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While simple and straightforward, this Easy Italian White Bean Soup is absolutely outstanding.
The creamy white beans in a bright, lemony and parmesan-y broth come together for a dinner that you will just ooh and ahh over. My husband, a soup skeptic, devoured not one, not two, but three bowls of this soup. He couldn’t believe how delicious it was. The two of us nearly downed the entire pot.
During these difficult times while we are cooking using pantry-centric ingredients– don’t forget that simple doesn’t have to mean boring. You can combine beautiful, simple flavors to create outstanding dinners, just like this Italian White Bean soup. Be confident in the kitchen and make yourself proud with creating something beautiful out of simple ingredients.
looking for more cozy soup recipes? try these!
Chickpea and Farro Soup with Escarole
Easy Italian White Bean Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 ounces bacon or ham, diced small (from about 4 strips of bacon)
- 1½ cups diced yellow onion (from about 1 large onion)
- 1 cup diced celery (from about 2 stalks)
- 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3-4 tablespoons white wine
- 2 (15-ounce) cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed (no salt added)
- 4 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 1 Parmesan cheese rind
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 3 cups baby spinach
- juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
Optional, for serving:
- grated Parmesan cheese
- flat leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Heat a Dutch oven (or large soup pot) over medium heat.
- Add the olive oil and bacon and cook, stirring, until the bacon is almost cooked, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the onion, celery, garlic, and chili flakes and a pinch of salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the white wine and continue to cook, stirring and scraping up any of the browned bits on the bottom, until the wine has reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
- Add the beans, broth, cheese rind, rosemary, oregano, bay leaf, lemon zest, salt, and pepper and bring contents to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a light simmer (about medium-low heat), cover, and cook for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in spinach, if using, and the juice of a lemon. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if desired. Continue to cook, uncovered and simmering, for about 5 minutes.
- Serve in bowls and top with a tiny drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of grated parmesan and parsley. Enjoy.
Notes
- To freeze, let the soup cool completely, then transfer it to airtight containers or freezer bags, leaving some space for expansion. Label and date the containers before placing them in the freezer.
- To thaw, move the container to the refrigerator and let it defrost overnight, or for a quicker option, use the microwave’s defrost setting. Further reheat the soup or stew in a pot on the stove over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it reaches a simmer, or microwave it in intervals, stirring in between, until heated through.
- If you feel like the contents of the soup (i.e. noodles, rice, etc.) soaked up most of the liquid, you can add 1 to 2 cups more broth to rehydrate the soup and get it to the desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Another delicious and simple recipe by Alex. This soup was filled with flavor. It was perfect on this cold rainy day.
Delicious!! I doubled the seasonings and lemon. Perfect for a lighter dinner!
Hi when your recipe is doubled using the 2x function, your side instructions, such as “about two stalks of celery, or about half an onion” are not doubled. This could be misleading for your readers!
So delicious, our family ate it all! Easy recipe for weeknights too 🙂
What would be a good substitute for pork?
it’s delicious without the pork, also! you can omit.
This was the perfect cozy winter soup recipe! So easy and such a great depth of flavor! I used pre-chopped pancetta from TJs because I was feeling lazy and still worked well. Definitely recommend at least 1.5x the recipe because you will want to eat it all. Thank you for sharing!
This soup sounded delicious, but no vegetarian version was given. I left out bacon, added butter for fat. It was excellent. A few of things I wondered about: are chili flakes same as red pepper flakes? Is it a soup or a stew? The pin on Pinterest calls it Italian white Bean Soup, but your site says White Bean Stew. Prep time is shown as 15 minutes, but with chopping onion, celery, garlic, zesting & juicing lemon, etc. it’s more like 45 minutes! Why such an unrealistic prep time? Thank you for reading this.
Let’s do this!:
Chili Flakes vs. Red Pepper Flakes: They’re essentially the same thing—both are dried and crushed red chili peppers. The name varies by recipe or region, but the spice level and usage are similar.
Soup or Stew?: It’s a bit of both! A stew tends to be heartier, with less broth, while a soup is brothier. This dish lands in between: hearty enough to be a stew, but brothy like a soup. The name is interchangeable depending on how thick you make it!
Name Difference: The Pinterest pin and website title may differ for keyword optimization (so the recipe is easier to find). Both names describe the dish accurately, but the flavor remains the same!
Prep Time Discrepancy: Prep times vary depending on your speed and familiarity with the steps. The listed time perhaps reflects more experienced chopping. For a more realistic timeframe, I’ll clarify in the recipe headnote. Thank you for pointing this out!
We loved it, great tasting. I had rotisserie chicken left over so I added some.
Could I make it in the slow cooker?
yes! I would just cook up the bacon first
Delicious! Added some Italian sausage in after dishing up the bowls and took it up a notch. Will definitely make again—thanks for a great recipe!
LOVE that addition!