Name: Italian White Bean Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 medium yellow onion, diced; 2 large carrots, diced; 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 large cloves); 1 (6-oz) can tomato paste; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 4 cups vegetable broth; 3 to 4 sprigs fresh rosemary; 5 to 6 sprigs fresh thyme; 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed; ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish; ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish

Cozy Italian White Bean Soup is an easy soup recipe that will warm you up on a cold day! Cannellini beans in a tomato vegetable broth with fresh herbs are so simple, but the flavors are delicious. Plus, it’s freezer-friendly, so you can make a big batch to have on hand whenever you’re craving a comforting bowl of soup.

Italian white bean soup topped with parmesan cheese.

Simple White Bean Soup
Ingredients
How to Make It
Storage Tips
More Soup Recipes

It’s light but satisfying and so easy you’ll want to make it on repeat all through the winter. What is it? It’s Italian white bean soup, and I’ve been ladling up bowlfuls of this wintertime treat whenever I need to get my cozy on when it’s cold out.

Simple White Bean Soup

It’s a veggie soup – no meat in this one! So the flavors are light, but all those white beans make it extra filling. A bowl is a meal in itself.
There’s some chopping, but I would not throw shade if you opt to use some frozen veggies in place of the fresh ones. Spoiler alert: I’ve done it myself.
I don’t suggest skipping the fresh herbs – thyme and rosemary, to be precise. I’ve tried it with dried, and it’s just not the same. The fresh herbs take the aromatic experience to a whole new level. And it’s a good one; I promise you that.

A bowl of this cozy goodness begs for hunks of crusty bread on the side to soak up all the broth. Trust me, this soup recipe is not to be missed.

Ingredients

Olive oil
Diced yellow onion
Diced carrots
Minced garlic cloves
Tomato paste
Kosher salt
Vegetable broth – chicken broth works great, too, if that’s what you have on hand.
Fresh rosemary
Fresh thyme
Canned cannellini beans – or you can use canned navy beans or Great Northern beans.
Chopped fresh parsley
Shredded Parmesan cheese

You can use two cups each of frozen diced carrots and chopped onions to save time on the prep work. It’s all good!

If you want a little heat, feel free to add a few pinches of red pepper flakes when you simmer the soup.

How to Make It

Saute: Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the onions and carrots, and cook them for about five minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste, and salt. Stir until everything is evenly coated in the paste.

the carrots and onions cooking in a pan and the cooked vegetables coated in tomato paste.

Add the veggie broth and the herbs. For the herbs, you can toss the sprigs right into the soup and fish them out at the end.

Place a lid slightly askew on top of the pan and simmer the soup until the carrots are tender. This will take about 15 minutes or so.

the broth and herbs added, the beans added, and the parsley added to the soup.

Take the herbs out of the soup and then add the drained white beans. Stir them into the soup and then lightly mash them with the spatula. You don’t need to mash them up completely – just enough to break some of them apart while leaving most of them whole. This will help thicken the soup.

Stir in the parsley and ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle shredded Parmesan over the top for garnish.

Storage Tips

Leftover white bean soup will keep in the refrigerator for three to four days.

Or store it in freezer containers, and it will keep in the freezer for several months.

I hope you try this Italian white bean soup soon! It’s so cozy, comforting, and delicious. The perfect way to warm up. Enjoy!

Happy simmering,

Italian white bean soup in a white bowl with a spoon.

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