Cannellini Bean Soup
This Cannellini Bean Soup is so delicious, healthy, and nutritious, and one of my favorite soups I make at home. It's extremely easy to make, and budget-friendly too. You only need a few basic ingredients that most people always have in the pantry. This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, nonspicy, GERD / Acid reflux friendly and allium free. If you substitute chicken broth with vegetable broth, you can make the soup vegan too.
I love soup recipes that don't require too much chopping or prepping. This recipe is one of those recipes. I only have to chop carrots and celery. I buy either baby spinach or chopped kale from the grocery store. Using canned beans makes it even more convenient. But if you want to make it with dried cannellini beans, I added instructions below about how to prep your beans for the soup.
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Making the soup with dried Cannellini beans
I use canned Cannellini Bean for this Soup out of convenience. But using dried beans is much more budget-friendly.
One 15oz bean can has roughly about 1.5 cups of cooked beans. For this recipe, I use 3 cans which means, roughly about 4.5 cups of cooked beans. To get this amount you need to cook 1.5 cups of dried beans.
Stovetop method:
Wash and soak 1.5 cups of dried beans overnight (8 - 12 hours). Add them to a pot with about 5 cups of water. Cook the beans on medium heat for about 1 hour or until the beans are tender. Skim any foam that floats on the top as needed. Drain water when the beans are fully cooked.
Instant pot:
Add 1.5 cups of water to an instant pot (doesn't need any soaking). Add 3 cups of water. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes. When the time is done, turn off the pot and let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes. Drain all the water and use it in the recipe.
Some Helpful Tips
- Wash the Beans. This is very important. Washing canned beans get rid of the excess starch. Otherwise, your soup can get too thick. It also helps to get rid of the saltiness and the metallic taste sometimes you get from canned beans. Add the beans to a colander and let water run through.
- Use a low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth. Especially if you're using salted beans. You can later adjust the saltiness to your taste.
- Do not over-mush your beans while making the soup. It can make the soup too starchy and thick. You can take a little bit of beans out, blend it, and add it back. Or you can just mash some beans with the back of your spoon. This will help to thicken the soup without adding any thickener.
- Wait until your carrots and celery are done cooking before adding beans. Since beans are already cooked, they won't take too long to cook. But you need those carrots and celery to saute well to develop flavor.
- Too much coconut milk can overpower the delicate and mild flavors of the Cannellini Bean Soup. Just a little splash is more than enough to add a little bit of creaminess to the soup.
Serving Ideas:
I usually serve this with a slice of toasted sourdough bread or some crackers.
If you need to add more proteins to the meal, you can serve it with a grilled or air fried chicken or salmon.
For veggie options, you can serve this cannellini bean soup with a nice simple salad or roasted veggies.
My quick and easy White bean soup recipe with Cannellini beans is so cozy and delicious. It's also dairy-free, gluten-free, and allium-free.
- 2 tsp Olive oil
- 4 Celery stalks, chopped
- 4 Medium carrots diced
- 3 Cannellini bean cans (15oz each)
- 1 tsp dried Italian herbs
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 1/2 cups Chicken or Vegetable broth
- 3.5 oz Spinach or chopped Kale (3.5 oz = 100 g)
- 2 tbsp Canned coconut milk or heavy cream
- Salt to your taste
- 1/2 tsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp Freshly ground black pepper
Heat up oil in a large soup pot. Sauté carrot and celery with 1/4 tsp salt until carrots start to turn soft.
Drain the bean cans completely. Add the beans to a colander and run them under water to remove all the excess starch and brine. Add the beans to the pot along with Italian seasoning and bay leaves. Mix with carrots and celery.
Add broth and simmer for about 10 minutes. When the soup starts to thicken, mash some of the beans with back of the spoon. (If you like it thicker, grind the soup a little bit with an emersion blender)
if the soup become too thick, add a little bit of broth to thicken it.
Add spinach or kale. Mix.
When the greens start to wilt, add coconut milk and mix. Taste and add salt if needed. Simmer for about 20 seconds and turn off the heat.
If you use, salted beans and salted broth, you might not need to add salt.
Remove the bay leaves. Garnish with parmesan cheese, olive oil and black pepper before serving.
