lassic bean soup; who doesn’t love it? Every country seems to have on or more versions of this comforting soup. So does the Netherlands. This Dutch bean soup is from a recipe from my own family. The exact recipe changes per area in the Netherlands but also per family of course. Dutch people see this as a winter dish; but with the Dutch rainy weather that often also means the spring and fall.
The ingredients for the Dutch bean soup.
he ingredients for this delicious bean soup are very budget friendly. Easily available world wide except the Dutch smoked sausage. This can be easily replaced or just left out of the dish though. If you are vegan/vegetarian you can just let the meat out in general of course. Originally the Dutch bean soup had pork meat in it, only in the 1900’s became adding smoked sausage popular making it a true 20th century recipe.
Beans: For this soup ‘brown beans’ are used. It’s part of Phaseolus vulgaris. From a pot or canned; but prepared from dried is also possible. If you use dried beans use 450 grams and let them soak a night. If you can’t find brown beans you can use a mix of beans. Brown beans have a softer shell then kidney beans and black beans, but a more earthy taste then white beans, that’s why a mix is recommended.
You have to mash the beans with a ‘stamppotstamper’ Dutch people also use for ‘Stamp’ (see recipes). It’s a fun old tool I really recommend to have in your kitchen. But if you don’t then a short whirl with a blender or painstakingly going at town with them with a ladle/spoon is possible too.
Sausage: The recipe uses ‘Rookworst‘. A really popular Dutch smoked sausage that you can even buy vegan, vegetarian, halal and kosher. Made popular by the Dutch store HEMA you can even find clothing and household items with the Rookworst on it. You also often find them at stores outside the Netherlands that sell original Dutch products. If you don’t have access to it then your local smoked sausage will do too. The texture of a Rookworst looks a lot like a hot dog sausage. If you don’t have smoked sausages; a regular sausage and some smoked chili/paprika powder can do the trick.
Smallage: For the smallage or leaf cellery you could also use parsley.
Things to add to the soup after serving.
Mustard: Dutch people often use ‘Zaanse mosterd’ (see background of the pictures) which is a coarse sharp mustard with whole mustard seeds in it. You could use spicy brown mustard.
Pickled goods: Dutch sweet and sour pickles and sweet and sour onions or Amsterdam onions go well with this dish.
Other: If there is still not enough meat in this for you, you could add crunchy bacon bits. Some cream also tastes great in this Dutch bean soup. You can eat it with a chunk of bread to make it a bigger meal.
Dutch bean soup
6
servings5
minutes15
minutes555
kcalIngredients
1 liter 33 7/8 fl oz Broth in your preferred way (cubes, pot, powder, homemade etc)
1 1 Leek
1 bushel 1 bushel Smallage/Leaf Cellery
1 1 Rookworst/Smoked Sausage (around 285 grams)
250 grams 8 7/8 oz Pork Belly
1000 grams 4 1/4 cups Brown Beans
1 1 Carrot
2 2 Bay Leaves
Directions
- Chop the leek in rings and dice the carrot. Add the beans to a pan and mash them with a stamper/ladl/fork, or blend with a little bit of water.
- Add the leek, carrot, broth and bay leaves to the pan and cook for 10 minutes.
- Mince the smallage, dice the sausage and pork belly. Add these for another 5 minutes. Bring to taste with salt and pepper.
Nutrition Facts
- Total number of serves: 1
- Calories: 555kcal
- Fat: 29.5g
- Carbohydrates: 46.5g
- Protein: 28.6g
