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!
Just made this tonight! Soooooo good. I used beans I made myself (soaked and cooked) and homemade chicken stock. Tossed in some leftover, chopped-up shredded pork for some extra protein and served with buttered, rustic toast. This was so simple and so flavorful and filling, I’ll absolutely be making it again!
GREAT RECIPE! Always come out perfect just the way it is on the original recipe. Very quick, hearty and I serve it with a salad and oven heated bread with garlic butter! Perfect dinner any night!!!
This was literally one of the best meals I’ve ever made in my life. So easy, flavorful and addicting! Thank you for sharing this!
Great place to start and customize soup. I added extra garlic, spinach, carrots and Beyond Sweet Italian sausage.
this was totally bland and gloppy. the beans broke down with that much cooking.
I even started with diced onion, leeks, carrots & celery along with the garlic (& extra of garlic) & cooked with a parmesan rind. started with bacon also. served with some balsamic & the bacon crumbled up & pieces of a baguette.
Am going to try with some added cooked sausage tonight. Won’t be making this one again even with all the improvements.
Hi Judy, obviously all of your “improvements” were not improvements at all. You can’t rate a recipe when you don’t even make the actual recipe as written. You new and “improved” recipe gets your ONE Star rating.
excellent response. if you don’t like the recipe, just say so. to state all of your additions and then say you don’t like it–its your fault for not following it as written.
4 stars for the recipe as-is. I agree that it’s on the bland side. I added white wine vinegar and it was much better. To round out the meal I added in spinach and ham chunks (love the idea of bacon but didn’t have any).
This soup is delicious I added a shallot to the garlic and carrots and ham cut into chunks. I am serving this with a baguette and a green salad. Thanks for this recipe. It’s easy and economical.
So easy and so good! I bumped up the amount of the spices and added some creole seasoning salt at the end. Next time I think I’ll also add some onions to bulk it up a little more.
Amazing! I followed the recipe as written, using homemade chicken stock. This soup is so delicious. I will be making it again for sure. Thank you for the recipe.
This is a refreshing soup. Added lemon zest and a shallot, which added a touch more flavor. Very good.
This smelled very good and was easy to make, but a bit bland.
Thank you for the step-by-step photos you include and for your work developing these recipes.
I’ve made this soup so many times and only just realized I never left a review! This recipe comes together so easily, you’d be forgiven for not expecting much from it at first — but wow, let me tell you: it’s so hearty and so filling, it’s basically a staple in my house these days. Sometimes I serve it with a batch of buttery homemade croutons, but if I’m short on time, a few slices of plain toast for dipping are really all it needs. It’s been my go-to comfort meal for a couple of winters now, with the added bonus that it’s “healthy” enough not to make me feel guilty after eating it. What a great little recipe! Thank you, Budget Bytes!
Made last night when it turned cold. Very easy- substituted Italian seasoning as that was all I had. Very very good- will definitely put on. Repeat soup list
It’s truly shocking how good this is for how easy it is. I made as listed and was certain it would taste bland but I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely going in the rotation