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!
Good recipe, I’ve now made it 3 times! I appreciate easy and affordable recipes especially with the rising cost of groceries. The add in recommendations really rounded this out nicely and I went with what I had on hand- turned out great.
This was delicious and hearty. It’s finally cool enough in Austin to make soup again. Very aromatic and super easy to make. I added kale, onion and pork sausage to make it more filling and regret nothing.
This was delicious and hearty. It’s finally cool enough in Austin to make soup again. Very aromatic and super easy to make. I added kale and pork sausage to make it more filling and regret nothing.
OMG. This was amazing. I added smoked Turkey leg to the soup and enjoyed it with garlic Texas toast on the side. This will be in rotation for me. Super easy to make.
Can I freeze this?
Can use fresh rosemary and thyme?
This soup is amazing! I make a double batch every week or two and freeze it in meal portions. Then I can take it to work for lunch. For a double batch, I replace one of the cans for a can of chickpeas, just to change it up a bit. I sometimes make it with asafoetida instead of garlic. Also instead of stock, I use a sachet of vegetable soup mix, which adds lots of flavour.
Oh good I just asked this. So it freezes well.
Super quick and easy for weeknights! I used fresh rosemary since it grows out of control in my backyard!
This was absolutely amazing. This recipe elevates the basic bean to simple elegance. I followed the recipe exactly using my own canned poultry broth and beans as well as my own grown garlic and dried herbs. I did add salt as you mentioned since my canned goods were salt free.
I made the basic recipe exactly. I think it turned out fine; it looked like the picture. In order to enjoy this soup you would have to really LOVE beans. I like beans as a friend.
I think I will try it again with some of the suggested extras: celery, carrots, bacon, maybe even some kielbasa. It needs something more than beans.
Oh, and I think a really flavorful homemade chicken stock would go a long way here because there are so few ingredients. I used store bought, which is practically flavorless of course.
So good as a base recipe! I made my own veggie broth and simmered an adobo pepper and Gruyère rinds in it. I tripled the herbs and garlic and also sliced and sautéed 4 vegan apple and sage sausages to put in the soup while it simmered. I ate it with Texas toast. I honestly think this is one of the BEST meals I have ever made. Truly.
Great blog you have got here.. It’s difficult to find high quality writing like yours nowadays. I seriously appreciate people like you! Take care!!
This recipe has been a go-to for me for years now! I stumbled across this recipe as vegan college student looking for a cheap, minimal-ingredient meal, and I loved it so much that I am still incorporating this soup into my fall/winter rotation years later. It couldn’t be easier to make, but the herbs give it a “slow cooked taste” that make it seem like it’s been simmering on your stove all day. I love how it tastes when made according to the recipe, but as others have stated, it’s a great base if you want to jazz it up with some additional ingredients or a different herb/spice combo. I never leave reviews for recipes but this has been such a delicious staple in my life that I just had to leave a review to let everyone know how wonderful it is!!
good (if slightly bland) as written. I usually up the seasoning a bit, but I’m very much a ‘more garlic, more seasoning’ guy. I recently tried it with diced chorizo where the optional bacon would go, and it was a very good addition. If you choose to do this, definitely use chicken stock instead of vegetable, and up the herbs and garlic, as chorizo is a very strong flavour.
Made this recipe, and it came out so good!! I did add the carrots, and celery , also I put bacon in it as well.The flavor was really good. Definitely gonna make this again.
Made this recipe, and it came out so good!! I did add the carrots, and celery , also I put bacon in it as well.The flavor was really good. Definitely gonna make this again.