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!
YUM. This is becoming a staple in my household. My 6 and 8 year old goggled it right up!
I’d like to make a double batch next time – do you know if it freezes well?
Happy to hear it Steph! I think it will freeze wonderfully!
Literally soooo good! Added a bunch of raw kale at the end and gave it even more yummy punch. I also put some thinly sliced French Batard bread in a baking dish with a bit of olive oil + salt and broiled it for a few minutes, they made the perfect perfect little crostini dips!
I’ve made this several times and it is delicious. I add some Parmesan cheese and spinach too
I made this with dry beans I cooked myself, and I added some of the bean cooking water to help thicken the soup. Also used a mushroom seasoning salt that really added to the flavor. I love how simple this recipe is, and that it used cheap ingredients I already had at home! I think this would taste even better with some sauteed mushrooms in spinach in it too.
Delicious! So easy and quick! I will definitely make it again!
I was a little bit skeptical of this one, but man, what a simple and fantastic recipe! I’m going to make a double or triple batch next time and freeze it.
Absolutely phenomenal!
First time making this and it was absolutely delicious. I cannot wait to eat it for lunch tomorrow.
For so few ingredients, it’s absolutely delicious. I’ll probably be eating my left overs with a piece of toast tomorrow morning.
Have made this soup many times since the fall. So easy and super yummy! Everyone I have had try it has loved it.
Made this tonight, I sautéed carrots, onions, celery and baby Bella mushrooms with the garlic (one extra clove then recipe calls for cause yum) Continued the recipe as instructed besides adding a pinch more of the red pepper flakes and this ish came out FIRE!!! Will be making this for years to come! Thank you so much 🤤
I am going to make this with dry beans due to the very high sodium content in the canned beans. Thanks for the measurements and spices to guide me. So happy to find your site. Ir is easy to navigate and budget friendly cooking is awesome.
Grand ! I was thinking of doing that too in order to use up all the dry beans in my pantry before I move in two months.
Would you please let us know how it went + what is the ratio / equivalence in quantity for dry beans VS canned beans ? The recipe calls for 15 oz. cans of beans but I have not idea how much dry beans to cook beforehand ?
Dry beans generally double in size when you cook them. 15 oz is 1.75 cups of cooked beans. So you would need to soak and cook just slightly more than a 1/2 cup of dry beans. Hope that helps!
Delicious and simple! I decided at the end of cooking time I would prefer my soup slightly thicker so I removed half and used my immersion blender. Served with salad and warm bread, it was a perfect winter meal!
I finally got around to making this soup tonight – it’s been on my list of recipes to try for awhile. The flavors are lovely, but it was not as thick as the soup in the picture according to these directions. I’m definitely going to make this one again, but I’m going to puree everything (onions, garlic, dried herbs) before adding the last can of beans. With only one can of pureed beans, it’s too watery (which is fine if you don’t want a thicker soup). Either way, it tastes great and is perfect for a cold winter night.
Also, I didn’t throw out all of the bean juice, since it provides great flavor and nutrients. I’m going to reheat some tomorrow night for dinner and probably add kale too. I think it’d go great in this soup.
Thanks for another great recipe!
Thanks for the feedback Katie!
Just made this and it was wonderful! I did end up trying the add-in of zucchini to add some vegetable content, and I’ll probably leave it out next time, just because it threw the texture off a bit, but I could imagine finely diced carrots and celery working well!
Oh no! Sorry to hear that. Happy you still enjoyed it!
Just made this for the first time and it’s delicious! Definitely recommend the 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice at the end. I addd carrots for a little vegetable portion. Also I just threw the two cans of beans in without draining them and it seemed fine — no extra work!
Glad to hear it was a hit Glen!