30-Minute Tuscan White Bean Soup

The key is plenty of rosemary and a hunk of rind from some good Parmigiano-Reggiano.

By
J. Kenji López-Alt
Kenji Lopez Alt
J. Kenji López-Alt
Culinary Consultant
Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
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Updated March 18, 2025
Overhead view of Tuscan white bean soup in a wide, shallow soup bowl.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Most simple canned bean soup recipes call for mixing together your ingredients, bringing the soup to a boil, and serving immediately. There's no fault in doing that—canned beans, after all, are a convenience food. But what if I told you that by adding a ton of flavorful aromatic ingredients and a quick, 15-minute simmer, you could amplify the quality of your soup by an order of magnitude*?

*I know, because I actually measured the soups' flavors using a custom-built bean-o-matic flavor-deductor.

Anyway, given the grim history of usage of the word, I'm not positive that there's anything actually Tuscan about this soup, but it's nevertheless delicious. The key is plenty of rosemary and a hunk of rind from some good Parmigiano-Reggiano tossed in while it simmers. That and plenty of good olive oil for drizzling.

Recipe Details

30-Minute Tuscan White Bean Soup

Cook 30 mins
Active 20 mins
Total 30 mins
Serves 8 servings
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Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

  • 1 medium onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)

  • 2 medium carrots, finely diced (about 1 cup)

  • 2 ribs celery, finely diced (about 1 cup)

  • 4 cloves garlic, minced on a microplane grater

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

  • 1 quart homemade or low-sodium canned chicken broth

  • 2 (15-ounce) cans white beans (cannellini or great northern), with their liquid

  • 4 (6-inch) sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped and stems reserved

  • 1 (3-4 inch) chunk Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (optional)

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 3 to 4 cups roughly chopped kale or swiss chard leaves

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving

Directions

  1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and dried red pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chicken broth, beans and their liquid, rosemary stems, parmesan rind, and bay leaves. Increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a bare simmer, add kale, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

  2. Discard the bay leaves and rosemary stems. Use a hand blender to roughly puree part of the beans until desired consistency is reached. Alternatively, transfer 2 cups of soup to a blender or food processor and process until smooth (start on low speed and increase to high to prevent blender blow-out). Return to the soup and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

  3. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with reserved chopped rosemary leaves, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and a grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and serve with crusty toasted bread.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
214 Calories
5g Fat
33g Carbs
12g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 214
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g 6%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Cholesterol 1mg 0%
Sodium 568mg 25%
Total Carbohydrate 33g 12%
Dietary Fiber 8g 27%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 12g
Vitamin C 24mg 121%
Calcium 154mg 12%
Iron 4mg 24%
Potassium 858mg 18%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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