White Bean Soup
My white bean soup is loaded with beans, veggies, and a tasty broth. Using canned beans drastically shortens the cooking time while still providing all that delicious flavor of this rustic favorite.
Fall is approaching! That means it’s time for sweaters, changing leaves, and of course, delicious recipes perfect for the cooler weather! I love making this white bean soup when fall rolls around because it’s healthy, delicious, and so fast, thanks to using canned beans.
Why You’ll Love This Vegetarian White Bean Soup Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: Everything you need to make this soup is in your kitchen or at your local grocery store.
- Easy: This is a quick and easy recipe that uses canned beans to cut down the cooking time drastically.
- Flavorful: The combination of beans, vegetables, broth, and seasonings makes a soup that’s full of flavor.
- Healthy: This soup is chock full of veggies, so it’s super healthy.
Ingredients
- Canned Cannellini Beans: Using canned cannellini beans gives this soup a ton of flavor without having to soak and cook dried beans.
- Vegetables: Onions, carrots, celery, and red bell pepper add tons of flavor and health benefits.
- Vegetable Broth: Vegetable broth adds even more flavor.
- Seasonings: A few simple seasonings like salt, pepper, and paprika accentuate the flavors of the other ingredients.
See the recipe card at the end of this post for a full list of ingredients and directions.
Flavor Variations
- Vegetable Broth: If you’re not vegetarian, you can use chicken broth or stock.
- Meat: For a meaty version, try adding shredded chicken, ground beef, or Italian sausage.
- Creamy: Add a little heavy cream to create a creamier soup.
- Spicy: Add some red pepper flakes for a kick of heat.
- Noodles: Add your favorite short noodles for vegetable noodle soup.
- More Veggies: Add any of your favorite vegetables for even more flavor.
How to Make Vegetarian White Bean Soup
1: Sauté the vegetables over medium heat until they start to soften. Then, add the spices and stir.
2: Add the broth, beans, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Then, simmer, stirring frequently until the soup begins to thicken. Taste and check for any added seasonings such as a little more salt.
3: Remove the soup from the heat and stir. Let it cool for about 10 minutes to thicken a bit more, remove the bay leaf, and enjoy!
4: Serve garnished with parmesan cheese if you desire. Enjoy!
Full directions with amounts found in the recipe card below.
Hint
Be sure to stir your soup frequently while simmering to prevent sticking.
Storage
Refrigerate the soup for up to 5 days in an air-tight container. For longer storage, freeze it for up to 3 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
To reheat the soup, cook it in a saucepan over medium-low heat until heated through.
What to Serve with This White Bean Soup
This hearty soup is perfect with crescent roll garlic bread, cornbread, or sour cream corn muffins.
Tips
- Dice your vegetables into small, bite-size pieces for quick cooking and easy eating.
- Drain and thoroughly rinse your beans to remove the excess starch and salt from the canning liquid.
- To avoid watery, stinging eyes, refrigerate your onion for about an hour before dicing it.
More Soup Recipes
Frequently Asked Questions
The liquid in canned beans is incredibly starchy and salty. If you don’t rinse and drain your beans, that salty, starchy liquid will drastically change the flavor and texture of your dish.
Yes, you can. It will just add a lot of time to the recipe. When using dry beans in place of dried, rinse and soak them overnight. Then, simmer them for a few hours until tender. Use them in the recipe as directed after that.
Yes, you can. Any white bean will work. You can also experiment with other kinds of beans, as well!
Print and copy recipe in the recipe card…
White Bean Soup
My white bean soup is loaded with beans, veggies, and a tasty broth. Using canned beans drastically shortens the cooking time while still providing all that delicious flavor of this rustic favorite.
Ingredients
- 3 15 1/2 ounce cans cannellini beans, drained, rinsed in cold water and drained again
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped finely or minced
- 2 fresh carrots, chopped into small pieces or diced
- 1 long celery stalk, chopped or diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped or diced
- 1/4 tsp course sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 large bay leaf
- 5 cups vegetable broth, or chicken broth
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top, this is optional
- chopped parsley for garnish, this is optional
Instructions
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1. In a large heavy saucepan or pot, on low heat, add the olive oil to warm up. Just about 30 seconds. Turn the heat to medium and add in the onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and red peppers. Sauté for a few minutes until you see the veggies start to wilt. About 5 minutes. Stir a few times
2. Sprinkle in the salt, pepper, paprika, and cumin. Stir a few times to incorporate.
3. Now, pour in the broth. Stir and add in the beans. Toss in the bay leaf. Stir and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a low/ medium. Let the soup simmer for about 25 minutes while stirring frequently. You don't want anything to stick to the bottom of the pan and burning. The soup will start to thicken up.
4. Take off the heat and stir. Let sit on the stove for about 10 minutes to cool down a bit and to thicken even more. Pull out the bay leaf. Check for seasoning such as salt. To serve, ladle in soup bowls. For garnish, you can sprinkle some grated parmesan and parsley or leave as is. Enjoy!
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