White Bean Soup with Kale and Parmesan Cheese
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.This hearty and delicious White Bean Soup with Kale and Parmesan Cheese is perfect for a an easy weeknight dinner. Great for a side, but filling enough to be a healthy main dish as well. Vegetarian, gluten-free and can easily be made vegan too!
Kale is a classic leafy green vegetable, and when paired with white beans it makes for a satisfying, filling main meal! The first time I ate this soup was during a trip my husband and I took to Italy — we were traveling through Tuscany and were served this amazing Tuscan white bean soup at a small cafe near one of the wineries we had stopped at. We enjoyed it in the summer, but this soup could certainly be perfect for cold winter days as well! It’s one of those healthy recipes that is so versatile it works for just about any meal, any time of year.
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This easy recipe is perfect when served with some crusty bread, or as a side dish when you’re feeding a crowd. It’s naturally gluten-free and vegetarian, and can be made vegan simply by omitting the cheese on top. It’s easy to make in the Instant Pot as well, if you need a “set and forget” type of recipe!
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy One Pot Meal
- Vegetarian and Gluten Free
- Easily Made Vegan
- Great for a crowd
- Super healthy
- Filling and Satisfying
- Great for meal prep – Tastes even better the next day!
How to Make This White Bean Soup Recipe
Ingredients
This simple soup recipe calls for everyday ingredients that can easily be found at your local grocery store! See recipe card below for exact quantities of ingredients.
Olive Oil and Fresh Garlic: Minced garlic sauteed in olive oil creates an aromatic base for this easy white bean soup.
Onion: You can use red onion or yellow onion in this recipe.
Kale: This tuscan soup wouldn’t be the same without some hearty greens! We used kale, but you can use baby spinach or even swiss chard or collard greens chopped finely for this soup!
Vegetable Broth: You could also use chicken broth but then this dish wouldn’t be vegetarian.
White Beans: I used a combination of cannellini beans (which are basically white kidney beans) and navy beans, but you can use any type of white beans you like!
Tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes add brightness and acidity to this recipe. If you don’t have tomatoes, you can also use 1 tbsp of tomato paste but it won’t have as fresh of a flavor.
Herbs and Spices: I used Dried Oregano, Dried Basil, Salt, Pepper, Crushed Red Pepper. But you can also use dried italian seasoning or add 1-2 bay leaves for additional flavor. Fresh herbs would work equally well in this recipe, you’ll just have to increase the amount of herbs you use since dried herbs have a more concentrated flavor than fresh.
Parmesan Cheese: Shredded parmesan cheese makes for a creamy topping for this soup. Omit this if you want make a vegan version of this comforting soup.
Equipment Needed
- Stock Pot or Dutch Oven
- Potato Masher or Blender
- Chopping Knife
- Cutting Board
- Ladle or Wooden Spoon
Instructions
Step 1: Chop all your veggies. In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion; sauté until soft.
Step 2: Add kale and sauté over medium heat, stirring, until wilted.
Step 3: Add 3 cups of broth, 2 cups of beans, and all of the tomato, herbs, salt and pepper (crushed red pepper + black pepper). Simmer 5 minutes.
Step 4: In a blender or food processor, mix the remaining beans and broth until they have a creamy texture. You can also just mashed the beans in the broth with a potato masher (I did this and it worked great), or use an immersion blender to combine. Stir into soup to thicken.
Step 5: Simmer on low heat at least 15-30 minutes – until the kale has cooked to the texture you like.
Step 6: Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with parmesan cheese. For additional spice, add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes on top as well.
Instant Pot Instructions
Step 1: Add garlic and onions to your instant pot and press sauté. When onions become translucent add kale and sauté, stirring, until wilted. Stop the sauté process by pressing cancel.
Step 2: Add 3 cups of veggie broth, 2 cups of whole beans, mashed beans with broth, and all of the tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper to the instant pot.
Step 3: Set to Manual High Pressure for 2 minutes. Natural release for 10 minutes, then manual release!
What Makes This Creamy White Bean Soup Healthy?
- Vitamins and Nutrients: Kale is considered a superfood! It’s high in nutrients, and low in calories. It’s high in antioxidants, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and vitamin K. These nutrients help contribute to blood sugar control, lower risk of cancer, and reduce blood pressure. It’s also known to support skin, hair, and bone health.
- High in Protein and Fiber: This recipe is high in plant-protein and fiber thanks to the white beans and kale in this soup. One serving of this soup has 17 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber (about 40% of your daily recommended fiber intake!)
- Low Calorie: This recipe is perfect for healthy eating! This soup has only 300 calories and less than 5 grams of fat.
Recipe FAQs
Is this soup kid friendly?
This soup has a beautiful creamy flavor with the mashed beans, as well as nice added texture with the kale. If your kids aren’t big fans of kale, simply leave out the kale when you ladle their serving. You can also chop the kale super fine and let it cook down even more while the soup is simmering, so that it “melts’ into the broth and picky kids are less likely to detect it. You could also replace the kale with baby spinach, which is easier and milder for kids to eat!
What variety of white beans work in this soup?
There are four main types of white beans. You may choose whichever type you prefer to prepare this soup.
Navy Beans: A small oval shaped bean that cooks quickly. When cooked and mashed it creates a creamy consistency, becomes creamy which is why it’s perfect for soups when mashed.
Great Northern Beans: A medium size bean, larger than Navy Beans but smaller than Cannellini beans, they retain their shape and texture and take on the flavoring of dishes well, also making them a good choice for soups and stews.
Cannellini Beans: The largest bean, it’s often used in Italian cooking. They also keep their shape and texture. They’re often found in Minestrone soup recipes.
Butterbeans or Baby Lima Beans: Small and creamy with a buttery like flavor. They are delicious in soups and stews and are often served simply with herbs and butter.
Serving Suggestions
- Polenta “rounds” crisped in the oven
- Crusty Whole Wheat Bread or Garlic bread – to scoop up all the goodness around your soup bowl.
- Light green salad with balsamic vinaigrette – for a lighter, more refreshing addition to round out this meal
Expert Tips
- If you don’t have kale you can use baby spinach or any leafy green.
- You can use any white bean in this soup! Choose from navy, cannellini, butterbeans or great northern beans.
- To save time, follow the Instant Pot instructions in the recipe card!
- You can use dry beans instead of canned. One 15 ounce can of beans equals ¾ cup dried beans, which means you will need 1 ½ cups of dried beans for this creamy white bean soup.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can mash the beans in the broth with a potato masher.
- Allow enough time for the soup to simmer on the stove to meld all the flavors together.
More Delicious Soup Recipes!
- Vegetarian White Bean Soup with Pumpkin
- Instant Pot Tomato Soup with Cumin
- Vegan Black Bean Soup
- Spicy Lentil and Swiss Chard Soup
- Italian Chickpea Soup
- Vegetarian Stew Recipes
If you have tried this Mediterranean White Bean Soup with Kale, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!
🎥 Watch How to Make It
White Bean and Kale Soup with Parmesan Cheese
This hearty and delicious White Bean and Kale Soup with Parmesan Cheese is perfect for a an easy dinner. Great for a side, but filling enough to be a healthy main dish as well. Vegetarian, gluten-free and can easily be made vegan!
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 300kcal
Ingredients
White Bean and Kale Soup:
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 8 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 4-6 cups chopped raw kale
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 30 oz white beans, such as cannellini or navy, rinsed and drained 2 cans
- 4 roma tomatoes chopped
- 1 Tsp dried oregano
- 1 Tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
- Fresh shredded Parmesan 1 Tbsp per serving of soup
Instructions
- Chop all your veggies. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; saute until soft.
- Add kale and saute, stirring, until wilted.
- Add 3 cups of broth, 2 cups of beans, and all of the tomato, herbs, salt and pepper (crushed red pepper + black pepper). Simmer 5 minutes.
- In a blender or food processor, mix the remaining beans and broth until smooth. You can also just mashed the beans in the broth with a potato masher (I did this and it worked great). Stir into soup to thicken.
- Simmer at least 15-30 minutes – until the kale has cooked to the texture you like.
- Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with parmesan cheese
Instant Pot Directions
- Add garlic and onions to your instant pot and press sauté. When onions become translucent add kale and sauté, stirring, until wilted. Stop the sauté process by pressing cancel.
- Add 3 cups of broth, 2 cups of whole beans, mashed beans with broth, and all of the tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper to the instant pot.
- Set to Manual High Pressure for 2 minutes. Do not touch for 10 minutes. Allow to slowly release.
Notes
Top Tips For Making White Bean and Kale Soup
- If you don’t have kale you can use baby spinach
- You can use any white bean in this soup! Choose from navy, cannellini, butterbeans or great northern beans.
- To save time, follow the Instant Pot instructions in the recipe!
- You can use dried beans instead of canned. One 15 ounce can of beans equals ¾ cup dried beans, which means you will need 1 ½ cups of dried beans for this recipe.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can mash the beans in the broth with a potato masher.
- Allow enough time for the soup to simmer on the stove to meld all the flavors together.
Nutrition
Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 49.7g | Protein: 17.1g | Fat: 4.6g | Sodium: 410mg | Fiber: 10.9g | Sugar: 2.5g
Will try your recipes!
I think they are great!
María
Yay thank you so much Maria!
This recipe is incredible! Love all of the flavors and the texture you get from mashing the beans make this seem like a cream soup. So delicious, will definitely make again.
Yay! So happy to hear that! And yes! Mashing beans with broth is my secret ingredient to making just about any soup creamy without adding cream! 🙂
I love how light this is. Some soups can be heavy this is a perfect healthy way to warm up!
I agree!! This is light and healthy but still super satisfying!
This is totally my kind of soup. Can polish off the whole bowl as is.
I regularly polish off a whole bowl (if not two!) at dinner too! 🙂
WOW! I am gonna make your recipe ASAP. This bean and kale soup looks and sounds easy and delicious! We are soup lovers:)
Yeahh!! It is really easy to make and so tasty and hearty too! We are soup lovers in our family also – we make soup at least once a week! 🙂
I made this soup last night, and I must say it was AMAZING!!! I’m shocked at how flavorful it was, and so healthy! Love your blog, thanks for sharing.
Woohooo!! I’m so glad!!! Thanks Lauren!
Thanks for the nutrition info! I am pretty sure I ate 2 1/2 cups worth. That is a huge portion and still low in calories. I appreciate the effort.
Oh that’s great! Isn’t it awesome that such a huge, filling portion can still be so low in calories and good for you too!
Hey Anjali! I am making this tonight for dinner, it looks great!! Congrats on all the success your blog has had! Hope you are doing well too 🙂
Hey Catherine!! It’s so good to hear from you! I’m so excited you’re making this for dinner – I can’t wait to hear what you think about the recipe! Thanks for your kind words about my blog – I’m doing really well – hope you are too! Talk to you soon! 🙂
It was great!!! I am eating the leftovers now for lunch and it is the perfect gloomy day pick me up!
Woohoo! I’m so glad to hear that!!! Aren’t yummy leftovers the best? 🙂
I just subscribed to this blog and have made a few of the recipes. They have all been great and my family (including my kids) like most of the things I have made. Is there nutrition information for any of the recipes? Am I missing it somewhere? That info would be really helpful. Thanks for the healthy and easy recipes. Keep them coming.
Yay!! I’m so glad to hear that Joelle!! 🙂 As for nutrition information, I can estimate it for just about any recipe but it won’t be exact (that’s why I don’t always include it – because I don’t measure it exactly). For some of my recipes, they are measured exactly and in those cases I include nutritional info at the bottom of the post. But if you’re looking for an estimate, I can definitely give that to you as well! Just let me know!
I entered the ingredients into a recipe builder, and for 4 servings (which was about 2.5 cups per serving) it was about 272 calories, 15.4 fiber, 15.7 protein, and 4.8g fat
Oh awesome!! Thanks so much for doing that! It’s good to know that (as I suspected) – a HUGE portion is less than 300 calories and has TONS of fiber and protein! What recipe builder do you use?
I can’t wait to make this.
I know you’ll love it! 🙂
Hi there! I just found your blog and am loving it so far – so many delicious recipes! I am definitely going to have to try the polenta rounds. Have you ever tried goat gouda? It’s not quite as tangy as regular goat cheese, but still pretty delicious!
Hi!! So nice to meet you – and I’m so glad you like my blog! I’ve actually never tried goat gouda, but it sounds great. I mean, I like goat cheese, and I like regular gouda – so why not put the two together? 🙂 I’ll definitely be picking that up soon!
This looks amazing! It will definitely be going on the menu for next week. I just love kale… and white beans… and polenta, too! Whole Foods has quinoa polenta, which I love even more!
Hehe yay! I love kale and white beans and polenta too 🙂 Oh woah – quinoa polenta?! I have to try that – it sounds great! Thanks for the tip!
I have been wondering how to cook polenta. I had it once and actually really enjoyed it but have been too nervous to cook it. That sounds super easy! Thanks so much.
Oh yay! No problem, so glad it’s helpful. It really is super easy: slice, bake and enjoy!
Love the combination of ingredients. Tonight is the perfect night for soup…it’s chilly in the Bay Area. brr. Recipe sounds yummy!
Thanks so much! I have definitely been into soups this winter especially – since it has been pretty cold here in the Bay!
looks like a comfort meal
It is definitely a comfort meal, but it’s healthy too!
This soup looks awesome for fall. I love soups with white beans. I also love that almost every ingredient is a pantry “staple”– so most of it I have on hand already! Thanks!
It is a really great fall soup, but it’s also perfect for the winter too! Totally agree about the pantry staples – I only had to buy the fresh veggies to complete this dish!
Yum! Looks delicious…
That soup sounds fantastic. I love that it’s got so many good things in it!! Kate @kateiscooking
Totally – it’s like a one pot superfood meal!
Sounds like a seriously delicious (and very nutritious) meal! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! So glad you like it!
Well that looks gorgeous. We’re in Turkey and fresh beans are out at the moment so I’m going to try and make this with summer fresh beans. Thanks. 🙂
Yay! Hope you liked it when you made it!