Gluten Free Recipe for Spicy 13 Bean Soup

Can you imagine a soup made with thirteen different beans? I recently made this Spicy 13 Bean soup from a Bob’s Red Mill 29 ounce mix that includes navy, black, red, pinto, baby limas, large limas, garbanzo, red lentils, great northern, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, yellow splits, green splits, and lentils. It only includes beans and has no seasoning packet. You could always put together your own mix of beans. Use a kitchen scale and combine an assortment of different beans until they weigh 29 ounces.

In my last post, I shared a gluten free recipe for Parker House rolls. I also mentioned, though didn't include the recipe, a Spicy 13 bean soup. But one of my readers asked for the recipe and I told her I would post about it shortly.

This is one of those soups that gets better after a few days in the frig. And though you couldn’t tell from today (a warm fall day in New England), the weather has started to get a little chillier and there’s nothing like a hot bowl of soup on a chilly evening.

I’m sure it could be made in a slow cooker, but I was home for the day so I decided to make it on the stove in one of my coveted cast iron soup pots. If you’re in the mood to experiment, add your own stamp to this recipe by changing the vegetables, and/or adding rice or noodles.

Spicy 13 Bean Soup

1 package Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (with chilies, optional)
1 cup tvp (textured vegetable protein)
1 medium chopped onion
2 small chopped zucchini
4 medium diced carrots
1 diced celery stalk
2 minced garlic cloves
8 cups water
2 tsp bouillion powder (I love Better Than Bouillion)
½ tsp chipotle powder or regular chili powder
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
optional: add a few cups of chopped greens (spinach, kale, chard, collards) during last 15 minutes of cooking

Rinse and soak beans overnight in water, drain. Add beans and all other ingredients to a large soup pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a slow simmer. Cook until beans and veggies are done. When I made this soup, it took about three hours from start to finish, not including soaking of the beans.

Click here for printable recipe