Pinto Bean and Sausage Soup

The woman who owned and made the soups at my favorite deli was retiring. I asked her why, and she said, 'I'm an old lady, I'm tired of getting up early for work.' She gave me the recipe to one of my favorites. I made a few tweaks, it's DELICIOUS.

• Preparation Time: 20 mins
• Cooking Time: 2 hr
• Total Time: 2 hr 20 mins
• Calories: 444 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 1 ½ cups dried pinto beans
• ½ teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
• 4 potatoes, diced
• 1 (13 ounce) package smoked sausage

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source.

Step 2

Cover pinto beans with water in a bowl and allow to soak overnight. Drain.

Step 3

Melt butter in a 6-quart stock pot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion and celery in butter until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Step 4

Stir garlic into onion mixture until fragrant, about 1 minute more.

Step 5

Stir beef broth, tomato juice, sugar, and drained pinto beans into the vegetable mixture and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Step 6

Mix potatoes, carrots, oregano, salt, and black pepper into the bean soup; simmer until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes more.

Step 7

Place smoked sausage on a baking sheet.

Step 8

Bake sausage in the preheated oven until browned, about 10 minutes.

Step 9

Cut sausage into quarters, then slice. Add sausage and parsley to the soup; continue to simmer for 10 more minutes.