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 soup was “soup-er” simple and very delicious! I love the idea of using the beans to thicken the soup. I used Navy beans because it was the only white bean the store had. I had some frozen onions, carrots, and celery so I threw those in first and then the garlic. I added a bunch more rosemary than the recipe called for, but I really love rosemary. I also added a Parmesan rind since I had it in my fridge.
I’ve been wanting to make this for awhile and finally did today. It was a huge hit!!!! So very good. Based on the suggestions I chopped a sweet onion and sautéed it before adding the garlic. I doubled the recipe to have left overs and there isn’t much left. We are definitely making this again!!! The recipe is a keeper.
This was so easy to make and delicious! I sautéd chopped carrots and half of a small onion – chopped also- with the garlic. don’t really like whole beans, so I blended all of them. Will definitely make again!
Would this recipe work with a combination of beans? I only have 1 can each of white beans, black beans, kidney beans, and chickpeas. But I have everything else and it looks delicious!
Technically it will work, but keep in mind that different beans have different flavors, and that mix of colors might not be so pretty. :) I would not use the chickpeas, though, because they’re not as soft and creamy as the rest.
Canned beans are not good for your body. All of these recipes should include instructions for use of dried beans, always. No soup made with canned beans can be considered healthy, AND, beans are in those cans for decades….have you noticed expiration dates, yuck
i make this at least twice a month and i’m still alive :)
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
It does and it freezes well too.
This looks so good! I love that it has ingredients that are easy to keep on hand and that it has lots of protein & fiber!
Delicious hearty soup!!!! Easy to make and certainly worth the effort!
Hello,
I made this soup and added carrots and baby spinach at the end. It was a very hearty and flavorful soup and a wonderful way to use cannelloni beans. Luckily, I had some rosemary on hand, which added wonderful taste!
We loved this soup and we didn’t even use any of the optional add-ins. I made some homemade flatbread to go with it. This will definitely be put in our weekly rotation. Thanks for a great, simple, and cheap recipe. :)
I made this tonight for the first time. I loved how few ingredients it required, and they happen to be ones I usually have on hand. I also appreciated that I didn’t have to buy a ton of spices for the one meal. Easy prep and cooking for a tasty and hearty reward. I’m always looking to add to my meat-free, but protein-rich recipe collection and this is a keeper. Some turkey bacon was added to appease my family :) Will definitely make again!
So simple, easy, and tasty! I went with the suggestion of adding some bacon, and it turned out great. Thank you!
If I wanted to make this completely from scratch, starting with dried beans, will the seasonings listed be enough, or should I add anything else?
You should be just fine Geri! Enjoy!
Pleasantly surprised, so simple and so comforting thank you!
Hi any substitute for rosemary? Just something I never really liked. Thanks
I would do oregano. :)