This creamy white bean soup with kale is simple and quick to make. It has a little bit of zing and spice, but it’s mellow and down to earth too. I have a simple trick for making it creamy!
This creamy white bean soup with kale, rosemary, and lemon is cozy and vibrant, and just the right thing to turn to for keeping us warm and satisfied. I enjoy this recipe all year though. I also love that it comes together in 40 minutes.
It’s a new year and it feels like a new start. I think a lot of people try to make the switch to plant-based this time of year (yay!), so these first few weeks of January always feel extra critical for making the recipes count and keeping the folks on board.
More Vegan Soup Recipes:
- Ginger Sweet Potato & Coconut Milk Stew with Lentils and Kale
- Quick, Smoky Red Lentil Stew
- Smoky Chickpea, Lentil & Cabbage Stew with Kale
- Lemony Chickpea Soup with Spinach & Potatoes
I think almost every soup recipe uses the descriptors of “soothing” and “restorative,” and this one really is both. The descriptor “creamy” is used somewhat loosely. I use one my favourite tricks for a touch of richness here and puree half of the soup. It’s lightly creamy but still broth-y. The base is really simple with a focus on the earthiness of the beans. Kale is added for a touch of green at the end, and lemon lifts everything up.
The simplicity is what makes this soup so stunning to me. I wouldn’t hesitate to bring it to someone that was feeling under the weather, but it’s also great for everyday enjoyment.
With a dish as basic as this creamy white bean soup, I like to really focus on the quality of the ingredients. I had a particularly rich homemade vegetable stock on hand and I had cooked the beans from their dried state. I would recommend making your own stock for this recipe! We have a great vegetable stock recipe here. I’m also really interested in trying this one from healthy-ish. If you haven’t made stock before, it’s one of the most relaxing kitchen tasks.
That’s it for this week! I’ll see you on here soon.
Creamy White Bean Soup with Kale
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
- 1 medium carrot, small dice
- 1 stick celery, small dice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- chili flakes or aleppo pepper, to taste
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, minced
- 4 cups cooked navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 cups packed chopped lacinato kale (roughly 1 small bunch)
- ¼ cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
Equipment
Notes
- I try not to be an ingredient snob, but this recipe is quite simple with minimal cooking time, so the quality of the ingredients does make a difference. I made a particularly rich homemade vegetable stock and my beans were cooked from dried beans. I think canned beans would be fine, but I’d really encourage you to make homemade stock for this one. I happen to have a great recipe right here.
- I finished my soup with a lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil and it was delicious!
- For freezing this recipe: I recommend leaving the kale out. That way, when you reheat the soup for serving, you can add chopped kale as it comes up to a boil. Not a grey, overcooked leaf of kale in sight! ;)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium-large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the pot and stir. Sauté the vegetables until lightly softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- To the pot, add the garlic, chili flakes, and rosemary. Stir and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the navy beans to the pot and stir. Add the vegetable stock to the pot and stir once more. Bring the soup to a boil.
- Once boiling, ladle half of the soup into an upright blender. Add the lemon juice to the blender as well. Carefully bring the speed of the blender up to high and blend until this portion of the soup is totally liquified. Pour this liquified portion back into the pot. Season the soup with salt and pepper.
- Add the kale to the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Once the kale is slightly wilted and bright green, season the soup once more with salt and pepper, if you find it necessary. Stir in the chopped parsley as well. Serve the soup hot.
I’m making this soup today! Perfect for the blizzard weather outside – a simple hearty soup to keep me warm & cozy! Thank you Laura, xoxo
Lemon and rosemary is one of my favourite flavour combinations – this soup sounds perfect! I’m totally picking up an Ina Garten vibe with the quality of ingredients you’re recommending – they must be “good” quality. Now I’ll have both you and Ina in my head while I’m grocery shopping! ;)
I love your trick of pureeing half the soup! My husband is obsessed with it, actually. He wants to do that with every soup we make now. haha
What a gorgeous soup! You’ve made it look both rustic and luxurious at the same time. I love recipes like this where each ingredient gets its chance to shine.
Hi! 4 cups of cooked beans equates to how many dred bean cups please?
Sounds absolutely delicious!
From a quick Google search, I gather that 1 part dried beans equals 3 parts cooked. So you would need 1 + 1/3 cups dried beans for this recipe. More here: https://www.thebalance.com/dried-bean-conversions-and-measurements-1388322
I have a bag of Ranch Gordo Cannellini beans just BEGGING to be turned into this soup – -thank you!!!
Amazing job with this soup. So easy to make. cannot wait to try it! -Joe
What quantity do you mean by ‘a sprig’ of rosemary? Is that a few leaves.? …a portion of the leaves on the stalk?….an inch or two or three on the stalk?…I’m kind of hesitant because rosemary is such a strong herb. Can you clarify for me?
It was about 2 teaspoons once I chopped it up.
-L
A sprig is one “twig” worth. Grab a stem from the packet of rosemary and use all those leaves (sprig)
Happy to have you back! Cheers to the new year!
Hey everyone! Just made this soup and am over-the-moon happy that I did! It is PERFECT for this cold weather here on the East coast! I have already shared the recipe with friends. Being a vegetarian has always come naturally to me, but this soup reminds me of how fun and exciting vegetarian meals can be. With each spoonful, you can feel how healthy it is. Big big fan! Stay warm! xoxo
How many cup equates to 1 stalk of celery? Do you mean cut up the entire stalk of celery or 1 rib of celery.’?
When I say stalk, I mean a rib. I honestly had no idea people used “stalk” to mean the entire bunch of celery. Lesson learned! Thanks.
-L
Just a note of humorous agreement; I’ve never heard of anyone referring to one little stalk of celery being the entire bunch, so this gave me a bit of a chuckle when I read the question. Perhaps a very, VERY new cook…?
I made this soup tonight and it was soooo delicious!! I took the time to make the stock and prepare the dried beans which literally took it to the next level. I don’t think I will be able to go back to canned beans or boxed stock. Thank you for this recipe! It will definitely be on repeat during the winter!
Happy, happy new year to you, Laura! Thanks so much for this cozy and nourishing idea. Among all the dried beans in the pantry I’m pretty sure I don’t have white ones in there just at the moment, but I KNOW I have the better part of a bag of white lentils (a purchase inspired by some of your previous recipes …), and I can’t help but wonder if a white lentil soup could be nicely constructed along these flavour lines? (If yes, it ought to be relatively quick-cooking, at the very least ––) I think I may try it and let you know!
Hi Sherry!
I think white lentils would be great! Might add to the total cooking time, but I think they will actually be creamier than white beans (once blended). Let me know what it’s like if you go in this direction :)
-L
Reporting back: we made this soup with white lentils this week and it was super. We used about 1-1/4c of the white lentils and I think 5-6c stock. I see what you mean about the cooking time, Laura ––sorry, I had clearly scanned too quickly through your recipe and missed the ‘canned’ white beans part (assuming you were soaking and cooking the beans from scratch): yes, it probably did take longer than an essential reheat of already-cooked white beans, but even so, it wasn’t a lengthy process: maybe 20 minutes once the lentils and liquid were added? Being slightly lazy, we skipped the blender cleanup and just stuck in an immersion blender until about half was blended up, still leaving lots of nice texture. We also traded sage for rosemary and tossed some roasted butternut squash cubes on top: it was pretty delightful. Thank you again for this yummy, nourishing idea!
Hi there- in your inages the beans don’t appear blended but I dont see instruction to add more after blending. Can you help my confusion?
Hi Meagan,
In the third step of the recipe, I describe blending half of the soup. You still get some whole beans in the soup with this method because only half of it is being liquified.
-L
Just finished my first bowl of this wonderful perfection, I only wish I had more! I added a small head of cauliflower along with the kale…just because I needed to use it. I served it over white rice, and it was a total meal that my hubby and I both loved! Thank you so much for another nutritious, delicious meal. Alkaline, too!
So simple and delicious! Really pleased with this recipe.
I love how simple this recipe is – always a great idea to puree half the batch for that faux-creaminess factor.
This was really tasty. Perfect for the rainy days I’m experiencing. I made enough soup to last me for the week #mealprep. I doubled the amount of lemon juice and I loved it, I recommend it.
Delicious! Big hit with the fam. I served it over riced cauliflower.
I just made this last night — what an easy and delicious recipe! I loved how all the flavors blend into this lovely burst of freshness — great off-set to the gray of winter evenings. And the hot pepper adds just the right “pop” of heat right at the end of tasting everything else. This one is going into to the “keeper” file in my kitchen :) Thank you!
Yum! This is delicious. So simple and easy. I mixed in some roasted potatoes. I admit I thought, this is too easy! But it tasted wonderful. I used Better than Boullion not homemade too
Do you think chard would work in place of the kale? I love kale, but I just got chard in my CSA box…
Chard would be delicious! Someone who made the soup tagged me on Instagram, and they used chard in their version :)
-L
chard or spinach will work just fine…so Willa combination of all 3 greens! Ive done this swap many times in many recipes.. Use what you have, use what you like but this website is now one of my faves!!!It is clear concise and this cook knows what she’s doing and clearly knows good food and nutrition
This soup is absolutely lovely, what a wonderful creation! I’m curious as to how yours looks so beautifully yellow?
– Josie
I think maybe my carrot just had a lot of pigment? Could just be the lighting too :)
-L
Laura,
I made this last night and for such a simple recipe it really won me over! It was incredible. I ended up just using an immersion blender for a consetvative amount of time as to not over blend. It seemed to work out well. Husband approved. He’s asking me to make it again already. Oh, and I had some leftover homemade croutons from the night before. That was a nice little addition, which I know from your posts is right up your alley. Thank you for the recipe!
Brittany
you always take the simplest ingredients and turn them into something complex and delicious. i made this for lunch last weekend and was blown away by how fancy i felt and how good it tastes. thank you!!
I made this for dinner tonight, and my husband and I enjoyed it very much! I agree with your point about the quality of ingredients being very important. I used my homemade chicken bone broth, and the flavour came through very nicely. I’m sure I’ll be making this again.
What vegetable stock do you use? It has been so hard to find a good one because all the store bought ones have natural flavors and the only clean one I can find has the wierdest taste. Is it easy to make your own?
This looks amazing and I would love to try this if I could find a good veggie stock!
Hi Heather,
I mention this in the recipe itself, but I make my own vegetable stock exclusively and I would really recommend that you try doing that for this recipe. It’s very easy to do! I love making up large batches and freezing the extra stock in 1-litre containers for later. I link to my go-to vegetable stock recipe in the recipe headnotes as well.
-L
Made it last night and it was delicious! Love that it’s a simple soup but with so much flavor!.. Didn’t have the fresh rosemary so had to use the dry one.. Thank you Laura!
Would love to know where your black/white bowls and your two toned spoons are from.
Can’t wait to make this soup. Yum!
I picked up the bowls at a little shop on Abbott Kinney in Venice Beach. I can’t remember the name of it, and there’s no brand/clues on the bottom the bowls unfortunately.The silverware was a random find at Home Goods! Wish I could be more helpful :)
-L
I made this soup this morning! I’m almost done. I swapped black beans for the navy beans because that was the batch I made for this week, so I pureed maybe a quarter of the soup because I wanted to keep the nice colour lol. I’m very excited to eat this!
WOW!!! I just finish the last sip of this soup and I’m so satisfied. Blending half of the soup? GENIUS!! I used small butter beans i couldn’t find navy beans. I also added minced sage cause it was in my fridge and I love it :)
I like all kinds of potato dumplings (distant relatives of stuffed gnocchi). Stuffed with fruits and served with syrup based sauces make great sweet dishes, with sour cabbage (e.g. kimchi) and thick savoury sauces are splendid main dish and with peanut+squash stuffing are competition to dim sum appetizers. And of course all variations one could imagine. Chases away every trace of kitchen rut !
Experiencing the first signs of spring here in the Pacific Northwest and with the weather change Im feeling a touch of the cold I’ve been avoiding all winter! We had our first full day of rain after a nice stretch of sun so I took advantage of the chill and my sweetheart and I made this soup.
It was everything I wanted and then some. The brightness of lemon and the heat of chili really hit the spot (I added the zest from a lemon also because I couldn’t help myself). This will definitely go on my list of regulars. I love that it is easy enough I could whip it up on a weeknight. I have two pint jars of leftovers to look forward to and I expect they will freeze beautifully. Aww I swoon!
Thank you for sharing your creativity and passion for beautiful food!
This was absolutely delicious! I added quinoa to for some more carbs and protein. I am wondering if you think this would freeze well?
I have frozen it without the greens and it was great! I just throw the chopped greens into the pot to wilt as I reheat it.
-L
This recipe is delicious!! Works with lime as well, in a pinch. That being said, I would definitely double the recipe for a family of four unless you are serving with another dish. My kids each devoured around 2 cups each. Thanks for posting!
Love this recipe! I reduced it more, used seafood stock I had in the freezer and served it as the base for sous vide salmon. Absolutely delicious. Love your recipes!
Just made this for dinner, so so good! and so simple. will definitely make it again
Has anyone made this in the instant pot? Looking for conversion recipe.
I was thinking the same thing; I don’t have a stove, so everything has to be cooked in my electric pressure cooker, or in the microwave, so I’m going to try it in the IP-type cooker.
Made this soup today. It’s perfect for a cold, rainy day like today!
Just made this for lunch (in Madrid) with the bare minimum ingredients (I have just moved here and haven’t stocked up on herbs or, er, stock, yet) but vegetables fresh from the market and the flavour was like TRIPLE what I was expecting. Thank you!
Where are those beautiful canisters from ( on the shelf)?
Mine were a random find at Home Goods, but you can find similar at The Container Store.
-L
Love this soup! Thank you! I love to use my hand held immersion blender and it worked perfect! Love the lemon!
This soup is absolutely delicious, and the perfect thing for this cold, January weather. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Love this recipe. I have made it twice in the past 2 weeks, following your recipe exactly. The puréed beans make this rich and creamy. 1 serving is equal to 1 weight watchers smart point.
I’m new to using dried beans…beyond soaking overnight, do I also need to cook/boil the beans? Or will the recipe cook them enough? I obviously don’t want them hard, but also. It mushy…thanks!
Hi Kallie,
You’ll need to cook dried and soaked beans separately before making this recipe. Lots of tutorials for cooking beans from scratch online. Once you’ve cooked the beans, you’ll need 3.5 cups of them for this recipe.
-L
Made this last night! While it was bubbling on the stove, I took a little taste and realized “THIS NEEDS BOUGIE GRILLED CHEESE!” So I ran up the street to the store and got some gourmet bread and white cheddar and grilled up a sandwich. Holy moly. It was so good then, and I just ate it for lunch now. Perfect for this dreary and cold weather in NC right now! Thank you so much!
This soup was disappointing. Way too much broth to bean ratio making it thin and tasteless. Not creamy. Not to mention, I started my blender on ‘stir’ and it exploded all over the kitchen. Big waste of ingredients.
Delish! I whipped this up very quickly on a Sunday night using canned beans and store-bought broth and have been enjoying it for lunch all week. Mine does not look nearly as enticing as the photos but the flavor is great. In order to simplify I just used an immersion blender in one side of the soup pot, which worked just fine. Will definitely keep this in my lunch rotation!
One of the best soups I have made this year. I try to make a new soup about every 4-6 weeks because they are a meal. I freeze the leftovers and they do get eaten. I didn’t have kale though I usually try to keep a frozen bag of it, I had spinach so used it. Do not forget the lemon. With all of the ingredients together it is so tasty and heartwarming. I used canned beans this time but I am thinking I will cook my own beans next time. Sooooooooo good!
Made this tonight. SO easy yet so delicious!! Ate with a piece of avocado toast! Yum!!
Very tired of chicken soup …it’s been a long, cold winter. So I tried this today and really enjoyed it. I switched greens to swiss chard because it’s what I had and chicken stock (again because it’s what I had). Will definitely make again. Thank you.
Hello, this’s soup looks delicious, can’t wait to try it. I have tried many of your other receipts and they all taste great. I bought your cookbook today from Amazon!
Made this today. Super easy and deeply satisfying. Thanks!
I absolutely love your recipe! I am writing vegetarian recipe round ups on my blog in 2019 for people who are trying to make more meat-free meals (everyone has to start somewhere). I would love to feature you. You can check out my blog (for beginner environmentalists) at sunshineguerrilla.com. Is it alright if I share this link to your recipe?
Love this soup. I use the really small sized white beans. The only thing I add is freshly grated parmigiano or pecorino romano to give it a bit more flavor and it adds to the thickness.
This was delicious. We are making it again tomorrow! I am wanting to move toward eating more plants and maybe even vegetarian or vegan eventually, so thanks for your recipes! They help me figure out what to eat, especially because I have some food allergies that further limit my options. My husband decided to stir the soup at the end with a big sprig of rosemary and that kicked it up a notch (which was surprising to me!). Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you so much for this recipe! My family (hubby and 5 kids) loved it! Delicious!
Made this on a rainy cool day…delish!I added 2 links Beyond Meat Hot Italian Sausage. So good!
Hey, can’t wait to make this soup. Can you guys tell me how long the soup will stay good for. Ideally, I’d like to eat it on 4 days next week. Can I keep it in the fridge for that long or freeze it?
Hi Elena!
You can keep this soup in the fridge for up to 5 days :)
-L
I make this soup for my partner and I once a week, and we never tire of it.
Thanks for such a lovely recipe!
This soup was amazing! The lemon flavor is the perfect addition. I don’t like carrots, so I didn’t use those and I used curly kale because that’s what I had on hand but otherwise made it as directed. I will be making it again.
Thank you for a beautiful soup. It’s flavours and textures are perfectly balanced. I served it with homemade wheat bread, steamed rice cheese, and a chopped olive salad to make a well rounded, filling meal of it. Count this as a big success.
Delicious I used coconut oil and it gives it nice Thai flavour
I made this the other night. Both my husband and mother, loved it! Its super simple and easy. I tend to get intimidated with cooking but I truly enjoyed making this. AMAZING!
LOVE THIS SOUP! Can’t think of anything I’d change.
Just tried this recipe and loved it! I added about 2x the lemon because I can never get enough lemon- definitely enjoyed making it with the homemade vegetable stock as well!
I loved this recipe. I did not have kale or celery, so I substituted rainbow chard (stalks and all)…..SO Good!
This is the second recipe from you that I’ve tried and I am hooked on your cooking!! The soup was creamier than I expected, even though “creamy” is in the description, and it was super easy to put together. I made it for my family and we enjoyed it with cornbread. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this last night! It was perfect for a stormy winter evening. I quick-soaked the beans in salted water, then cooked them in a pressure cooker. I used a lime instead of lemon because that’s what I had, and it was delicious! I can’t help but think this would be a lovely soup to serve cold in the summer. Thank you!
Made this yesterday – honestly, it’s one of the best soups I’ve ever made or tasted. I think the fresh rosemary is key to the flavor. Thank you for the recipe!
This is one of the best soups ever. I took it into work and many loved it. I brought it in for our annual Souper Bowl competition and won 1st!!! I give you full credit.
Thanks for sharing!
I made this recipe tonight and it turned out great. Thank you!
I made this after a heavy lunch and I was low on my allotted calories for the day (I’m on a weight loss journey). This was fresh, yummy, and easy. Thank you very much for the recipe!
So lovely and simple! Left pepper for topping so it’d be toddler friendly – he loved it as did we and our guests! I was thinking how can such a simple ingredient list be so amazing – it just is! I added a small leek. Thanks for yet another keeper!
This was delicious, came together easily!
I’m making this now!Thank you! Rosemary in the windowsill.
Holy Moly this is a delicious soup! I’ve made a “fancy” soup each night for dinner over the last two weeks of self-isolation. This one was hands down the favourite. I doubled the recipe (halved the lemon based on preference) and used a store-bought organic veggie boullion powder. It was somehow creamy AND brothy — the dream combo. I had to really convince the vegan there was no cream added.
Thanks Laura!
This sounds amazing and I am hoping to make it tomorrow but I am using dried beans. Any directions for dried beans? I’ve never actually done dried beans so I guess I just soak overnight? Thanks!
Hi Karly,
I would recommend soaking the dried beans overnight and cooking up a batch of the beans separately before making this soup. Serious Eats has a good recipe/guide for cooking dried beans: https://www.seriouseats.com/2018/03/how-to-cook-dried-beans.html
-L
This is a lovely soup. I used one rounded cup of dried local navy beans. Post blend, I added some thin sliced cooked zucchini and re-added the lemon juice (I think the blended beans neutralized some of the flavor). The rosemary was a total background player, I should probably add more next time, but with the mellow lemon, slight chili flake spice, and garished with parm & parsley – I didn’t miss it!
This soup is insanely delicious. I did add in the zest of 1/2 lemon.
This is a seriously delicious soup. I love the combination of fresh rosemary and lemon. It is the middle of July and one would ask oneself why I eat a soup like this for dinner in a heat wave…. Because it is so delicious!
This soup and a fresh salad make for a great Meal! I am happy!
Theresia from Toronto
I made this beautiful soup yesterday and it was beyond awesome! Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I will be making it lots more. Next time with my homemade artisan bread…yum
This is a really good simple weekday meal :-) my mum loves it too
I made this for the first time tonight. OMGOSH. Unbelievable! So quick and easy, and absolutely delicious! Even my 9 year old boy loved it. I added nutritional yeast and topped off with evoo. Perfection in a bowl!
I love this soup! What is the nutritional information- particularly the calories per serving?
I didn’t plan to unvegetarianize (is that a word?) this soup but I had leftover chorizo sausage so I threw it in. So delicious. I will make it again, with the sausage because I found it bland without it. I like a lot of flavor. Veg broth just doesn’t give me that.
Just made this soup and it’s delicious!
This soup is delicious!! Do you know if it freezes well? I live alone and don’t want any to go to waste!
This soup was so good! My husband doesn’t like the texture of rosemary so I kept the sprig whole as the soup cooked for flavor. I served it with extra lemon wedges (and I added some of the rosemary leaves to my bowl!). Yum!
This is fantastic! Just creamy enough without feeling heavy. I added extra lemon juice and served with sourdough bread. Delicious!
If you’re using cans of beans, 2 cans comes up just short of 4 cups. I’d recommend reducing the broth because my soup came out yummy but a bit watery.
SO delicious! This one will be on regular rotation this winter, thank you for another awesome recipe!
Forgot to rate it!
Such a good recipe. I have made this soup several times and my boyfriend keeps asking me to make it. I tweaked it a little bit to my preference (i add a few potatoes in chunks and i add a piece of lemon peel to the blender because it can’t be lemony enough for me) and it is really phenomenal. Thanks so much for it!
This one was one of my favorite soups I have made in a VERY long time. It was simple and absolutely delicious!
Can I use baby kale or any type of kale?
Baby kale or any other type of kale is totally fine!
-L
I made this last night and it was delicious! I used your recipe’s vegetable stock (from like tofu recipe) and soaked/cooked cannelloni beans from scratch. perfection. Healthy and hearty, even my meat eating kale hating husband loved it! Thanks for the great tip about not adding the kale to freeze; I removed half to freeze before adding the kale.
I made this soup tonight with Rancho Gordo Marcella beans. It was delicious and simple. I used as much broth as I could from the beans and some additional store bought veggie broth to top it off. It was still perfect. It goes well with some homemade focaccia!
I followed your soup recipe yesterday. I really enjoyed making it…great ingredients. I wrote a note to myself that the next time I make it that I’ll be sure to take your suggestions to leave the kale out before freezing. That soup base is delicious all by itself. Thank you.
Wow its an amazing soup I added mushrooms in mine and water it got a bit thick.
Absolute favorite go to soup recipe! Thank you so much!!
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this review, Maribel! I’m so glad that you like it :)
-L
Best soup I have ever made! Can’t wait to make it again!
Made this tonight, even though it was 90 degrees out today! I LOVE soup anytime!! Followed your directions to the “T” except I used canned beans. It was outrageously delicious. Thank you for a great, quick meal.
How would I cook this in a slow cooker? In general, how can you modify a soup recipe to cook in the slow cooker? Thank you!
Made this for the family even though it’s close to 100 degrees here in Texas! I couldn’t resist after coming across the recipe in my Pinterest feed. I admit I forgot all about the fresh lemon at the end, but it still came out pretty amazing!!! We are not vegetarians, so I added some smoked turkey sausage. I am sure it would have been even better with the lemon! Can’t wait to make it again WITH the lemon. This is a dish that will for sure be an addition to our family lunch/dinner rotation…
**Made this and it was delicious! I substituted red chard for the kale & browned the chopped up stalks with the carrots and onion first. Then added the rough chopped chard at the end just like the kale. Love what the blending did with half the soup. Also added 1 more can of beans to the Dutch oven after creaming the first half in the blender just for a little more texture. Yum!
Made this tonight and it was so good! I had chicken stock on hand and used great northern beans since I couldn’t find navy beans. I also doubled the carrots and tripled the celery since I had a large onion. Delicious! Comforting, I love the addition of lemon and chile flakes, and am super amazed by the blend half the soup technique. Thank you!
This is the BEST vegetarian white bean soup I have ever made – thank you so much for sharing! I made it exactly as posted – didn’t need anything additional while serving, P E R F E C T!
Amazing soup! This will be my go-to white bean soup from now on. Very impressed with the rich flavours (I snuck in some peppercorns when I sautéed the veg) :-) Thank you for such a great recipe.
how did you get broth to be so yellow? mine didn’t come out that way….thanks!!
Made this today to use up some cooked beans and extra kale I had. Turned out great! I minced one small sprig of rosmary, and put another two in whole (just removed before blending then put them back in). Will make again.
Just wanted to say how obsessed I am with how simple, understated and so damn delicious this recipe is. I think it would make a great first intro for a beginner cook’s repertoire – and to keep making forever. Versatile as well – I tried it with thyme and leftover cooked rice, and it was so yum.
Yummm this was so good! I added potato and leek to mine too and it was incredible thank you!
Forgot to give stars hehe
Love, Love, Love! My family was blown away by the favor in this soup. I loved the vegetable broth recipe that you attached as well. That broth is a winner! I’m making a double batch of the broth tomorrow. Thank you for your lovely recipe. I just ordered your cookbook and can’t wait to get it!
This was fantastic, thank you! I am a horrible cook, but I felt like I could pull this off, and I did. Even with canned beans and broth, it tasted amazing. I live alone and thought I”d have to freeze it because it made so much, but I was so excited to eat it all week long. Can’t wait to make my next batch.
We had this tonight and enjoyed it tremendously. It’s flavorful and satisfying!
I just made the soup with the homemade stock and baby spinach because that’s what I had and it was just perfect! I will definitely be making this over and over.
This soup is DELCIOUS and pretty easy to make. Highly recommend.
So good!! Used canned beans, broth instead of stock and rosemary spice instead of fresh. Still tasted amazing.
So happy we finally tried this to night! So nourishing and yummy, even my picky 4 year old ate it up
This was so yummy and easy thank you!
Used canned beans and organic chicken stock from Trader Joe’s. Also added croutons from some leftover whole wheat bread. Delicious! The lemon juice is genius! Thank you for this wonderful recipe :)
For a vegetarian version, instead of creaming half the soup in a blender add some parmesean rinds with the navy beans and let it simmer 10 to 15 minutes before adding the kale. Final seasoning should only require pepper.
Added browned sweet Italian sausage (only because it had to be used today). Delish!<3
Hi, thanks for this recipe. The soup was delicious. I used fresh local (Vermont) spinach, rather than CA kale, adding the spinach at the end of the cooking so it stayed vibrant. The lemon is a perfect finishing touch.
I followed the recipe, I loved it, thank every much for a great meal!
My vegetarian daughter wanted soup on a warm May night. Instead of buying this soup from a local place, I found this recipe. And so glad I did because it’s amazing! The fresh rosemary makes it so earthy and delicious. It’s a keeper for the recipe book.
Delicious! I added a few sweet potatoes
I was wondering how the taste would be if I left out the rosemary. I cook for elderly people and they can’t always handle the spices. The soup really looks very good. Thanks for any comment.
Hi Mary Ann,
I think the flavour of this soup would be fine without the rosemary! The lemon is kind of the star with this one, and the final soup will still be creamy and flavourful.
-L
This was a delicious recipe! It was so easy. I agree with your notes. Homemade veggie broth and soaked/cooked beans make the difference. I used cannellini beans instead of navy beans.
This soup was so simple & delicious! I ended up subbing Za’atar for rosemary and adding leftover chicken (#nofoodwaste) and wowzas, I licked my bowl clean. I am constantly impressed by you Laura — your recipes never fail me! ;)
Thank you form the recipe; it is very good. I like that the soup is very flavorful, creamy without using cream and the vegetables have great texture as they do not get over cooked, due to the short cook time, since the beans are precooked.