This hearty chicken and pinto bean soup will warm you to the bone!
Chicken - Dinner - Food - Slow Cooker - Soup

Hearty Chicken and Pinto Bean Soup

Last updated on March 19, 2021 by Liza Hawkins

This hearty chicken and pinto bean soup is the perfect cold weather comfort meal. It warms you to the bone and is super versatile. Cook it stove-top, in your Instant Pot, or all day in the slow cooker like I’ve shown here. Change up the spices, or give it a punch of flavor by adding a mix of herbs and spices!

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This hearty chicken and pinto bean soup will warm you to the bone!

A few years ago for Christmas we decided to cut back on material gifts to our families.

I mean, my parents and my in-laws don’t actually *need* anything, and (in the name of downsizing) prefer not to be given more “things” to clutter up their houses.

So, instead, we got creative!

At the time, we lived on the same property as my parents and my grandfather, and in lieu of traditional holiday gifts we decided to give them once-a-month Sunday suppers, cooked and delivered by none other than yours truly.

January’s meal was vegetarian lasagna rolls and a spinach salad dressed with a simple homemade lemon vinaigrette.

February’s meal was a hearty chicken and pinto bean soup made in the slow cooker, paired with an artisan loaf of warm, crusty bread.

This hearty chicken and pinto bean soup will warm you to the bone!

Perfect warm-you-up food for a day where the temperature (not counting wind chill) never made it above twelve degrees. Brrrr….

This hearty chicken and pinto bean soup will warm you to the bone!

The starch from the pinto beans turned the homemade chicken stock into a creamy broth that paired perfectly with the fresh spinach and bites of tender onion.

This hearty chicken and pinto bean soup will warm you to the bone — it's the perfect cold weather meal!

My only regret? Not making enough for leftovers this time!

This hearty chicken and pinto bean soup will warm you to the bone!
Yield: 4 to 6

Hearty Chicken and Pinto Bean Soup

Prep Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 9 hours 10 minutes

This hearty chicken and pinto bean soup is the perfect cold weather comfort meal.

Ingredients

  • 1 bag dried pinto beans
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 8 white mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup water + more for the beans
  • 1 cup diced cooked chicken
  • 1 bag fresh baby spinach
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Instructions

  1. Add the beans to a large pot, and then fill the pot with water until it's 2" above the beans.
  2. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce heat to keep it at a simmer, and let it cook for 10 minutes, uncovered.
  3. Remove the pot from heat, cover, and let it sit for 1 hour. Drain.
  4. Add the beans, onion, mushrooms, chicken, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, 1 cup water, and chicken stock to a slow cooker.
  5. Cook on high for 6 hours.
  6. Add the spinach, and continue cooking for 1 or 2 more hours, or until the beans are tender.

Notes

Serve with crusty bread.

Let it cool completely before freezing leftovers in quart-sized zip top freezer bags. Easily make this soup vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock for chicken stock and omitting the chicken!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 194Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 1242mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 5gSugar: 5gProtein: 16g

Hi, I'm Liza — a self-proclaimed word-nerd who loves getting lost in whimsical stories and epic movies. I have laid-back, practical attitude towards life and am always on the hunt for good eats, easy recipes, binge-worthy shows, relaxing road trip destinations, the perfect fizzy gin cocktail, and time to finish my novel!

30 Comments on “Hearty Chicken and Pinto Bean Soup

  1. What a perfect gift and seriously both meals so far sound absolutely delicious and inspired to me. Definitely cold here too and so want try your soup now. So, thanks for sharing 😉

  2. Oh, this looks like something I could really use right now during this freezing weather. Hearty chicken and pinto bean soup sounds and looks great. Pinning

        1. Yep, recipe calls for 1 cup of diced cooked chicken. You can use cut up rotisserie, pre-packaged diced, or just sear a couple breasts or thighs and cut them up.

  3. This is perfect for us right now since it’s so darn cold and snowy in NY. I have to say I just love the Christmas gift you gave your family. That is wonderful. Thanks for a great recipe and lovely post!

  4. Needing to go through my pantry to clean it up, I found I had a over abundance of pinto beans! Why, I don’t know, but I needed to do something with them. I found this recipe, seemed easy enough. I threw it all together & when it came time to serve it up I was a pretty hesitant. My boyfriend commented there was way too much spinach, I also found we had an overabundance of frozen spinach & asked him to put one of the big bag in the crockpot for me being he got home before I. We put it in a bowl & I’ll be honest that I set out hot sauce & soy sauce, just in case. We had a friend over & I already started to apologize however this was so surprisingly delicious! Served up with some garlic toast & we were all happy campers! It was so perfect on a chilled night & so simple yet just wonderful! There was no need to add anything, sauce wise, it is really a good soup! Thank you! Highly recommend this & will be making another pot to freeze

  5. One question. When you say a bag of pinto beans how big is this bag meant to be? Don’t want to over or under do it.

  6. Hi, I’m not very creative and/or I don’t have very good abstract thinking ability. My brain mostly does literal so I need and use recipes.
    But it finds patterns or connections others don’t.
    Anyway, could you please also post in the notes a general comment as to how the recipe would be altered if the beans have already been soaked?
    Also noting an alteration to allow for crock pot cooking would be very much appreciated as cooking a soup on high for 6 hours and having to stir it occasionally and be home for that many awake hours in one sitting sounds unrealistic at this juncture. 🙂

    1. Hi Steph! This recipe is for a Crock Pot (I use the generic term “slow cooker” since “Crock Pot” is actually a brand name for a slow cooker). So, the adjustments you’re asking for are actually very simple. If your beans are ready to go, then just skip step one altogether and throw everything into your Crock Pot slow cooker! Easy peasy!

      1. Awesome! Clearly I missed the transition of putting the stuff from a pot into a slow cooker. Although I am creative enough to add some grated zucchini instead of spinach. I know it will taste COMPLETELY different but I’m poor and it’s what I have on hand and I have a giant zucchini that I need to use with little time lol. I’ll probably have to freeze some still because it’s so enormous.

        1. Eh, I think zucchini will be fine! Use up what’s in your pantry, and if you happen to have spinach another time when you’re craving this soup, use it. It’s tasty without, too.

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