The nutritious soup is a good source of protein and fiber, and can easily be customized.
It's delicious on its own or when served alongside cheesy garlic bread or grilled cheese.
Once the weather starts to cool down, I'm all about making soups and stews. One of my favorites, which I keep in steady rotation from autumn to early spring, is Ina Garten's Tuscan white bean soup.
This hearty, nutritious soup is packed with protein and fiber from its main ingredient — cannellini beans. Plus, it's wonderfully flexible and effortless, even for beginner home cooks (like my 14-year-old son, who enjoys helping me make it).
The best part? When I make this soup for our family of four, there's always leftovers for lunches or an easy next-day dinner.
I start by gathering the ingredients.
Kristina Wright
Before I start cooking, I gather the ingredients, including white cannellini beans, olive oil, bacon, leeks, yellow onions, carrots, celery, garlic, fresh rosemary, chicken broth, bay leaves, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
Because I use canned beans, some additional prep is involved.
Kristina Wright
Garten starts with a pound of dried cannellini beans, soaked at least eight hours (or overnight). I can't always find dried cannellini beans in my grocery store, but I usually have the canned version in the pantry, so that's what I use.
Per Garten's directions, I grab two 14-ounce cans of cannellini beans, drain them, and keep the liquid on the side.
Then, I grab a cup of the beans and ½ cup of the liquid and puree the mixture with my immersion blender. The rest of the beans are used whole.
Then, I sauté the bacon.
Kristina Wright
Garten's recipe calls for 4 ounces of diced pancetta, but I typically use bacon instead.
In my soup pot, I heat ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat and cook the bacon until it's browned and just a little crisp around the edges.
While the bacon is browning, my son and I chop the vegetables.
Once the bacon is ready, I add in the vegetables, garlic, and rosemary.
Kristina Wright
I love this part of the process because it's when my kitchen starts to smell delicious.
Following the recipe, I add 2 cups of chopped leeks (both the white and light green parts), 2 cups of chopped yellow onion, 2 cups of diced carrots, 2 cups of diced celery, 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, and 2 teaspoons of minced fresh rosemary to the pot.
I cook all the chopped vegetables with the bacon for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until everything starts to soften and smell amazing.
Next, I add the broth and beans.
Kristina Wright
Once the vegetables and herbs have softened, I add in the pureed beans, the whole drained beans, 6 cups of chicken broth (you'll want to use 8 cups if you're using dried beans), two bay leaves, a tablespoon of salt, and a teaspoon of pepper.
Although Garten recommends using homemade chicken stock, I've found boxed chicken broth works just fine.
I let the soup simmer for 45 minutes.
Kristina Wright
Another perk of using canned beans instead of dried is that the soup doesn't have to simmer as long. Once the soup comes to a boil, I lower the heat and let it simmer for 45 minutes, partially covered.
If I were to use dried beans instead, it would take about 90 minutes to simmer.
The soup always comes out great, and I have plenty of leftovers.
Kristina Wright
The recipe suggests taking the soup off the heat 15 minutes before serving to allow it to thicken a bit. If it's thicker than I like (which isn't usually an issue when I use canned beans), I'll splash in a little more broth or water.
Then, it's time to remove the bay leaves and ladle the soup into bowls. Before enjoying, I add some freshly grated Parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil, and a little extra crumbled bacon.
This soup stands on its own as a complete meal, but I usually serve it with cheesy garlic bread or grilled cheese.
The standard recipe makes about six to eight servings, which is plenty for my family. But if I'm having guests over or want extra leftovers, I simply double the recipe.