Crock Pot Italian Cannellini Bean Soup is savory and hearty and just the thing to warm you up in the dog days of winter.
Crock Pot Italian Cannellini Bean Soup
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
There may not actually be a dog days of winter per se, but once the New Year rolls around with the same Old Year weather, we all know we are quite ready for it to end, even though we may well have a couple more months of it to deal with. So plodding along, we knock the days down one by one, waiting for the snows to retreat and the green of Spring to tentatively peek out from beneath, hopefully finding enough sun to joyfully burst forth with enthusiastic growth.
But for now, we work hard at keeping our New Year’s resolutions, try to stay warm, and artfully dodge the cabin fever that stealthily sets in. And one great way to stay warm is with a piping hot bowl of savory soup easily made from your crock pot or slow cooker. Great for the work week when we are all a little short on time, it is hearty, and filling, yet light and healthy.
I hope you enjoy!
~Sue
Crock Pot Italian Cannellini Bean Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 pound dry cannellini beans or other white beans
- 1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage
- 4 ounces chopped smoked turkey or smoked ham
- 1 ham bone
- 6 cups water
- 3 teaspoons chicken base or 3 chicken bouillon cubes
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 cup diced Italian tomatoes with juice
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried sweet basil
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
Method:
- Soak beans in water overnight, or cover with 2 inches water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, boil three minutes, then shut off heat, cover and let sit undisturbed for one hour.
- Cook sausage until crumbled and brown; drain any fat.
- Drain soaking/quick soak water from beans and place beans in the crock pot along with remaining ingredients (except chopped Italian parsley- save that until the soup is done).
- Cover crock and cook on high for 6 hours.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com

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This looks delicious but I have to ask: what is the reasoning behind putting baking soda in the soup? I’ve only used it before for baking.
Meghan, adding the baking soda ensures the beans are very tender.
Thanks for letting me know. You can still learn something new every day!