Army Bean Soup

Recipe No. 530 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Soups. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Beans, navy, dry — 6 pounds
• Water — 8¼ gallons (33 No. 56 dippers)

Bones — 18 pounds

• Onions, whole, peeled — 10 ounces (½ No. 56 dipper)
• Tomatoes — ½ No. 10 can
• Fat, melted — 12 ounces (½ mess kit cup)
• Flour, sifted — 12 ounces (¾ No. 56 dipper)
• Salt — 4 ounces (8 mess kit spoons)
• Pepper — (½ mess kit spoon)

Directions

1. Wash beans. Add enough water to cover beans; soak 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
2. Saw soup bones into pieces.
3. Combine beans, remaining water, bones and onions.
4. Cover and heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer 4 to 5 hours or until beans are very mushy.
5. Remove soup bones.
6. Rub mixture through sieve.
7. Add tomatoes and reheat.
8. Mix melted fat, flour, salt and pepper together; stir until smooth. Add slowly to hot soup. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes or until soup is slightly thick, stirring constantly.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Beans, navy, dry — 7⅔ oz Water — 2⅔ qt Bones — 1 lb 7 oz Onions, whole, peeled — ¾ oz Tomatoes — 8⅓ tbsp Fat, melted — 1 oz Flour, sifted — 1 oz Salt — about 2 tsp Pepper — scale to taste ((½ mess kit spoon))

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 530, Soups. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.