German Green Bean Soup

German Green Bean Soup (Grüne Bohnensuppe) combines the flavor of green beans, potatoes, herbs, and bacon in every spoonful!  It’s deliciously filling yet light enough to serve on warmer days.  Enjoy a bowl now!

In case you haven’t tried it yet, I have a ton of traditional German soup recipes in the blog — kartoffelsuppe (German potato soup) and sauerkraut soup are both popular. 🙂

But if you’re looking for something with beans, then yep, this green bean soup from Germany is what you need.

Locally known as ‘grüne bohnensuppe,’ it’s not really a vegetarian soup because of the apparent use of bacon.  But you can entirely skip that if you want, and you will still have a flavorful soup that will satisfy everyone.

However, if you are like me and would like to experience how the locals prepare it, then look for bacon slices that are not too lean — you need the fat in there for sauteeing the onion.

After that, you just need to add the rest of the vegetables and seasoning — and wait for all the flavors to combine.

Grüne bohnensuppe is great as an appetizer, but if you serve it with some slices of bread, it’s also an excellent meal on its own.  Absolutely delicious!

FOR MORE CLASSIC GERMAN RECIPES, CHECK OUT THESE POSTS!

Ingredients

• Bacon – you will use the oil from frying the bacon to saute the onion, laying the base flavor of your German green bean soup.

• Onion – sliced thinly or finely.

• Green beans – trim and cut into about an inch length; once chopped, you should have three and a half to four cups.

• Potatoes – any type of potatoes would be great, and diced.

• Stock – I typically use vegetable stock to make bohnensuppe.

• Herb & seasoning – you need dried savory, salt, and ground black pepper.

Preparation

Start making bohnensuppe by placing the bacon bits in a cold, medium to large saucepan.

Place pan over medium-high heat and cook bacon until crispy.

Add the chopped onion.

Cook until the onion softens — lower the heat if necessary.

Add the green beans, potatoes, savory, salt, pepper and stock.

Bring your German green bean soup to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer until the vegetables are cooked.

Remove about a third of bohnensuppe from the pan and use an immersion blender to puree it.

Add the sour cream and continue blending.

Place the pureed bean soup back into the pan.

Stir, taste, and adjust seasoning.

Reheat for a couple of minutes, but do not boil.

Remove the pan from the heat and transfer it into serving bowls.

Garnish your bohnensuppe with parsley or more bacon bits, and serve.

Helpful tips

• Do not pour all the stock at once.  Start with three cups, then add more if you want more liquid in your bohnensuppe.

• You can use more bacon for garnish.  Just remember to remove some before adding the onion and set them aside for later.

• Go easy on the salt at first.  Remember that the bacon is already salty, and if you’re using seasoned stock, that’s already a lot of salt to season your bean soup.

• A stand blender is perfectly fine if you don’t have an immersion blender (be very careful though, it’s HOT).

Recipe variation

• Stock.  Chicken stock is also excellent for making this classic German soup recipe.

• Ham.  Some locals use smoked ham instead of bacon.  However, you would need olive oil to cook the onions, and you would add the ham when the vegetables are almost done.

• Sage and thyme.  Dried savory is not easily available in some parts of the world.  While it does give the bean soup a distinct taste, a mix of dried sage and thyme can also be used.

• Cream.  Light or heavy cream will be great if you cannot find sour cream.

Trust me, it tastes just as good as it looks.  You don’t believe me?  Try this green bean soup recipe from Germany then — and let me know! 🙂

OR GET MORE IDEAS FROM THIS LIST OF INTERNATIONAL SOUP RECIPES!

FOR MORE GLOBAL DISHES, CHECK OUT THESE RECIPES BY COUNTRY!

📖 Recipe