Creamy White Bean Soup is simple, filling, and quick to make. It’s a store cupboard grab for feasting on chilly days. Use the Cannellini (white kidney bean) or one of its cousins. The texture and cooking times may vary a little.

The original Italian Bean soup is made with stock garlic and beans, with a cupful of pureed beans to thicken the soup. It’s classically simple. We’ve added rosemary, but you could add a pinch of allspice, chilli, or oregano. Swap the lemon for lime. Puree a third of the beans to create a thick soup with whole beans or, as featured, everything pureed as a thicker soup. It’s ideal for dunking bread into.

Tinned tomatoes are another good addition. Cook them with the beans, onion, and celery and then puree a cupful of the mixture to thicken the sauce. But my favourite addition is a generous handful of cavolo nero. In that case, I would only puree half a cup of beans, keeping the soup chunky.

All White Bean Soup variations are tasty. It’s a matter of preference. You can further play with the consistency of the soup by adding more or less stock and a little more celery or celery leaves.

If you need inspiration for white beans, why not try our Greek Giant Beans or the Mediterranean Chorizo and Bean Stew? You can also find all the soup recipes here.

Creamy White Bean Soup

Deliciously simple, Creamy White Bean Soup is a filling, quick meal made with pantry staples.

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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings:4 people

Equipment

• heavy based saucepan

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Ingredients

US CustomaryMetric

• 800 g cannellini (white beans) drained approx 230 g (8.11 oz) dried beans
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 200-250 ml meat or vegetable broth or stock
• 1 rib celery
• 1 small onion
• 1 small parmesan rind
• 1 lemon – zest and juice
• salt and freshly ground pepper to season

Instructions

• Sweat the garlic, onion and celery until very soft and golden.
• Add the rosemary, bay leaf, parmesan rind, beans, and a good grinding of black pepper.
• Simmer gently until the rosemary and bay start giving off a delicious scent.
• Add the stock and continue simmering gently for another 8-10 minutes.
• Remove the bay, parmesan, and rosemary. Stir in the lemon juice (to taste). You can either puree all the beans to create a thick, creamy soup or puree only a cupful to make thick stock, keeping the remaining beans intact. Salt to taste.
• Garnish with a hint of lemon zest and a drizzle of olive oil.