This past week I was talking to a reporter from MarketWatch and as I told the story of Budget Bytes I joked about being a broke college graduate and not wanting to eat canned beans three times a day. Well, I’m kind of eating my words now because when canned beans are prepared like this, I seriously could eat them all day, every day! This easy Rosemary Garlic White Bean Soup only takes eight simple ingredients, is crazy flavorful, and will give you all those warm cozy fall vibes!
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How to Serve Rosemary Garlic White Bean Soup
This soup is fairly simple at heart, but still has bold flavor that stands up on its own, but would also be great with a piece of crusty bread for dipping, or maybe even some Pesto Cheese Toast. That being said, I got creative when I was photographing the soup and started added some fun toppings. I drizzled a little pesto over one bowl, topped another with some homemade croutons, and shaved a bit of fresh Parmesan over another. I can also imagine a little melty gruyere or smoked mozzarella would be fabulous, or even just a dash of hot sauce.
Optional Add-Ins
You know I like to keep things simple, but if you happen to have these ingredients on hand and need to use them up, feel free to toss them into your Rosemary Garlic White Bean Soup:
- Diced carrots, onion, or celery sautéed with the garlic
- Bacon cooked until brown, the fat used in place of the olive oil (remove bacon and add back to the soup after cooking)
- Ham sautéed before the garlic until crispy
- Zucchini added with the beans
- Kale or spinach stirred into the soup at the end
- Lemon juice added to the soup after cooking (1-2 Tbsp)
Can I Use Dry Beans?
You can definitely make a similar soup using dry beans, but it would require several extra steps, which I would need to test before offering instructions. I do have a Slow Cooker White Bean Soup that uses dry beans and some extra vegetables that is a great option.
Can I Make This in an Instant Pot?
Since this soup doesn’t require any fancy techniques, you can probably just use the “soup” function on the Instant Pot (you may still want to use the sauté function for the first step with the garlic and oil). But it’s so fast on the stove top, it might be faster to do it this way than waiting for the IP to come up to pressure and depressurize!
Can I Freeze This Rosemary Garlic White Bean Soup?
Absolutely! This soup will freeze very well. I made a fairly small batch, but you can easily double it and freeze half for later. To double the recipe, change the number of servings in the recipe card below to 8, and all the other ingredients will auto adjust.
You might also like our easy Lemony Chickpea Soup!
Easy Rosemary Garlic White Bean Soup
Servings 4 1.25 cups eachIngredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 3 15oz. cans cannellini beans ($1.47)
- 2 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth ($0.26)
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme ($0.02)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste ($0.03)
Instructions
- Before you begin, pour one of the cans of cannellini beans (with its liquid) into a blender and purée until smooth. Drain the other two cans of beans.
- Mince the garlic and add it to a soup pot with the olive oil. Sauté the garlic over medium for about one minute, or just until the garlic is very fragrant.
- Add the puréed cannellini beans, the other two cans of drained beans, broth, rosemary, thyme, crushed red pepper, and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir to combine.
- Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the soup to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium low, remove the lid, and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Smash the beans slightly to thicken the soup even more. Taste the soup and add salt if needed (I did not add any, this will depend on the salt content of your broth). Serve hot, with crusty bread for dipping!
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Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
Love beans as much as I do? Check out my entire recipe category dedicated to BEANS! :D
How to Make White Bean Soup – Step by Step Photos
Before you begin, add one can of cannellini beans, with the liquid in the can, to a blender and purée until smooth.
Mince four cloves of garlic and add them to a soup pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté over medium for about one minute, or just until the garlic becomes really fragrant.
Add two DRAINED cans of cannellini beans, plus the can of puréed beans to the soup pot.
Also add 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth, 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, 1/4 tsp dried thyme, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir to combine.
Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring it up to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low, remove the lid, and let it simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. After simmering for 15 minutes, smash some of the beans to thicken the soup even more. Give it a taste and add salt if needed (I did not add any).
Serve the soup hot with crusty bread for dipping, or whatever fun toppings you might have on hand!
This is so simple and I can see this being my “go to” as a base to add so many different things to create variations. Unbelievable how good it is as well as super easy, fast and inexpensive. I am blown away! Thank you!
Do you think this would translate well to a crockpot? I’m looking for something easy to come home to since my kiddo just started soccer.
Yes, I think this is definitely something you could throw into the slow cooker and then set to low for however long you need. I don’t think you can really *over* cook this one, so it should be safe! :)
This has become our go-to easy, cheap soup to make. We add crumbled up bacon to it and pair it with crusty bread as suggested and it is delicious!
Gotta admit, I wasn’t sure about this one {though your recipes have never disappointed}. It just seemed kinda boring, but my youngest {an anemic vegetarian} needs more high-protein, meatless dishes. Everyone loved it! So quick and easy! I really wish I’d doubled it, like I usually do soup recipes. I didn’t have any rosemary and am not a fan of thyme, but I added the thyme anyway, as well as some Tony Chachere’s {I put that stuff in everything} and seasoned salt. Served it with homemade cheesy garlic bread and salad. Will definitely make this again!
What a great quick soup! The blending of the beans and the aquafaba was a perfect base. I swapped out the rosemary and thyme for arrabbiata spices since i have a lot of that blend and it was delish. Thank you for the step-by-step photos you include and for your work developing these recipes. I’m looking forward to incorporating more of your vegan choices into our weekly menu, and in checking out the comments for additional variations.
This was the easiest thing I’ve probably ever made. Didn’t even need to use the actual blender – just made the puree in my NutriBullet for quick clean up. I added baby Bella mushrooms and spinach to the soup and made croutons out of an onion focaccia bread. Absolutely delicious and will definitely be making again! This recipe is easily a 10/10!
Oh, what a good idea to add mushrooms, Amita – I don’t care for them but am trying to get them into more of my husband’s meals as he loves them and good health benefits. I could separate out the different portions before those go in. Your croutons sound delish as well – I need to up my game! :)
This is my go-to soup. It’s oh so simple, quick to make and satisfyingly tasty. To change things up a bit I fry some onions with the garlic and occasionally add celery if I have some going to waste in the crisper. Other times I fry up some bacon bits, take them out, cook the soup and stir them in at the end. It’s just so versatile and wonderful as a stand-alone. I’d also encourage everyone to be bold with the garlic because garlic is life. Overall, this is one of the best soups I’ve unexpectedly stumbled across. Many thanks for this gem.
Probably my 5th time making this tonight. I, like many others, preferred it all the beans blitzed up together (Basically a one pot meal then!). Love this for when I need to save some dollars as the only thing i really have to buy is 3 cans o beans.
Very quick and easy to make and especially perfect for winter! I used Pacific Mushroom Broth and low-sodium beans and it turned out great. I threw in a leftover handful of frozen chopped spinach and it added a little color and a nutritional boost. Prep tip: blend the beans in the blender, add to the pot and then “rinse” out the blender with the broth into the pot to get out every last bit of beany goodness. ;=)
So quick, easy & delicious and HEALTHY. This with a salad and good piece of bread makes a perfect meal.
My favorite white bean soup recipe! I actually puree the entire soup and top it off with a dollop of pesto – delish!
This is probably the 10th time I’ve made this as it is a family favorite. Most of the time I double the recipe.
Stunningly delicious and so easy! I made this with grilled cheese sandwiches and the sandwiches took longer than the soup.
Great recipe!
Easy and delicious
Can I use fresh rosemary instead of dried?
Sure! :)
This was amazing!
I wanted the smoky flavour of sausage or bacon – but don’t do meat, so used a bit of liquid smoke…it worked very well with the rosemary and beans.
Thanks for sharing this delicious soup!
Ohh I love that idea! I’m making it right now and will add some liquid smoke :)