness.
That's it, remove from the heat and return the lardons to the soup and stir through. Serve with lots of crusty bread.
Top toppings
- A drizzle of oil - A drizzle of olive oil or the traditional French walnut oil if you can get hold of some.
- Say fromage - If you want even more flavour, crumble in a small amount of Roquefort blue or crumbly Cantal cheese.
- Croutons - of baked or fried bread are a great choice too. Toss them in a little crumbled dried thyme for even more floral notes.
Storage Suggestions
- Fridge - This soup will be good in the fridge for 5-6 days in an airtight container. Reheat gently in a pan or microwave until piping hot.
- Freezer - this is a good option for this soup; in an airtight container it'll be good for 3+ months. Defrost completely first the reheat in a pan or microwave until piping hot.
Ready to get cooking?
Garlic is the perfect ingredient for a soup. It brings all the flavour without being overpowering in the slightest. Mellow fragrance and a silky, creamy broth with pops of salty umami make for a truly delicious soup. It'll warm the coldest of hearts! Hope you enjoy the recipe.
More French recipes
If you liked this recipe for garlic soup, I'm sure you'll love some more of my flavourite French recipes.
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Ingredients
- 7 oz smoked bacon lardons (200g)
- 12 oz dried Navy beans (350g) (soaked overnight in plenty of cold water)
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 1 garlic bulb (around 12 cloves, peeled & chopped)
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 4½ cups chicken stock
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Soak the beans in a large bowl filled with water (they'll double in size, so be sure to use enough water).
- After soaking, drain and rinse the beans and set aside.
- If you're using a slab of bacon, cut it into cubes (lardons). Add them to a large pan and turn on the heat to medium. Let the lardons fry gently to release their fat. After about 10 minutes, remove the lardons from the pan and set aside. Keep the fat in the pan.
- Over the same medium heat, add the onion and garlic and thyme leaves and saute gently for about 5 minutes until the onions are soft and the raw garlic smell is gone.
- Add the beans to the pan and stir well to coat in the onion mixture.
- Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and put on a lid. Gently simmer the soup for 2½-3 hours, until the beans are completely soft. This time can fluctuate depending on the size of your beans. When the beans are creamy inside without any chalkiness, they're done. Remove from the heat.
- Season generously with salt (at least 1 tsp) and plently of black pepper.
- Return the fried lardons to the soup and stir through. You're ready to serve. I like to serve mine with crusty bread and a thin drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or walnut oil.
Notes
- A drizzle of oil - A drizzle of olive oil or the traditional French walnut oil if you can get hold of some.
- Say fromage - If you want even more flavour, crumble in a small amount of Roquefort blue or crumbly Cantal cheese.
- Croutons - of baked or fried bread are a great choice too. Toss them in a little crumbled dried thyme for even more floral notes.
- Fridge - This soup will be good in the fridge for 5-6 days in an airtight container. Reheat gently in a pan or microwave until piping hot.
- Freezer - this is a good option for this soup; in an airtight container it'll be good for 3+ months. Defrost completely first the reheat in a pan or microwave until piping hot.
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Thanks for your kind comment, so glad you’ve discovered the site! Tell all your friends!! :)