Instant Pot White Bean, Cauliflower & Broccoli Soup

You’ll love this hearty vegetable and white bean soup made with our White Bean Flavor Infusion seasoning mix. It’s creamy, delicious, and vegan!

Instant Pot Red Bean Soup

Enjoy the authentic, traditional flavor of red beans and rice, but in easy soup form (made with our Red Bean Flavor Infusion seasoning mix). Pull out your ladle, and serve up a favorite.

Kentucky Burgoo

Featuring meat, vegetables, and lima beans, this Kentucky Burgoo is a thick, delicious, slow-cooked stew that’s perfect for serving a crowd. Made with our White Bean Flavor Infusion seasoning mix, it’ll keep folks coming back for more.

Old-Fashioned Chili with Beans

A delicious, classic chili the whole family will love – great for busy weeknights or gameday parties.

Instant Pot Lima Beans & Greens Soup

Get your daily greens + deep rich flavor with this endlessly customizable, vegetarian soup.

Ruth’s Southern Country-Style Butter Bean & Green Bean Soup with Potatoes

This recipe makes for a homey supper that’s tasty and affordable — and fairly easy to pull together from fridge and pantry staples.

1905 Alabama diner ad featuring camp stew

Across the Yellowhammer State, cooks of every description have been lighting fires under old kettles and cooking camp stew for well over a hundred years. From the Tennessee Valley in the northern part of the state to the Mobile-Tensaw Delta on the Gulf Coast, camp stew is available nightly in hundreds of households, barbecue shacks, meat and three joints, and of course, hunting camps. The fortunate among us may find the dish in the backwood taverns that dot the rural countryscape across the region. Camp stew is so ingrained in the psychology of Alabama eaters that it made the 100 Dishes To Eat In Alabama Before You Die list published by the Birmingham News, a journal with roots that stretch back to the 19th century.

1912 barbecue stand as for camp stew

What It Is & Where to Find It
Snack bars at fiddler conventions, pro-wrestling matches, National Guard Armories, high school football games, beauty pageants, and Baptist homecomings held across the entirety of the state reliably have big pots of camp stew burbling on the range. If you’re not from Alabama you may ask yourself, what is this dish? It’s the stuff of fever dreams: a potent witch’s brew of all manners of meats, vegetables, and starches including but not limited to common ingredients such as pork, beef, and chicken serving as proteins with tomatoes, onion, and corn filling the role of vegetables. Worcestershire sauce is a crucial component. Wild game like alligator, squirrel, quail, and feral hog may also be found in an adventurous cook’s stew.

A 1913 Alabama newspaper article mentions that Democrats and suffragettes alike enjoy camp stew

Beans: A Must-Have Ingredient
Butter beans, Limas, or Baby Limas are often included, and you may even find Great Northern beans or Pintos depending on what part of the state you’re exploring. “If it ain’t got beans in it, it ain’t camp stew,” is a common refrain heard when discussing the dish. Piscine versions of camp stew may be found as you explore diners and cafés alongside rivers like the Choctawhatchee, Black Warrior, and Escatawpa.

A 1908 recounting of a camp stew feast served to Alabama prisoners

Feeding the Masses in Good Times and Bad
In the early 20th century the penal colonies of the day were not immune to the charms of camp stew. The Montgomery city jail cooked a few large vats of the stuff to feed their prisoners at Thanksgiving time. Montgomery would prove itself to be a critical nexus in the furtherance of the popularity of camp stew as the 20th century gathered steam. Saloon keepers in the heart of the city began using the dish as a powerful magnet to get the drinking men to frequent their establishments. With purchase of a cocktail or cold draft beer, these enterprising business owners would set out a bowl of the stuff with nary a charge. When the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 struck, the good citizens of Alabama swung into motion and launched a camp stew-based charitable festival and sold a thousand tickets to a massive stew party held at the legendary Pickett Springs Resort near Montgomery. All the moneys were remitted to the citizens of San Francisco to assuage their suffering.

A 1931 advertisement seeking the services of a camp stew and barbecue man

A Badge of Honor
No less a luminary than legendary woodsman, author and naturalist Horace Kephart would soon integrate the cooking of camp stew into the regimen of becoming an official Boy Scout. In that halcyon era, a young scout had to demonstrate proficiency in the preparation of camp stew to earn his cooking merit badge. Want to become an Eagle Scout? Fire up that pot of camp stew, and it better taste good. By the time the 1930s came along, a regional derivation of camp stew called Lumberjack-style was being practiced in Jefferson County in the central portion of the state, but the details of what was surely pure deliciousness have been lost to the sands of time.

In 1949 the first canned camp stew made its way to market

A Canned Version, Extra Heavy on the Meat
At mid-century, a canned version of camp stew was being offered in Birmingham grocery stores but the enterprise was not fully formed enough to attach a name brand to the product. That would change as the Reynolds-Holston Canning Company of Troy, Alabama, soon waded into the fray with their own canned version of the food stuff. No strangers to marketing, the ads of the day trumpeted their product as being “extra heavy on meat”, and “100-year-old formula” was often prominently mentioned as well.

1960 ad for an Alabama barbecue stand featuring camp stew

Fundraising for Civil Rights & Putting Restaurants on the Map
As the Civil Rights-era dawned, camp stew played a prominent role in fundraising activities. Black women fanned out across Montgomery County, Alabama, selling fried catfish sandwiches, chicken and dumpling plates, and yes, camp stew. The money was plowed straight back into the movement, and these humble foods helped foment real change across the region. One now-successful restaurateur threw what she called “Heaven and Hell suppers” as she was trying to raise money to get her business going. A fiery camp stew would be served followed by ice cream and pound cake. Martha’s Place is now in its fourth decade and feeds upwards of 500 people daily. Camp Stew helped Martha Hawkins make her dream a reality. Camp stew is writ into the genetic code of Alabamians. The elixir has a thousand mothers and a thousand fathers, each claiming primacy. Truth be told, there is no “one true camp stew”. It’s the one that is currently in front of you that will most likely serve as the best one you ever ate. That is until you visit Aunt Hazel and Uncle Ralph’s cabin near Wetumpka this weekend, when a new ranking will be loudly and enthusiastically affirmed.

A young camp stew cook tending to his kettle in the early 1980s

This post hails from R.L. Reeves, Jr., a Texas photographer and writer who is living and documenting life in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. His recipes and cooking notes can be found on his food and culture blog, scrumptiouschef.com

It’s the perfect time to cozy up with delicious bean soups, stews and more, so check out these easy to follow, foolproof recipe videos for fall dishes your family will love. From stovetop and slow cooker recipes to Instant Pot favorites, there’s something for everyone to dig into.

White Bean and Spinach Soup

A vegetarian soup that’s hearty and satisfying, this stovetop recipe gets big flavor from Great Northern beans, red pepper flakes, fresh rosemary and lemon juice.

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Red Beans

A set-it-and-forget-it version to keep at the ready, these Red beans practically make themselves. Nothing could be easier or less stressful on a Monday.

Bourbon-Bacon Field Peas with Collards

Bourbon and bacon — with these two awesome ingredients, what’s not to love? Field peas have never tasted so good.

Instant Pot Pinto Beans & Ham Hocks

A dish that’s savory and satisfying, a ham hock’s marrow-rich flavor is the key to this winning recipe.

Instant Pot White Bean Chili

A fast, comforting and delicious Instant Pot white chicken chili recipe that’s great to keep you warm on weeknights as well as game day get-togethers.

Instant Pot Butter Beans & Hog Jowls

Made with Camellia Brand Large Limas and a ham bone, this dish is ready in about an hour but tastes like it’s slow-cooked!

Instant Pot Lima Beans & Greens Soup

Versatile and customizable in every way (you can use any combination of onions, vegetables, broth and greens you prefer), this vegetarian recipe surprises with its deep, rich flavor.

Creole Pinto Beans & Greens Soup

Creole Pinto Bean and Greens Soup by The Saucy Southerner

Slow-simmered with two pounds of Camellia Brand Pinto Beans, this soup from The Saucy Southerner features parsnips, carrots, celery, leeks and white vermouth. And it’ll feed a small army.

Frijoles Borrachos (Drunken Beans)

An authentic Mexican dish spiked with dark beer and bacon. What more could you ask for?

Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Taco Soup

Sauté the vegetables and add them to a slow cooker along with all the other ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Easy and delicious!

Caldo

Caldo is a delicious Isleño mixture of salt pork, pickled pork, Camellia Brand Navy beans, Camellia Brand Large Limas, corn, potatoes and more.

Lima Beans with Shrimp and Andouille

So easy and such deep flavor! Simply add all ingredients (except shrimp) to a Dutch oven and simmer for close to two hours. Add shrimp during the last 15 minutes of cooking, and then serve with rice. You’re sure to add this Large Lima bean favorite to your regular rotation.

White Bean, Sausage and Tortellini Soup

White Bean, Sausage and Tortellini Soup is a great weeknight dinner because it cooks quickly and easily in an Instant Pot or multi-cooker. Featuring Italian turkey sausage, Great Northern Beans, fresh cheese tortellini and baby arugula, it’s got all the makings for pleasing kids and adults alike — and packs a nutritious punch. Just add a loaf of crusty bread, and dinner’s ready. The next day, fill a thermos with leftovers for a hot and filling school lunch.

Beans and Greens Soup

Beans and greens is a classic Southern combination, and a soup version is a delightful way to experiment with those ingredients. Our master recipe features basic guidelines and quantities and is meant to be personalized to your taste, encouraging you to try different varieties and combinations of beans, vegetables, greens, broth and seasonings. And whether you make it vegan, vegetarian or with chicken or beef broth, you’ll love the end result. For a complex, flavorful soup that’s incredibly satisfying, we used Green Baby Limas with a variety of onions and vegetables, plus vegetable broth. A real winner.

Split Pea and Ham Soup

You’ll love this heartwarming Split Pea and Ham Soup from our friend Mary Foreman at DeepSouthDish.com. Chopped onion, celery and carrot are cooked in bacon fat and combined with Green Split Peas, herbs, stock, a meaty ham bone or smoked ham hocks, and then simmered over low heat till the peas are broken down and thick. For over-the-top “croutons”, we made a grilled cheese sandwich with smoked gouda and sourdough bread, cut it up into tiny squares and added a sprinkle of them on top — along with crispy bacon crumbles. Talk about feeling all warm and toasty inside.

Yellow Split Pea & Butternut Squash Stew

Creamy, hearty and filling with a bright blend of spices and seasonings, our vegan Yellow Split Pea & Butternut Squash Stew is an aromatic dish similar to Dal. And its big flavor comes from the use of curry, turmeric, cumin and cinnamon. Along with onions, carrots, garlic and fresh ginger, the combination of spices and vegetables with the Yellow Split Peas and butternut squash make for a wonderful stew. A sprinkled of pepitas on top, and freshly mashed avocado toast alongside it add color, crunch and healthy fat – creating a super healthy meal.

Beef & Lentil Stew

Hearty and comforting, this Beef & Lentil Stew is a true crowd-pleaser. A great dish for Sunday dinner that’ll reward you with leftovers during the week, it uses boneless beef chuck cut into 1-inch cubes, along with celery, carrot, onion, spices, beef broth, diced tomatoes and Lentils. A bit of red wine and fresh Italian parsley are stirred in at the end for wonderful flavor. The meat gets tender, the lentils creamy, and the whole thing offers up delicious stick-to-your-ribs goodness.