How about some ham-flavored base - like Better Than Bouillon - Ham Base. I tend to add some kind of ham (or ham bone, hock) and/or some ham broth.

What kind beans did you use & what are the other ingredients in the soup?

My bean soup is simply a ham hock, or smoked neck bones, beans some onion, water and salt and pepper....it's never blah. However unless the ham bones are large, it does need a lot of salt and pepper.

I have always added some vinegar to bean soup when it is done. No vinegar flavor, just some "oomph" that bean soup needs.

I also add some dill weed to finished pea soup. No doubt these are not original ideas--I must have read them somewhere!!

Gloria

Add mire poix.

It's hard to know what's missing when we don't know approx. what went in ;) I make bean soup with ham (bone or leftover chunks that I've frozen), adding onion and garlic, bay leaf. I've made split pea with browned crumbled pork sausage, I don't know why that wouldn't work added to bean. I start both with stock not water though, and think they would be flavorful without meat.

I always add a cup of pale ale or beer to the ham bones when simmering them for broth if I'm going to use it for a basic bean or split pea soup. It isn't a noticeable beer flavor but more like a special unidentifiable spice.

It's too late now but at this point, I agree with pink warm mama and cook some mirepoix in a bit of the soup and add it back into the soup.

Depending on what went in it in the first place, add some salted broth base, like a bouillon cube for chicken or better yet ham base if you can find it. Also, some spicy sausage like chopped up kielbasa might be good. I usually put that in pea soup but could possibly work in other bean soups. I find that the ham I use in bean soup has a huge impact on the flavor, so if what you added wasn't salty enough or flavorful, I can see how that might be a problem. I had that happen to me once. I buy "Better than Bouillon" soup base, the vegetable kind. I find I can add a tsp. or more of that to a soup and it kicks the flavor up a notch without adding a lot of noticeable other flavors. Bouillon should help and depending on the saltiness of what kind you use, add maybe some more salt too, but be careful.

Try it again the next day - lots of soups & stews need time for the flavors to 'marry' & are often much improved the next day. Then you can adjust flavor accordingly.

& I agree, if they're not already in there, browning some chopped onions, carrots, celery until soft & adding in can be helpful. So can adding some fat, if there is none added, since it seems to make flavors stronger. I find adding a couple of handfuls of chopped fresh parsley makes many soups/stews much more flavorful as well.

However be aware that adding anything acid ( like vinegar or lemon) before the beans are done, will make them always hard....you can cook for days and they will never get sort. So add vinegar AFTER they are cooked....and I agree....a bit of lemon or vinegar will add a bit of zing.

I used a bag of mixed beans. The other ingredients were ham bone (it wasn't a big bone), carrots, celery, onion, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. I used half water and half vegetable broth. I tried adding mire poix the next day. It didn't help all that much. I make this soup all the time and this time I think I made a batch too big for the not so big ham bone.

I'm going to try some other suggestions. Thanks to everyone for answering.

You can use the beans to make a bean dip:

Texas Bean Dip

1-1/3 cup dried
pinto (or red) beans (about 2 cups cooked)
1/2 large onion,
coarsely chopped
2 tbsp cumin
1 bunch of
cilantro, large stems removed, about 1/2 cup chopped
1 can Ro-Tel
tomatoes (10 oz.) or similar tomatoes, diced with green chilies
3-4 Serrano
chilies, coarsely chopped, seeds removed
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp soup
base—vegetable or beef (or 1 tsp salt, to taste)

Cook the beans your
preferred method. Drain the beans after
cooking and discard the water.

Place all of the
ingredients except the beans in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the beans and process until the beans
are pureed. Can substitute Jalapeño
chilies for Serrano.

Serve
warm or cold with tortilla chips. Can be used to make burritos, migas, tostados, or as a spread on bolillos for tortas.

I was just thinking about the quantity being a factor - it's a challenge w/ seasoning proportions when supersizing a free-form recipe like that. It probly just needs more of everything - except beans = J

I would add thyme and a lot more garlic now that I know what you put in the soup. Ham chunks if you have them. And some cayenne.

Short on ham bone...add some smoked paprika?

Lars as a last resort that is an excellent idea. Thanks.

carolb and ci_lantro I think you're right. I didn't use enough ingredients for the size pot. I'm going to add more veggies including smoked paprika. Maybe some cayenne. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Although many people don't like prepared foods, the concentrated soup base will reinforced the diluted broth. Bacon or sausage can sometimes help, as well.

When something seems to be missing, I doctor it up with among other things, a tablespoon or more of soy sauce or Lea & Perrins' Worcestershire Sauce.

I recently bought a bag of mixed beans too with the idea of making soup. Now I know I will need to be sure to flavor it enough.

I wonder if simmering it with a ham hock or two might help your soup too.

Add a smoked ham hock or smoked turkey parts and simmer a bit longer. And some more salt!

Cactuscatie, here are 2 traditional "garnishes" that will spice up any bean soup. That's what my gram used to do:

1. Gently fry a mixture of paprika, cumin and crushed garlic in olive oil in a small pan. Watch out it doesn't burn. Pour on top of soup when soup is already in serving bowl.
2. Prepare a mixture of freshly squeezed lemon juice and crushed garlic. Texture of the mixture should be pretty thick. No cooking involved here. Just add 2-3 Tbs of the lemon juice-garlic mixture to each bowl of soup. You'll be all garlicky and happy! Promise!

No need at all for salt in either case.

I received so many good suggestions. Here is what I did. I decided to make another mirepoix except this time only with onion and lots and lots of garlic, sautéed in olive oil. I also added smoked paprika, worchestershire sauce and a splash of vinegar. The bean soup came alive. It was good and hubby didn't add any salt this time.

sheilajoyce, I only had a small ham bone and a ham hock would have helped also. Yes, add lots of flavor and a ham hock or two. Don't do what I did, besides the small ham bone, I added way too much water/broth and not enough flavor. And I have to say I was impressed on how the splash of vinegar brightened up the soup.

Thanks everyone. I have saved all your suggestions for the next pot of bean soup :)