As the weather begins to turn chilly, I love making several large batches of soup to freeze and have for a warming and hearty lunch whenever I wish. And one of my favourites that I’ve come up with this year is this delicious, luscious white bean soup.
Marrying all of the aspects of a delicious, creamy soup with a bit of texture of a chunky bean soup, I’m absolutely thrilled with the results of this one. There are lots of different options when it comes to making this dish it’s kind of a “choose your own adventure” when it comes to the finished texture.
It also freezes really well, so consider – like I do – making a large batch and stashing it in the freezer for whenever you want a quick soup to reheat in minutes.
How to Make Creamy White Bean Soup
The first step to this recipe is to cook your mirepoix – a fancy French term for a mix of carrot, onion and celery. Much like in recipes like my harira soup, Spanish chickpea soup or mushroom stew, I like to cook this for around 10 to 15 minutes to ensure that you get a really complex and deep flavour out of it.
Unlike in those recipes, however, it isn’t super necessary to chop the veggies as finely as possible and you can give them a rough chop – this is because we are going to puree them all in the end.
So add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a large saucepan and set it over medium heat. Once shimmering, add the mirepoix along with a generous pinch of salt.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until everything is softened, the veggies are beginning to brown and some fond is collecting at the bottom of the pan – this should take about 10 to 15 minutes.
Then, add some tomato paste and a bit of white miso paste. Both of these will add to the depth of flavour and the complexity of the finished soup.
Cook this until the tomato paste darkens and everything starts to cling to the bottom of the pan – only a few minutes longer.
Now, add a good amount of crushed garlic to the pan, along with some chopped sage, thyme, a bit of lemon zest and chili flakes.
Stir all of this to combine and cook just until it’s fragrant – only a minute or so longer.
The next step is where you have a few options. If you’re following my preferred method and you want a mostly creamy soup with a bit of texture added with whole beans, then add half of your white beans here. Pour over some vegetable stock along with some soy sauce and bring everything to a simmer.
Once simmering, taste to adjust for seasoning and add a bit more salt or pepper if needed. Then, transfer the entire soup to a blender jar and puree until smooth. You can also use a handheld blender to puree it in the pot itself and save some dishes!
Pureed white beans lend and extremely luscious and creamy texture to this soup (and other soups like my sweet potato soup) without actually adding any cream at all.
If you prefer a more chunky soup or don’t have a blender, then you can also take a potato masher to the beans and do you best to mash everything as smoothly as possible. You can then use a whisk to emulsify everything together.
Alternatively, you can skip pureeing or mashing altogether and just add all of your beans and vegetable stock at once and and bring everything to a simmer. This is a good option if you want a fully chunky white bean soup.
Once you’ve pureed the beans, add them back to the pot and add the remaining half of the white beans along with the rest of your vegetable stock.
Bring it up to a simmer and let it bubble away for at least 10 minutes, or until the rest of the beans are very tender and the flavour are homogenous.
Then, stir in a good amount of lemon juice and adjust for seasoning. All you need to do now is serve and enjoy!
White Bean Soup with Sage & Thyme
Ingredients
- 1 large carrot finely diced
- 1 yellow onion finely diced
- 1-2 ribs celery finely diced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp white miso paste
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh sage finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh thyme finely chopped
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- ½ tsp chili flakes
- 4 (400g/14oz) cans (4 cans) white beans (such as cannellini or great northern) drained & rinsed, divided
- 1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock divided
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Add 3 tbsp of olive oil to a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Once shimmering, add the carrot, onion and celery along with a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened, beginning to brown and fond begins collecting on the bottom of the pan – about 10 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and miso paste and stir to combine. Cook for about 2 minutes longer, just until the tomato paste darkens and becomes sticky.
- Add the garlic, sage, thyme, lemon zest, chili flakes and a good grind of black pepper. Stir to combine and cook until very fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add half of the beans and stir until well coated in the vegetable mixture. Pour over 750ml (3 cups) of the vegetable stock and the soy sauce. Bring to a simmer.
- Transfer the soup to a blender (or use a hand-held blender in the pot) and puree until very smooth and creamy (see notes). Return the soup to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add the remaining beans and vegetable stock and stir to combine.
- Allow the soup to simmer for about 10 minutes before stirring in the lemon juice. Taste to adjust for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if needed. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
This creamy vegan white bean soup is easy and absolutely delicious. It’s the perfect hearty soup to warm you up on a chilly day.
Are you after a great recipe for a white bean soup? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments!
