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!
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 was so easy and good! Pureeing the beans really made a difference. I added frozen chopped onions and carrots to the beginning, the spinach and lemon juice at the end. I had fresh rosemary and used about a stalk. I will be making this all winter!
Happy to hear it AC!
If I’m using fresh rosemary should I use more or less than what’s called for in this recipe?
Dried herbs are more potent. Typically the rule of thumb is that you use three times as much fresh herbs than dried. But you can start with just a little bit more and taste to see what you prefer!
This is delicious and perfect for cooler weather! I used the suggestions and added bacon, diced carrot, onion, celery, and added spinach at the end. I’m sure the soup would have been wonderful as originally written, but these additions took the dish to the next level with so many flavors.
Great additions! Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Hello, I added cubed ham and carrots to mine! Super yummy, so fun for Fall comfort food:0) It’s already getting cold here in Eastern Oregon. I also added 1 tsp of lemon juice and it made a huge difference in the flavor! Thank you for such a fun recipe.
That lemon juice is key! Thanks for sharing Kaidee.
This soup is amazing! I did minimal additions of a small diced onion and celery.
I think the size of this recipe is great, you’re not drowning in soup but you still get hearty portions!
I’m already adding beans to my grocery list again!
Thank you Kathryn!
This recipe is really tasty! I added kale and lemon juice.
I do think the lemon juice suggested in the introduction should be a part of the original recipe and not just a suggestion. I tried the soup before adding the lemon juice and it was pretty bland. Once I squeezed the juice of two small lemons into the soup, it perked up the flavors and the overall result was really delicious. I wouldn’t recommend making this recipe without the lemon juice.
Thanks for the suggestion Andrea!
So delicious and easy! I preferred it the next day over rice.
Oh yummy! Thanks Christy!
I’m going to make this today! It looks amazing and so cozy for fall :)
If I double the recipe should I purée 2 cans of beans?
Yes that would be perfect!
Hi there!
I was super excited to try this recipe, and followed every direction almost exactly except I accidently bought great northern beans instead of cannelini beans. The soup came out way less thick and browner looking than the pictures. The taste is good but I really wanted the thickness shown. Any tips?
Try it with cannellini next time and you’ll get results more like in the photos. :)
Tried it again with the right beans… absolutely delicious!
Hooray!
I had a ‘happy accident’ à la Bob Ross by buying a can of butter beans with the other two cans of cannellini and WOW! Great depth of flavour. To start, I rendered down some bacon bits, made a fond, cooked the garlic and deglazed with white wine. Added another tasty layer to this dish. Also added in chopped spinach at the end. Yummo.
Oh what a delicious happy accident!
Tasty, easy, quick, customizable, family friendly. Thanks so much. Always love your recipes.
Thank you Nancy!
This was surprisingly good, even with a lot of tweaks! I used dried beans, soaked and then cooked in the slow cooker with bay leaves. Then I made the soup as directed, added mirepoix, and used the liquid from the cooked beans + Better Than Bouillon mushroom + homemade frozen chicken stock for the broth. So thick and flavorful!!
Oh that’s great to hear LaReesa!
This sounds wonderful! How much dried beans did you use?
This was really fantastic! I added some fried bacon and carrots, and I pulsed an immersion blender in the pot instead of blending any beans separately.
Oh YUM! Thanks for sharing Jacob.
Looks amazing! Have you made this in the instant pot? Any idea how long it would take?
I haven’t tried it in an IP, but I’m sure it wouldn’t need much time at all, since the beans are already cooked. :) Maybe just try the soup function.
Yum! I love the technique of blending some of the beans separately—the soup is so much creamier without too much dairy or fat, so it isn’t too heavy.
I made it as is, then made it again with the addition of hot Italian sausage and chopped spinach, and both were delicious. It was so easy to customize!
Ooh love hot italian sausage!