Creamy white bean soup with kale, rosemary, and lemon is irresistibly cozy and soothing. I love that it comes together in 40 minutes. This recipe remains one of the most popular on my site! With its short and nourishing ingredient list and straightforward prep, I completely understand why.
I use one my favorite tricks for a touch of richness here: purée half of the soup to thicken the overall texture. No need for cream of any kind! The end result lightly creamy but still brothy. Kale is added for a touch of green at the end, and fresh lemon lifts everything up.
If you want even more creaminess in this soup, I recommend adding some peeled and diced potatoes to simmer along. I personally do this all the time (especially in the colder months), and it’s a recurring theme in the 5-star recipe review comments.
The simplicity is what makes this soup such a winner. Lemon and rosemary liven up earthy kale and beans instantly. I like to use navy beans because I enjoy their slightly smaller size in a soup like this. Any cooked white bean that you have on hand will work though–this is a pantry-friendly recipe.
With a dish as basic as this white bean kale soup, I like to focus on the quality of the ingredients. I use a particularly rich homemade vegetable stock and I like to cook the beans from their dried state if I have time. The flavor and quality of the stock makes a big difference in my opinion! Of course, I tested versions with boxed stock and canned beans that were definitely still quite tasty.
Hope you love this one! I wouldn’t hesitate to bring this dish to someone that is feeling under the weather.
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Creamy White Bean Soup with Kale
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
- 1 medium carrot, small dice
- 1 stick celery, small dice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- red pepper flakes or aleppo pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, minced
- 4 cups cooked navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 cups chopped and packed Lacinato kale (roughly 1 small bunch)
- ¼ cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
Equipment
- Blender (with a vented lid)
Notes
- Since this soup is so light on ingredients, I do recommend making your own vegetable stock for the best possible flavor.
- I finished my soup with a lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil and it was delicious!
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium-large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the pot and stir. Sauté the vegetables until lightly softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- To the pot, add the garlic, chili flakes, and rosemary. Stir and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the navy beans to the pot and stir. Add the vegetable stock to the pot and stir once more. Bring the soup to a boil.
- Once boiling, ladle half of the soup into an upright blender with vented lid. Add the lemon juice to the blender as well. Carefully bring the speed of the blender up to high and blend until this portion of the soup is totally liquefied. Pour this liquefied portion back into the pot. Season the soup with salt and pepper.
- Add the kale to the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Once the kale is slightly wilted and bright green, season the soup once more with salt and pepper, if you find it necessary. Stir in the chopped parsley as well. Serve the soup hot.
I really like this recipe. I did add come cumin just to give it a little more depth of flavor. By the way if you have the discipline and time to let this soup stand for 6-8 hours before adding the kale it is even richer.
Great soup! I love the touch of blending the vegetables and beans to make it creamy. Brilliant.
Delicious! The lemon juice takes it to the next level of yummy and I added a little shredded pecorino on top.
Very tasty soup! Doubled the recipe and fed all my friends. Will make again! :)
Texture, flavor at all levels – and naturally simple to put together – amazing!!
Really glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for leaving this review :)
-L
This soup was absolutely amazing! I ate an embarrassing amount of it! I added roasted corn and thinly sliced potatoes like those that come in olive gardens zuppa toscana. I cooked them in their own pot and seasoned with salt and cayenne. I added them to the soup after the kale wilted, stirred in parsley and then served. So so good!!
I will be making this again and again. Thank you!!!!!
Delicious! I did use canned cannellini beans and still so yummy. Served with some TJ organic crescent rolls and a perfect meal on a wintry cold day :) Thank you .
I have a ton of basil. Do you think that would be good in this?
Turned out great with canned beans and better-than-bullion. I added Field a roast vegan sausage, which was delicious.
I am so excited that it is soup season again, and all the more so with this recipe! I’m always looking for dairy free soups that still have some good depth and comfort to them, and this is certainly one of those. The lemon adds a nice zip to it. I enjoyed it even more the second day once the flavours had more time to meld. Paired excellently with some toasted homemade bread and hummus. Thanks for this.
I loved this recipe! Super easy and yummy. Really helped with my cold. Just wondering how long it lasts in the fridge?
Hi Michelle,
So glad you enjoyed the soup! You can keep it in a container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
-L
Laura, enjoyed this recipe immensely. Thank you for posting. Did a quick version and used canned navy beans (gasp) and a broth base. I definitely plan on preparing your vegetable stock however in near future! It still turned out delicious! My husband is huge soup lover and ate 2 large bowls. Came out creamy with the trick of blending 1/2 the soup. No need to add cream or other heavy fats. I love having good vegetarian meals and this is a keeper!
Hi Barbie! I use broth base all the time, and I’m glad that the recipe worked for you! :)
-L
Quick and delicious. Someday I’ll make the broth, but tonight I used a favorite broth brand and canned cannellini beans. Creamy and comforting, and very filling for a vegetarian soup.
I halved it… it was tasty and reminded me of chicken soup. It was thick and even with adding more broth it stayed thick. I didn’t feel it was a soup, maybe more like a stew. I would add chicken to this or eat it on noodles or with crusty bread. But not on a soup night.
Comes together quickly. Hit the spot on a cold winter eve. Beautiful flavours.
This was delicious…even though I just used canned beans and better than bouillon veggie broth. I’m not a huge rosemary fan so I swapped it out for thyme. I will definitely be making this again and again!
Hallo, Laura!
Can you help me – 4 cups beens – how much it in grams?
And if you can say about kale approximately in grams
A winner for sure. Easy, tasty, healthy, warming in the winter – what more can you ask for? Perfect for extra celery, sad carrot and kale that was getting sadder by the day. I had no fresh rosemary but used dried thyme and upped the chili flakes. I also only had canned beans and used 1 can of garbanzo and 1 of cannellini and it was fine. I did use homemade vegetable stock that I had frozen, and it turned out absolutely delicious. Thank you Laura!
Thank you form the recipe; it is very good. I like that the soup is very flavorful, creamy without using cream and the vegetables have great texture as they do not get over cooked, due to the short cook time, since the beans are precooked.
This soup was so simple & delicious! I ended up subbing Za’atar for rosemary and adding leftover chicken (#nofoodwaste) and wowzas, I licked my bowl clean. I am constantly impressed by you Laura — your recipes never fail me! ;)
This was a delicious recipe! It was so easy. I agree with your notes. Homemade veggie broth and soaked/cooked beans make the difference. I used cannellini beans instead of navy beans.
I was wondering how the taste would be if I left out the rosemary. I cook for elderly people and they can’t always handle the spices. The soup really looks very good. Thanks for any comment.
Hi Mary Ann,
I think the flavour of this soup would be fine without the rosemary! The lemon is kind of the star with this one, and the final soup will still be creamy and flavourful.
-L
Delicious! I added a few sweet potatoes
My vegetarian daughter wanted soup on a warm May night. Instead of buying this soup from a local place, I found this recipe. And so glad I did because it’s amazing! The fresh rosemary makes it so earthy and delicious. It’s a keeper for the recipe book.
I followed the recipe, I loved it, thank every much for a great meal!
Hi, thanks for this recipe. The soup was delicious. I used fresh local (Vermont) spinach, rather than CA kale, adding the spinach at the end of the cooking so it stayed vibrant. The lemon is a perfect finishing touch.
Added browned sweet Italian sausage (only because it had to be used today). Delish!<3
For a vegetarian version, instead of creaming half the soup in a blender add some parmesean rinds with the navy beans and let it simmer 10 to 15 minutes before adding the kale. Final seasoning should only require pepper.
Most Parmesan cheeses that are imported from Europe aren’t vegetarian, and it’s difficult to know what kind of rennet other Parms use. Unless it specifically says vegetarian, most vegetarians who know about the animal rennet avoid it.
Used canned beans and organic chicken stock from Trader Joe’s. Also added croutons from some leftover whole wheat bread. Delicious! The lemon juice is genius! Thank you for this wonderful recipe :)
This was so yummy and easy thank you!
So happy we finally tried this to night! So nourishing and yummy, even my picky 4 year old ate it up
So good!! Used canned beans, broth instead of stock and rosemary spice instead of fresh. Still tasted amazing.
This soup is DELCIOUS and pretty easy to make. Highly recommend.
I just made the soup with the homemade stock and baby spinach because that’s what I had and it was just perfect! I will definitely be making this over and over.
We had this tonight and enjoyed it tremendously. It’s flavorful and satisfying!
This was fantastic, thank you! I am a horrible cook, but I felt like I could pull this off, and I did. Even with canned beans and broth, it tasted amazing. I live alone and thought I”d have to freeze it because it made so much, but I was so excited to eat it all week long. Can’t wait to make my next batch.
Love, Love, Love! My family was blown away by the favor in this soup. I loved the vegetable broth recipe that you attached as well. That broth is a winner! I’m making a double batch of the broth tomorrow. Thank you for your lovely recipe. I just ordered your cookbook and can’t wait to get it!
Forgot to give stars hehe
Yummm this was so good! I added potato and leek to mine too and it was incredible thank you!
Just wanted to say how obsessed I am with how simple, understated and so damn delicious this recipe is. I think it would make a great first intro for a beginner cook’s repertoire – and to keep making forever. Versatile as well – I tried it with thyme and leftover cooked rice, and it was so yum.
Made this today to use up some cooked beans and extra kale I had. Turned out great! I minced one small sprig of rosmary, and put another two in whole (just removed before blending then put them back in). Will make again.
how did you get broth to be so yellow? mine didn’t come out that way….thanks!!
Amazing soup! This will be my go-to white bean soup from now on. Very impressed with the rich flavours (I snuck in some peppercorns when I sautéed the veg) :-) Thank you for such a great recipe.
This is the BEST vegetarian white bean soup I have ever made – thank you so much for sharing! I made it exactly as posted – didn’t need anything additional while serving, P E R F E C T!
Made this tonight and it was so good! I had chicken stock on hand and used great northern beans since I couldn’t find navy beans. I also doubled the carrots and tripled the celery since I had a large onion. Delicious! Comforting, I love the addition of lemon and chile flakes, and am super amazed by the blend half the soup technique. Thank you!
**Made this and it was delicious! I substituted red chard for the kale & browned the chopped up stalks with the carrots and onion first. Then added the rough chopped chard at the end just like the kale. Love what the blending did with half the soup. Also added 1 more can of beans to the Dutch oven after creaming the first half in the blender just for a little more texture. Yum!
Made this for the family even though it’s close to 100 degrees here in Texas! I couldn’t resist after coming across the recipe in my Pinterest feed. I admit I forgot all about the fresh lemon at the end, but it still came out pretty amazing!!! We are not vegetarians, so I added some smoked turkey sausage. I am sure it would have been even better with the lemon! Can’t wait to make it again WITH the lemon. This is a dish that will for sure be an addition to our family lunch/dinner rotation…
How would I cook this in a slow cooker? In general, how can you modify a soup recipe to cook in the slow cooker? Thank you!
Made this tonight, even though it was 90 degrees out today! I LOVE soup anytime!! Followed your directions to the “T” except I used canned beans. It was outrageously delicious. Thank you for a great, quick meal.
Best soup I have ever made! Can’t wait to make it again!
Absolute favorite go to soup recipe! Thank you so much!!
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this review, Maribel! I’m so glad that you like it :)
-L