This White Bean Soup is dappled with fresh lemon flavor and made with hearty, nutritious pantry staples!
Readers have been making and loving my Instant Pot White Bean Soup for years, so I figured it was finally time to share a white bean soup recipe written just for stovetop.
The result is a (vegan!) white bean soup that dappled with bright lemon flavor and made with very simple, budget-friendly ingredients.
Don't be deceived by the simple ingredient list, the soup packs a punch and is a great way to get in a serving of plant-based protein and fiber!
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Why this recipe works
- Budget-friendly ingredients: The recipe is made using two cans of white beans, mirepoix, and a handful of pantry staples.
- Bright and zesty: Lemon juice and zest add refreshing flavor. You can use dry or fresh herbs, depending on what's available.
- Serving size: This recipe makes 3-4 servings, so it's a bit of a small batch soup. Feel free to double the recipe to make more servings. Leftovers freeze well!
Ingredients
- Great northern beans: These are my preferred white bean soup beans because they tend to be softer and a touch creamier than cannellini, the other most common store canned bean. Of course, you can use any variety of white beans here! Just replace the two cans of beans with 3 cups of cooked beans.
- Herbs: Rosemary, oregano, and thyme create an herby base. I use dry herbs for convenience, but if you have a bounty of fresh herbs it will be even better with those. Use roughly 1 ½ teaspoons fresh in place of ½ teaspoon dry herb.
- Broth: I typically use Better than Bouillon vegetable base, but I'm sure that the no-chicken base would be great too. Any broth works here.
- Kale: I use roughly chopped curly kale. It wilts nicely in to the soup at the end of cooking. Frozen kale or spinach also work and doesn't need to be thawed before adding, just simmer the soup a little longer to bring the temperature back up.
Top tips
- Feel free to use any variety of white beans. Chickpeas, cannellini, navy beans, etc.
- Canned beans can be replaced with 3 cups of beans cooked from dry.
- This is a pretty thick soup. For a brothier soup, add an additional 1 cup of vegetable broth.
- I like to immersion blend the soup for a thicker texture. If you don't have an immersion blender, just transfer ~2 cups of soup to a blender and pulse to break down.
- For a creamier soup, add ½ cup of half and half or ½ cup of vegan heavy cream, like Silk brand.
Storage tips
- Storage: The soup thickens up a bit as it sits, but the flavors get even better with time. Keep refrigerated for 3-4 days.
- Reheating: Reheats well on the stovetop. Just transfer to a pot over medium heat and stir occasionally, until hot.
- Freezing: White bean soup freezes well. Let cool to room temp before transferring to a freezer safe container, leaving at leas 1-inch of space to allow for expansion during freezing. Let thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
More nourishing soup recipes
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Recipe
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Lemony White Bean Soup with Kale
This nutritious soup is packed with bright lemon flavor and an herby broth. It uses 2 cans of great northern beans.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium sweet yellow onion diced
- 3 medium whole carrots peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon table salt
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon dry rosemary see note #1
- ½ teaspoon dry thyme
- ½ teaspoon dry oregano
- 4 cups vegetable broth see note #2
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast optional, adds body
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 15 ounce cans great northern beans drained and rinsed
- 2 cups roughly chopped kale more to taste
- 1 small lemon juiced and zested
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- crusty bread, grated Parmesan for serving
Instructions
- Heat a 4-quart Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Drizzle with olive oil. Once hot, add the diced onion, carrots, celery, and salt. Sauté until golden, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, rosemary, thyme, and oregano, cooking for another 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is aromatic.
- Stir in the vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, paprika, and drained beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for at least 10 minutes. I like to simmer for up to an hour, adding extra broth as needed.
- Stir in the chopped kale, lemon juice (about 2 tablespoons), and lemon zest. Season with freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Stir to wilt the kale. Taste for seasonings and adjust, as needed.
- Optionally, immersion blend the soup to thicken it. You can also transfer 2 cups of the soup to a blender and pulse it to break down, then return to the soup pot.
Notes
- Dry herbs: Can be replaced with 1 ½ teaspoons freshly chopped herbs, if desired.
- Broth: I use 1 heaping tablespoon Better than Bouillon vegetable base mixed with 4 cups of water. The no-chicken base would likely work well here.
- Kale: Spinach also works. Frozen greens can be used in place of fresh, no need to thaw them before adding to the soup. Just simmer a little longer to bring the soup temp back up.
- This is a pretty thick soup. Add an additional ½ to 1 cup vegetable broth at the end of cooking, if desired.
Nutrition
Calories: 282kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 16gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 645mgPotassium: 987mgFiber: 15gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 8930IUVitamin C: 34mgCalcium: 175mgIron: 4mg
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