Italian White Bean Soup Recipe

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Immerse yourself in a bit of heaven with this Italian White Bean Soup. Buttery and soft cannellini beans pair with tantalizing herbs to be slowly simmered to perfection. Serve with some crusty bread or bruschetta to finish off one beautiful dish.

Italian White Bean Soup

Italian White Bean Soup

When you take your first spoonful of this bean soup, if you’re not buckling at the knees, you must be superhuman. It’s heavier than my wild chanterelle mushroom soup, and just as hearty as my borlotti beans and Italian vegetable soup.

In other words, it’s the perfect soup recipe. There’s no use in saying otherwise, because I just know it’s not true. One bite of those soft, buttery beans with all that herb-infused flavor and the world fades away. Yes, this soup is that dreamy.

Did I mention it’s naturally vegan? An authentic and swoon-worthy Italian dish that sneaks in the aspect of being vegan? It has to be heaven just like this Italian cabbage, so sign me up!

White Bean Soup Ingredients:

  • Dry White Beans
  • Aromatics: Onion + Garlic
  • Herbs: Rosemary, Bay Leaves, Sage
  • Celery
  • Carrot
  • Smoked Applewood Sea Salt
  • Vegetable Broth
  • Nutritional Yeast

Italian White Bean Soup Recipe from Scratch

How to Make Italian White Bean Soup from Scratch:

  1. Soak – Prep and soak the beans.
  2. Saute – Saute the aromatics: onion (or leek), celery, and carrot until soft. Add the garlic.
  3. Simmer – Add the beans, water, and herbs. Simmer for 45 minutes.
  4. Season – Add the salt and nutritional yeast. Enjoy!

Serving Suggestions

As with any soup, especially a hearty Italian soup like this one, you can never go wrong with a nice hunk of crusty bread. Using day-old bread is the traditional way to go. This is because it’s had time to firm up a bit and really soak up the juices of the soup. It’s ok if you melt into your soup with some:

Tips + FAQ

  • Bean soup add-ins – This soup recipe does well with random add-ins. Some of my top choices are Lacinato kale, baby spinach, Italian beyond sausage, and liquid smoke.
  • What are Italian white beans called? – Cannellini beans! You can actually interchange these beans with other white beans such as northern beans.
  • How do you add flavor to bean soup? Spices, herbs, vegetable broth, liquid smoke, etc. are all delicious options for giving a pop of flavor to your soup recipe.
  • Are butter beans the same as white beans? Butter beans are baby lima beans, another type of white bean, just like cannellini and northern beans but I would not recommend using them here.
  • Can I use canned beans? If you’re in a pinch yes, but a lot of the magic of this soup comes from the broth the beans and herbs are cooked in. If you must use canned beans, just go for this Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup instead.

More Soup Recipes:

Italian White Bean Soup

Italian White Bean Soup
4.84 from 6 votes

Italian White Bean Soup

Immerse yourself in a bit of heaven with this Italian White Bean Soup. Buttery and soft cannellini beans pair with tantalizing herbs to be slowly simmered to perfection. Serve with some bruschetta to finish off one beautiful dish.
Print Recipe
Prep Time:15 minutes
Cook Time:45 minutes
Soaking the Beans:6 hours
Total Time:7 hours

Ingredients

  • 3 cups white beans
  • 1 leek or yellow onion diced
  • 1 carrot chopped
  • 1 celery stalk chopped
  • 7 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 1 sprig sage
  • 1 bay leaves
  • 8 cups water or vegetable stock
  • 1.5 tsp smoked applewood sea salt (or liquid smoke)
  • 1 -2 Tbsp Nutritional yeast optional
  • bread + garlic for bruschetta (1 slice/ person)

Instructions

  • Rinse and pick the beans then cover them with water and soak for 6 hours or overnight. Drain.
  • In a large heavy bottom pot heat up a good lug of olive oil and saute the leek (or onion) with the carrot and celery until they begin to soften.
  • Quickly stir in the chopped garlic and cook for a few seconds just until fragrant then add the soaked beans.
  • Pour in the water and bring to a constant simmer. Add the bay, sage and rosemary, cover with a lid and cook for 45 minutes or until the beans are soft and tender to your liking.
  • Check the beans half way through cooking and see if you might need to add extra water if they are absorbing lots of liquid.
  • Once your beans are perfectly cooked remove from heat, stir in the nutritional yeast and season to taste with the smoked sea salt.
  • Meanwhile grill the bread on both sides until nice dark char marks form. Rub each slice on both sides with a garlic clove, lightly brush with some olive oil and finish with sea salt.
  • Ladle the soup into bowls and tear chunks of the garlic bruschetta over the top. Finish with a light drizzle of olive oil on top and enjoy.

Video

Notes

  • Bean soup add-ins - Lacinato kale, baby spinach, Italian beyond sausage, liquid smoke etc.
  • What are Italian white beans called? - Cannellini beans! You can actually interchange these beans with other white beans such as northern beans.
  • Are butter beans the same as white beans? Butter beans are baby lima beans, another type of white bean, just like cannellini and northern beans but I would not recommend using them here.
  • Can I use canned beans? If you’re in a pinch yes, but a lot of the magic of this soup comes from the broth the beans and herbs are cooked in. If you must use canned beans, just go for this Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup instead.

Nutrition

Calories: 108kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 464mg | Potassium: 446mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1491IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 3mg
Course: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Italian soup, Vegan, white bean soup
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 108kcal
Author: Florentina

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10 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    My all time favorite bean soup! Thank you for inspiring me to embrace Rosemary for the amazing herb it really is, how did I ever live without it? These are the best white beans you will ever taste and good for you. Don’t even think about not using Rosemary here, the flavor is heavenly.

  2. 5 stars
    I love this soup! The liquid smoke & nutritional yeast makes it perfect! I keep forgetting to buy sage but have made this several times and it is delicious! Thank you for sharing!

  3. 5 stars
    My family went for seconds, even my picky eater had seconds. I used regular soaked Lima beans, cooked ahead of time for 12 minutes in pressure cooker then worked on the soup, adding kale, just a couple drops of liquid smoke, splash of bouillon and a Tablespoon of nutritional yeast and it turned out great. Thank-you for the recipe.

  4. 5 stars
    What a fantastic pot of beans. Amazing flavor, you are happy eating this as a meal with some bread. Will go back for seconds.

  5. 4 stars
    Hi Florentine great recipe.can you please,state measurement,also as cup sizes and teaspoons,not all same size thank you,I’m also Italian living in Australia