A simple bowl of white bean soup graces my table. It has a garlicky broth with little specks of oregano floating among the beans, and a beautiful reddish tint from tomato paste. Finally, in contrast to the beans, I find gently simmered dark greens. It’s simple, but flavorful and delicious.
If you enjoy soups like this, you also may like my soup cookbook, Ladled: Nourishing Soups for all Seasons.
This rustic Italian style soup is very easy to make, frugal, and nutritious! You can add part homemade broth for the water for even more nutrition, though it will have plenty of flavor without it. I have also put kale in this soup with delicious results. Any dark green would do. It’s also a great dish to serve to vegan or vegetarian friends.
Speaking of vegetarian meals, Heidi Swanson from 101cookbooks.com, one of the most creative food bloggers out there, has set up a new recipe search! Super Natural Recipes contains hand picked recipes by Heidi focused on recipes including whole foods and natural ingredients. It also happens to include many recipes from yours truly. Check it out!
Garlicky White Bean Soup with Dark Greens -10-12 servings
You could serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top and rustic bread on the side.
Soak 4 cups of white beans overnight in plenty of water (I used great northern beans)
10-12 cups of water
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil4 cups of baby spinach (or one bunch of kale, swiss chard, or dark green of your choice)
1/3 cup of olive oil
6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced or put through garlic press
3 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 cup of tomato paste
Sea Salt and Pepper1-Rinse and drain your beans, then add to a large pot. Add 10-12 cups of water, the smashed garlic cloves, bay leaves and olive oil.
Bring to a boil and turn down heat to a low simmer. Simmer until beans are soft and tender. How long this takes will depend on how old your beans are, and what type you are using, but it should generally take about 1 1/2 hours.2-Wash and drain the baby spinach leaves (or wash and chop dark greens of your choice). Add to soup and allow to simmer while you do step three. Baby spinach will only take a few minutes to completely cook, while kale or swiss chard can take up to 10-15 minutes to really soften.
3- In a small saucepan heat the olive oil until hot. Add the tomato paste, oregano, and garlic. Continually stir until the the olive oil is tinted with red, and the garlic is softening (but not brown). Pour this flavorful mix over your beans in the pot and stir in.
4-Taste test, you will need to add plenty of salt and pepper (remember you haven’t added any in yet). Serve slightly cooled. If you serve it piping hot, you won’t be able to taste as much of the flavors. Enjoy!
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Thanks for this recipe. It looks great!
That looks delish!! Just bookmarked it, and it will appear on my menu plan very soon, thanks!
Oh. Wow. This sounds amazing! Am definitely adding this to my t0-make list.
Oh, this looks very delicious!! I will be trying it soon! Thanks, Kimi!
Yummy. That looks good!
I was just in a soup mood too, and made 3 this weekend. Everything I do has to include greens – can’t wait to try this one out!
mmmmmm. Looks lovely. I think it’s on the menu!
I will be trying this soup soon. Am transitioning to healthier eating and was looking for a bean soup with greens. And the garlic makes it perfect. I’m so glad I found this website!
If it is described as “garlicky” I’m in. This will be perfect for the spinach that’s ready to harvest in the garden.
I encourage all of you to make this lovely and delicious soup. I have the privilege of being Kimi’s mother-in-grace and she made this soup for us last night. It is definitely nourishing, comfort food!
Sono, I love “mother-in-grace”! That’s perfect!
Kimi, this looks awesome and perfect for our Lenten journey! I had something like this in mind for my menu plan this week, but no recipe specifically. Now I’m going to try this (only I have frozen spinach, which won’t look as pretty, but I’ll try it). I also wonder how this would do as a blended soup?
It look delicious. I can’t wait to make it.
Ijust made this soup. Its cooling down right now. Yum!
We just finished eating this… I used canned cannellini beans instead of soaked dry ones (sorry), but this came out great. My husband, a very picky eater, even loved it. I added a bit more garlic, and I didn’t have bay leaves, but the results were still fabulous. Looking forward to making this in a few weeks for a church dinner. Tasty, nutritious, and economical! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
All I have is black-eyed peas in my house right now…do you think those would work with this recipe??
Thanks for the delicious recipe. I am new to your site….my kids (ages 2 and 3 1/2) could not get enough! Thanks for all you do. Blessings
Made up this soup this weekend. Great bean flavour, lovely slightly thickened broth. Only had canned white kidney beans in my cupboard (drained and rinsed them), but still came out nicely. I have added this recipe to my regular meal rotation. I will try with different white beans, cannellini is high on my list, and with different greens, to find a way to get them onto my table in appetizing ways, kale in particular, which is so wonderfully rich in nutrients, but not really to my taste.
Note: I added a sprinkling of ground pepper and some parmesan which deepened the flavour and added richness. A little goes a long way.
P.S.: For greens, I used fresh baby spinach.
Hi Kimi,
This recipe looks great except for the high heat cooking with olive oil. See http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=movie&dbid=6 This is not the first reference I have seen recommending that you not heat olive oil…I’d like to hear any thoughts or research you have done on this topic.
Thanks…Karen
I have heard that the only oils one should heat are coconut oil or butter.
I made this soup tonight and it was absolutely delicious! I also added the juice of half a lemon right before I served it. Thanks for all your recipes, Kimi – I’ve tried several of them and I’ve enjoyed them all.
I made this soup with dried lima beans and collard greens. I was so surprised at the rich flavor I got without meat broth. I did use more garlic and really liked the flavor of the garlic added at the end. I served this with buttered sourdough bread and my husband sopped up the broth with the bread. When I served the leftover soup, I added sauerkraut to the soup at serving and made sure the soup was just warm. Thanks for this delicious recipe.
We made this last night and loved it! So simple but really yummy. We used dried Great Northern beans, kale and topped with Parmesan! I have to say, though, that my rather carnivorous family thought it would be even more exceptional with some bacon or Italian sausage in it. I may try it that way next time even thought I loved it just the way it was.
I tried this tonight for dinner. To save time and since I had them on hand, I used canned white beans (2) with kale and simmered it for about 1/2 hour. Next time I will definitely follow the recipe to the T. It was very, very delicious and even my teenage son liked it ;o) Can’t wait to enjoy the leftovers. Thanks Kimi
For anyone using canned beans instead of dried, understand that 4 cups of dried beans (as called for in the recipe) will equal a whole lot more than double that amount for canned ones.
I just made this for the second time and it is so delicious! I love simple, good food! Thanks for the recipe.
I made half a batch of this over the weekend. YUM I used navy white beans and baby spinach. I pureed about 1/3 of the beans to thicken the soup and wound up retrieving the spinach after dropping it in the soup to chop it up (will remember next time). I used a bit less oregano – might try a bit of marjoram next time (it goes great with beans). I’m also thinking of doing 1/2 water and 1/2 chicken broth for more nutrition. And more garlic !! I love this soup!!!
I made this a few days ago and really liked it. As me and my two year old are the only ones in the family who will actually eat soup of any kind we ate this for three days and still had to bottle some up for the freezer. I will have some great leftovers for a day when I am extra tired. At first It seemed a little odd to me as I am not used to greens in my soup, but after a few bites I got used to the spinach texture and the flavors really came together. It is now one of my favorites. I put it over some ground turkey the other day for added protein and it was good that way as well.
Can you make the white bean soup without dark greens? My Dad is on blood thinnerss (no dark greens).
Thank-you
This one is exciting because it has ingredients that one usually has at home anyway! I just soaked my white beans, hoping to make this tomorrow!
This is one of my all time favorite soups! It’s cooking as I speak. =) So delicious, simple and healthy. And my babies love it!
This reminds me of the soup that was served at MACKEY’S in Niles ,Ohio. Eat the soup with baguet bread and you have a wonderful lunch.
This soup reminds me of the one served at Olive Garden! Of course the name is different but it is soooo good. We feed my grandson this soup with bread when he was 6 months old.
My daughter who lives in Utah shared this site with me and I am so glad. It looks delicious and she and I (Michigan) are both going to make it for dinner this next week……
I am going to share it with my friends.
I made this and it was wonderful! I had already cooked my beans in the crockpot before I found this recipe. I just sauteed garlic in oil, then added everything else at once and simmered it until the kale was cooked enough. I didn’t add the extra 1/3 c. olive oil, only what I sauteed the garlic in and I reduced the tomato paste to 2T. since I have a problem with cooked tomatoes (although I love anything tomato!). I added a tsp or so of crushed red pepper. I thought I’d have enough extra to freeze some but it was gone in 2 days!
I made this and it was wonderful! I had already cooked my beans in the crockpot before I found this recipe. I just sauteed garlic in oil, then added everything else at once and simmered it until the kale was cooked enough. I didn’t add the extra 1/3 c. olive oil, only what I sauteed the garlic in and I reduced the tomato paste to 2T. since I have a problem with cooked tomatoes (although I love anything tomato!). I added a tsp or so of crushed red pepper. I thought I’d have enough extra to freeze some but it was gone in 2 days! I served it with a wonderful crusty loaf of no-knead bread. http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/02/09/back-to-basics-tips-and-techniques-to-create-a-great-loaf-in-5-minutes-a-day
Sounds yummy. I like the idea of using broth, can you tell me more about how much you’d use, and when to add it in?
Also, I hear lots about freezing soups for later, but always wonder if they’ll still be as good after freezing, and then more specifically….how do you thaw frozen soup? In the fridge, a crockpot, microwave, another soup pot set on low? I’m obviously a new cook still learning a lot, and would love any of your experienced advice. Thanks!
This sounds like the pasta e fagioli my my mom used make, but she added pasta. will try it.
I made this for dinner tonight, it was lovely! I added a poached egg, which went very well with the flavors. Thanks for sharing!
Just made this with some turkey sausage…yummy
A delicious recipe, but….3 TEASPOONS of oregano??? That would knock down a moose!
Anton,
Glad to discover this site. The white bean soup with greens looks so inviting. Jenny and I are so anxious to try this. We love following your progress. Thanks for introducing Kimi and her site to us.
It looks wonderful, can’t wait to make a pot…I love beans
I just made this. It taste okay but taste a little flat and I kept adding salt in the hopes of taking that away but it wasn’t helping. Then I decided to add a couple cans of diced tomatoes with chili in it. That seemed to do the trick. Added the tomatoes and chilis and it added the flavor and seasoning I was looking for. Perfect. Will make it like this again.
I made this without the oregano, but with turkey sausage, bacon, canned tomates and turkey stock. I loved it. At the end. I minced an entire bunch of spinach and added fresh feta at the end of cooking. I have never made a soup without onion before, yet it was perfection.
I started this soup, in the crock-pot, before I went to work, thinking I could finish it after work. I ended up working an hour or two late so I got home at 12:30 am. I finished the soup and decided to taste some. Wow! That one taste turned into one bowl and then another. Absolutely delicious, even at 1:30 in the morning. Can’t wait to have some more tomorrow with a glass of Chardonnay and some home made bread.
Thanks
Looks better than it tastes.
Only 2 people in my family of 5 even found this edible. Very bland – had to keep dumping in salt. Honestly, it even made me nauseous….
Sounds wonderful– & plan on trying this soon!!!!
put me on your mailing list…….thanks
I am making this right now with kale. It is raining and my house smells SO GOOD.
I made this soup today and it was yum-o. Added a pinch of cumin powder in and before I had some I put some fresh lemon juice in – not a lot just some in my bowl. Was so good, the lemon brings out the flavours in the soup. Very good recipe.
I definitely am trying this soup..sounds and looks delicious and nutritious!!