The Best BEAN And Smoked Meat Soup You Need!

Ely

January 17, 2025
1 min read

A delicious traditional Romanian bean soup, always served with red onion salad, perfect for cold winter days!

Bean and Smoked Meat Soup with Red Onion Salad

Recipe by ElyCourse: Pork u0026amp; Beef, Soups, Traditional recipesCuisine: RomanianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hour

minutes

Calories

200

kcal

Total time

hours

minutes

Bean soup is generally cooked in winter. It is a thick, aromatic soup, full of smoked meat and vegetables. It’s exactly that kind of soup, after which you eat dessert straight away, you don’t need anything else. Of course, the recipe differs from one area to another. Bean soup can be soured with sauerkraut juice, add broth or paprika. In some areas, it is eaten with sour cream, and when preparing it, cumin seeds are added. I invite you to follow my version for this delicious bean soup.

Ingredients

350-400 g dry beans (rehydrated overnight)
700 g of smoked meat (or smoked ribs, smoked sausages)
200 g leeks
150 g carrots (2 medium carrots)
80 g of celery root
80 g parsnip root
150 g of red pepper
150 ml tomato paste (I ended up using homemade tomato sauce)
salt, and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme (start with half, or none at all if you don’t like the taste)
3 red onions (for the salad)
1 tablespoon oil (for the salad)
2 tablespoons vinegar (for the salad)
salt, and pepper to taste

Directions

Smoked pork is used very often in Romanian traditional cuisine, especially in the cold season. Soups with smoked meat are extremely popular, as is the bean soup that I prepared here. If it seems to you that there is too much meat, it is not at all because the bone is lost, and the well-cooked smoked meat is added and cut back into the soup.
I washed the smoked meat with slightly warm water. I then placed it in a large pot, filled the pot with cold water and put it to boil. The foam formed on the surface, from the moment it starts to boil, I removed it as many times as necessary. Depending on what meat you use, the cooking time may vary. I boiled this meat for about 1 hour and a half.
In a smaller pot, I also put the beans to boil. I changed the water 3 times, after 2-3 minutes of boiling. Then I let the beans boil almost completely. I drained it but did not throw away the water in which it boiled. This water contains all the taste of beans and I will add it over the meat in the pot, a little later. During this time, I also took care of the vegetables, which I chopped finely, except for the red onion for the salad, which I cut into thin slices.
After the meat was cooked very well, I added the pre-boiled beans, and the chopped vegetables (except the red onion) and topped up with the water in which I boiled the beans. I let everything boil completely, at the end I added the tomato sauce, and dried thyme, and seasoned it with salt and pepper. If you want to add greens, you can opt for dill, but I added leustean (an aromatic herb used especially in sour soups).
While I waited for the bean soup to cool down, I prepared the red onion salad. Nothing simpler! On top of the sliced red onion, I added salt and mixed it a little directly with my hand, in this way, the onion will soften a little. I then added the oil and vinegar, mixed everything, and left it aside for at least 10 minutes. This salad is very tasty, and in combination with the bean soup it is wonderful.
For the sake of the picture, I kept the smoked meat exactly as it was, with the bone. Of course, after that, I deboned the meat and added it back to the bean soup. It is much easier to eat a soup full of pieces of meat than to sit and break the bone. If you haven’t tried this soup yet, I advise you to do so. It is a delicious comfort soup, thick, and aromatic, which you will definitely add to your recipes. See you at the next recipe!