Portuguese Bean Soup



Portuguese Bean Soup

The original recipe was published mid-70s in the Honolulu Star Bulletin and I’ve been tweaking it ever since.

The heart of the recipe is Portuguese sausage (linguica) a very popular sausage in Hawaii Ne.  Jack in the Box and McDonald’s each sell a Portuguese Sausage, Scrambled Eggs, and Steamed White Rice breakfast plate.  The combination of those flavors is superb.  I make it at home when I can find the sausage and the first bite always takes me back to my years on Oahu. 



The original recipe:

2 cups dried red or pink beans
2 quarts boiling water
1 onion, sliced
1 linguica (Portuguese sausage) 13 ounces
1 carrot, diced
1 turnip, diced  (I don’t like cooked turnips so use a sweet potato or yam)
2 potatoes, diced
1 small cabbage, chopped
1 can tomato sauce
1-2 quarts water
3 tsp salt

Wash beans, cover with the boiling water and soak an hour.  Add onion, skinned sausage.  Cook until beans are tender, about an hour.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer another hour and one-half.  Adjust seasonings.  Yield six servings

There is a lot of latitude in this recipe.  I cleaned out the vegetable bin tonight, except for a bunch of kale – which would have been good in the soup…  I used one quart of tomato juice instead of tomato sauce.  Sometimes I use chicken broth for the water.  I used great northern beans tonight.  I added red pepper flakes for warmth, it’s cold out tonight.


Later:  I made this in the crock pot and the slow cooking time sucked all the juice from the sausage - so if you use the crock pot, add the sausage at the end, just long enough to heat throughout.

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