Easy Tuscan White Bean Soup
Don’t you just love a good soup on a chilly fall night? Is there anything cozier? This easy Tuscan white bean soup is so cozy.
It’s the food equivalent of snuggling on the couch in your favorite bathrobe under the softest blanket you can find.
Pretty cozy. It’s comfort food at its finest. Perfect for a cool fall night.
In short, this creamy bean soup is comforting and rich. Plus, it’s very inexpensive to make so you can fit it into almost any tight budget even though it tastes like a million bucks. And unlike other comfort foods, it’s actually super good for you. It’s vegetarian for one thing. And for another the only fat in the soup comes from good for you olive oil and a tiny bit from some Parmesan cheese. There’s no heavy cream. So you don’t have to feel the tiniest bit guilty about dipping in some rustic bread and sopping up all the soupy goodness. Because using a bread for a spoon is fantastic.
So really this soup is pretty awesome.
Even more awesome? This hearty soup comes together so easily. Most Tuscan inspired dishes use very few ingredients and are easy to put together. This dish is no exception.
Thank goodness because Goose has been quite demanding of attention lately. Fortunately, her newest thing is adorable instead of exasperating. Her new favorite thing is saying, “Tiss Mama!” and lifting up her feet for me to kiss her stinky toes. I lean in to give them kisses and then make a face and say, “EW! Stinky!”
She thinks this is hysterical. I hope she’s always this easily amused.
Even though it happens approximately 272 a day.
And it happened at least 10 times while I was making this quick soup.
Thank goodness this is quick to make so I could get back to giving Goose and her stinky toes kisses and making her laugh hysterically. And really is there anything better than making your little one belly laugh? I can’t think of anything.
Ingredients
- 5 16 ounce cans of cannelini beans drained and rinsed
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic pressed
- 9 cups of vegetable stock
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbs thyme
- 1 tbs rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- pinch of red pepper flakes*
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large sauce pot.
- Chop the onion and add it to the pot. Season it with salt and pepper and bay leaves. Let cook for 1-2 minutes, then press the garlic and add to the onions.
- Cook garlic and onion over medium heat for 5-6 minutes, until onion is softened. Stir consistently to make sure the onion and garlic don't burn.
- Drain and rinse the beans. Add them to the pot.
- Pour in the stock.
- Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- When the soup simmers, pour about 5 cups of the bean and stock mix into a blender. Blend until smooth, and pour back into the pot.
- Bring back to a simmer and then reduce heat to medium low and let slowly simmer for another 15 minutes. Soup should thicken during this time.
- Finish soup by stirring in thyme, rosemary, red pepper, and Parmesan cheese.
- Serve hot with crusty bread. Garnish with cheese and fresh rosemary.
Notes
Nutrition
Yum! This sounds delicious and so comforting!
It’s like eating a hug. Only not creepy lol.
Love this! It looks great and I love how easy it sounds to make too. I wish we had some soup weather!
Soon I’m sure, depending on where you are. It’s not really soup weather during the day here yet, but at night, GAME ON!
Looks delicious! I love white bean chilis and soups this time of year!
Mmmmm chili!
This looks amazing! I love a delicious soup. It is heart y and full of love! I think all soups are that way.
Full of love! I love that description of soup! It’s so true!
I love a good soup, especially around this time of year. This looks really yummy!
This time of year just begs for soup, doesn’t it??
I’ve just come back from Siena in Tuscany and am looking for recipes to prolong the holiday feeling. This looks great!
I’m so jealous!! Did you have an amazing time? I feel like this soup would definitely give you that holiday feeling. Tuscan food is supposed to be simple but it’s delicious in its simplicity.
This sounds perfect for Fall! Can’t wait to try it!
Thank you!
This soup looks delicious and such a perfect lunch or lite supper for Fall. I’m always trying to come up with meatless meals, and this sure looks like a winner. Thanks for sharing!
It feels super hearty because of the beans. You don’t miss the meat at all.
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it.
Thank you!
This looks so good. I’m such a soup fan because it makes a lot of leftovers for busy fall weekdays. I also love any soup topped with cheese! Adding this to our menu for next week!
It fed us two whole dinners and I had it for lunch twice. It was just as good each time too.
yum! perfect time of year for comfort food. i’ll have to try this recipe this weekend
Thanks Lesley!
Soup weather is upon us! This one looks so yummy. Perfect for dipping bread which I love.
xo, c.
http://letslivelovely.com/blog
Such a good bread dipping soup!