This creamy white bean soup with kale, rosemary, and lemon is cozy and vibrant, and just the right thing to turn to for keeping us warm and satisfied. I do enjoy this vegan recipe all year though. I also love that it comes together in 40 minutes!
I think almost every soup recipe uses the descriptors “soothing” and “restorative,” and this one really is both. I use one my favorite tricks for a touch of richness here and puree half of the soup to enrich the texture. It’s lightly creamy but still broth-y. The base is really simple with a focus on the earthiness of the white beans. Kale is added for a touch of green at the end, and lemon lifts everything up.
More Vegan Soup Recipes:
- Ginger Sweet Potato & Coconut Milk Stew with Lentils and Kale
- Quick, Smoky Red Lentil Stew
- Smoky Chickpea, Lentil & Cabbage Stew with Kale
- Lemony Chickpea Soup with Spinach & Potatoes
The simplicity is what makes this soup so stunning to me. I wouldn’t hesitate to bring it to someone that is feeling under the weather, but it’s also great for everyday enjoyment.
With a dish as basic as this creamy white bean soup, I like to really focus on the quality of the ingredients. I use a particularly rich homemade vegetable stock and I like to cook the beans from their dried state. The stock especially makes a difference!
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Creamy White Bean Soup with Kale
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
- 1 medium carrot, small dice
- 1 stick celery, small dice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- chili flakes or aleppo pepper, to taste
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, minced
- 4 cups cooked navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 cups packed chopped lacinato kale (roughly 1 small bunch)
- ¼ cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
Equipment
Notes
- Since this soup is so light on ingredients, I do recommend making your own vegetable stock for the best possible flavor, right from the hop.
I finished my soup with a lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil and it was delicious! - For freezing this recipe: I recommend leaving the kale out as it can get kind of grey and overly soft after thawing and reheating. Instead, when you reheat the soup for serving, you can add chopped kale as it comes up to a boil.
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium-large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the pot and stir. Sauté the vegetables until lightly softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- To the pot, add the garlic, chili flakes, and rosemary. Stir and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the navy beans to the pot and stir. Add the vegetable stock to the pot and stir once more. Bring the soup to a boil.
- Once boiling, ladle half of the soup into an upright blender. Add the lemon juice to the blender as well. Carefully bring the speed of the blender up to high and blend until this portion of the soup is totally liquified. Pour this liquified portion back into the pot. Season the soup with salt and pepper.
- Add the kale to the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Once the kale is slightly wilted and bright green, season the soup once more with salt and pepper, if you find it necessary. Stir in the chopped parsley as well. Serve the soup hot.
This was outstanding. Made it last night. Leftovers were even good today, for lunch. I used homemade chicken stock, and 4 cans of great northern beans. Everyone loved it, definitely a repeater!
Holy mother of goodness!! This was phenomenal! Like you, I cooked my own beans and topped with toasted croutons. I used a tsp of Aleppo which gave it a nice little kick. Added to the soup rotation.
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe.
OOOOOOHHHHHH my gosh. Made exactly as directed. Insanely delicious.
I loved how easy, quick and good this soup was. I did use 2 cans of beans and a little more lemon( love lemon in my soups). I also used my immersion blender instead of an upright one. LOVE THIS RECIPE❣️
Soo good! I used an immersion blender instead of scooping some of the soup into a regular blender, but otherwise followed as directed. I’ll definitely be making this again.
loved this soup! It was hearty and comforting. The lemon and rosemary made a subtle flavor appearance. I will make this again , I loved that it was 4 nice serving not a huge pot. highly recommend!
Love this recipe! I swapped out the kale and used collard greens. Making it with spinach today
This was delicious! I cheated with canned beans and store-bought veggie stock but otherwise followed the recipe as instructed.
Made this for the first time and it was so good. I did find it a little blanb but added a cup of dry white wine to it and it enhance the flavor just perfectly. My family loved it!
This recipe is spot on! I added shrimp to get some additional protein in and it was fantastic. I also topped with fresh Parmesan cheese. Highly recommended and will definitely make this again.
Hello, this looks delicious. Just wanted to let you know that the link for the homemade broth actually takes you to a soba with tofu recipe.
Thank you so much for letting me know, Alisha! Just fixed it up :)
-L
I love this recipe and I even made it with your vegetable stock recipe. I added two cooked, sliced mild turkey sausage links. I’ll be making the vegetable stock regularly and this soup as well!