No I haven't tried the canned stuff. I make my own bean soup from scratch, using dried beans and a recipe from Joy of Cooking. I won't post it here. I am sure it's patented, not my property, and - besides- I don't know how to post a link. The soup I make is supposed to be like the kind they serve at the Senate Dining Room every day.

My sister told me how good the Bear Creek soup was so I checked it out. Way too much salt in them. I wanted the wild rice mix but it had 900+ mg of salt per serving. I passed. In fact, all the Bear Creek soup mixes they had were over 900. There was a time we would've loved it, but since we've cut salt almost completely out, we really taste it. Wish they'd make low-sodium versions.

BTW, it was the bean soup she raved about.

I have that recipe Jannie!

Have heard good things about Bear Creek, especially their broccoli something.

Was wondering about the navy bean soup.

patti, I just looked at the pkg and it says 940 mg sodium, ewwwwww! That's a lot.

I bought it at Big Lots a while back as they had quite a few Bear Creek soups mixes and this one looked good.

Big pkg, makes 1/2 gallon soup. Lot for me.

I'll save it for an emergency.

I wouldn't use the chicken broth, unless it was homemade or a low/no sodium type, since there is so much salt already in the mix.

Wish they wouldn't put so much in those mixes! I guess that is how they get the flavor!

I love to get smoked ham hocks from the butcher shops around here...nothing like one of those big meaty smoked hocks for bean soup! MMMMMmmmmm

Have tried several of Bear Creek soups. They are for me a very good start to great soup. I always expand upon the ingredients with my own low or no sodium additions till I have at least a gallon of soup thus cutting the original sodium content to about half per serving.

Possible to make just part of this dry mix and dilute as gazania suggests? I love 'bean anything'.

I make my own chicken broth, no sodium.

Always have some of the good stuff in the freezer.

I tried a couple of them including the chili (what was I thinking) and they have a real "artificial" taste as well as the salt issue......

I don't know. I've only tried the potato soup and think it's great. I just used the water it called for. I use the potato soup for the base of my fish chowder and for making New England clam chowder. I'm all right with it but I think if you used chicken broth it might make it too salty. I think I would use the water and if it needs more flavor, add some bouillon cubes.

I tried the broccoli one and did not care for it.
Based on that disappointemnt I have not tried any others.
I do not like many canned soups either.

We've had the Bear Creek Navy Bean and we've really liked it. We tried the Brocolli Cheese the other night, and although the taste was good, it was way too thin for a cheese soup. Just bought the Navy Bean soup today to keep on hand for a night I don't want to cook. I also like their Chicken Noodle Soup, but I do doctor it up a bit. I poach a little bit of chicken and shred it in the soup and I add a small bag of frozen mixed veggies. It's really quite good for a quick and hearty soup!
Eileen

I have liked many of the flavors that I tried.

We were at a brand new Big Lots store for the Grand Opening and they carry every single type of Bear Creek product, all the soups and the pasta mixes too.
I am well stocked up now. And we definitely got some of the navy bean soup mix. I usually add extras to mine but it is quick and easy with the mixes.

So if you like Bear Creek check out Big Lots.

That's where I bought mine, Big Lots :o)

btw..have your big lots re-arranged the store and seem to have more food items now?

i hadn't been in for several months adn was really surprised...

I like my soups made from scratch with fresh ingredients.

linda_in_iowa, hats off to you. I am generally a from scratch person, but have heard great things about Bear Creek. I'll save my pkg for an emergency :o)

I have a bag of the bean soup in my cupboard too! Thinking of making it on Monday (steak tomorrow),I might go get a slice of ham and add to it. We've tried the wild rice one and both liked it.I also have broccoli and potatoe yet in the cupboard.Haven't tried them yet. I was at Big Lots too! LOL!
Hey Glenda,where do you get the coupons for Bed bath & Beyond? I went there the other day,first time,and I loved it!

The Bear Creek navy Bean soup is ok for a "once in awhile" soup. As posters above have noted, it is heavy on salt, but this can be diluted if you add stuff to the mix and the additions have little to no salt.

It is improved with the addition of meat. Diced ham slices go well. Canned chicken breast is good also. Dice Spam works too, but this may not lower the salt load. I haven't checked the salt content of Spam.

You can add no-fat milk, but be careful. Too much milk will increase the tnedancy to boil over during the cooking phase (about 10 minutes for altitudes under 2000 ft.) Adding liquids, milk, V8 tomato juice, or water, will thin the soup, but more about that later. At the end of the cooking phase, lower the flame to minimum and stir in potato flakes to thicken. Add spices to taste.

The soup mix already contains spices and flavorings. Adding the wrong spices/flavorings can mess up the soup. Experiment to suit your taste. If you like strong spicy soups, add stuff like horseradish sauce, or your favorite pepper sauce. A little Louisana hot sauce adds a kick.

If pepper sauce has not been added to soup pot, freshly ground black pepper added to taste in your bowl goes well. Low sodium soda crackers add a nice finish. Instead of regular crackers, try oyster crackers. These do wonders for a soup.

Although I'll stick to my tried & true recipe for bean soup, we did try and like Bear Creek Chicken & Wild Rice soup mix. We added diced chick breast meat. The mixes really make more than we need. In today's paper there were coupons for $1 off. Being we get two different Sunday papers, I clipped out two, which I'll send to my daughter. She feeds more people than we do, so the quantity works better for them.

susanjf yes the Big Lots are carrying much more grocery and food related items now.
The one we went to is what we refer to as the Super Big Lots it is brand new and much bigger than the regular stores and has way way more than the regular stores do. This will be our new fave Big Lots to visit.

I usually always make soup from scratch but I am working on simplifying my kitchen work so thought this was a very good way to try to do that. I will however be adding to, I just can not resist that urge LOL

about bed bath and beyond the coupons come in the mail when you have them add you, or you can go online to their site and it will send you an immediate 20% off coupon and then send you others.
Email and Direct Mail Sign Up
I have been getting the ones in the mail for years, we shop there often and I always have a coupon in my purse. You can use them even if they are expired.