Description
A comforting and nutritious white bean soup recipe featuring tender white beans, fresh vegetables, and aromatic herbs. This easy one-pot meal comes together quickly and is perfect for busy weeknights or meal prep.
Ingredients
The Foundation:
- 3 cans (15 ounces each) white beans, drained and rinsed (navy, cannellini, Great Northern, or similar)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or avocado oil, or butter)
- 1 large onion, chopped (yellow, white, shallots, or leeks)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (or garlic paste, frozen garlic, or garlic powder)
The Vegetable Stars:
- 3 large carrots, chopped (can swap with sweet potatoes or parsnips)
- 3 celery stalks, chopped (or substitute zucchini or green beans)
The Flavor Builders:
- 6 cups vegetable broth (low-sodium or homemade)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper (plus more to taste)
The Finishing Touches:
- 5 ounces baby spinach (optional but highly recommended!)
- Grated Parmesan cheese (optional, for serving)
Instructions
Heat up that olive oil in your big pot. Dump in the chopped onion. Let it cook until it goes from white to see-through and your kitchen starts smelling good. Takes about five minutes. Perfect time to open your cans and rinse beans.
Throw in garlic, carrots, celery, all those herbs and salt and pepper. Stir everything around for maybe two minutes until it smells incredible. This is when I usually call everyone to dinner because the smell drives them crazy.
Pour in that broth, add the beans. Crank the heat up until everything starts bubbling like crazy, then turn it down so it just gently bubbles. Let it do its thing for fifteen minutes while you clean up your mess or help with homework or whatever.
Chuck in that spinach, stir it around until it disappears. Taste it, add more salt if it needs it. Done. Seriously, that’s it.
Notes
Save that parmesan rind from last week’s pasta night. Throw it in while everything cooks, fish it out before serving. Makes it taste like expensive Italian restaurant soup.
Squeeze lemon juice over each bowl before eating. Game changer. My husband was skeptical until he tried it.
Spinach goes from perfect to gross in about thirty seconds. Don’t walk away when you add it.
Those frozen vegetable mixes work great here. I buy the onion-carrot-celery one for lazy nights. Just cook it an extra minute since frozen vegetables are wetter.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American