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White Bean and Kale Soup
Published January 8, 2025
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Nutritious and delicious White Bean and Kale Soup! A cozy soup composed of soft hearty beans, plenty of vegetables – including vitamin rich kale and carrots, and an herby broth. It’s a recipe that you’ll want to have on repeat!
Don’t let this soups simplicity fool you, it will have you saying, “who knew bean soup could be so good?” It’s brimming with flavor yet it’s a breeze to make, and it’s a soup you can feel good about eating.
It’s a great meatless option for lunch or a simple dinner and it pairs well with some artisan whole grain bread for dipping. Or if you really want to pack greens into the meal serve it with a side salad.
Something I think you’ll really love about this soup is it’s light creaminess without the use of any cream. That is thanks to blitzing a portion of the beans and stirring that puree right into the soup.
It’s bright welcome flavors come from a little lemon, a fair sprinkle of parmesan and a rounded spoonful of garlic. Always a delicious trio.
How to Make the Soup Vegetarian and Vegan
To make the recipe vegetarian simply use vegetable broth. To make it vegan use vegetable broth and omit the parmesan rind and the parmesan, in it’s place you can use two tablespoons of nutritional yeast.
White Bean Kale Soup Recipe Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil: A little is used for sautéing, then more is added to finish the soup for a hint of rich flavor.
- Yellow onion: This adds a lot of base flavor to the soup.
- Carrots: These add color, light flavor and more nutrition.
- Celery: Sliced the celery thin if you want it to cook faster.
- Garlic: Preferably use fresh garlic.
- Broth: Low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth can be used here.
- Great northern beans: You can use dry and fully cooked beans in place of canned beans. You’ll need about 4.5 cups cooked.
- Parmesan rind: This is the dry portion at the end of an authentic parmesan wedge (those imported from Italy). I always save them because they are great for seasoning soups and sauces.
- Grated parmesan: In addition to the rind, this adds a great finishing touch.
- Fresh rosemary and parsley: These fresh herbs add some depth to the soup.
- Salt and black pepper: Season the soup to taste.
- Kale: Fresh kale is preferred though frozen would work as well.
- Lemon: Fresh lemon juice adds some lively brightness the soup.
How to Make Kale White Bean Soup
Puree beans: Add one can of rinsed beans to a food processor along with 1/2 cup broth.
Process until mixture is smooth, set aside.
Saute mirepoix vegetables: Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrots and saute 5 minutes.
Add garlic and saute 1 minute longer.
Add broth + seasonings and simmer soup: Pour in broth, add parmesan rind and rosemary and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high. Once simmering reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
Simmer with beans: Add beans, and bean puree mixture then continue to simmer 5 minutes, covered.
Cook with kale: Add kale and continue to simmer, covered, until softened about 5 minutes longer.
Add finishes: Remove parmesan rind. Stir in remaining 3 Tbsp olive oil and the lemon juice.
Garnish each serving with parmesan.
How Long Does White Bean Kale Soup Last?
This soup can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for about 4 days.
Can You Freeze White Bean and Kale Soup?
This kale and bean soup freezes well. Just store in an airtight container leaving about 1-inch for expansion at the top.
Freeze up to 3 months.
Possible Recipe Substitutes
Beans: Cannellini beans or navy beans will make a great substitute for the great northern beans.
Greens: Lacinato kale is another alternative to curly kale. Even spinach will make a great substitute, through you’ll want to wait to add it until the end as it will cook very quickly.
Herbs: If needed you can use dried herbs, just use 1 tsp dried rosemary and 2 Tbsp dried parsley (add dried parsley when adding the rosemary).
More Delicious Soup Recipes to Try
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Kale and Quinoa Minestone
- Kale White Bean and Sausage Soup
- Minestrone
- Vegetable Soup
