This Parmesan and White Bean Soup is so delicious and easy to make. Tangy, salty, hearty and packed with goodness from the kale and white beans, it’s a great winter warmer!
This delicious Parmesan and White Bean Soup has all the hallmarks of a great soup! Filling, packed with delicious goodies and good for you. It’s easy to whip up, so make a big batch!
How To Make This Parmesan And White Bean Soup – Step By Step
Which Vegetables Are Good For This Soup?
For this recipe I went for canned rinsed and drained great northern beans and cannellini beans. You can use chick peas, black beans, kidney beans (red beans), Pinto beans, etc. For convenience purposes, canned beans are easy and perfectly good in this soup.
In terms of other veg, you could go for zucchini, red peppers, sliced cabbage or frozen peas, they all work great.
Can You Freeze This White Bean Soup?
Yes indeed! Bean soups freeze very well and are great protein-packed meals to have ready to go in the freezer. Making extra to freeze can be a real time-saver!
Simply fully cook the soup, let it cool completely, and freeze in a gallon freezer bag or other air-tight freezable container for up to 3 months.
What To Serve With This Parmesan And White Bean Soup
This soup is straight forward but still has loads of flavor , it’s perfect with just a piece of crusty bread for dipping. or you could try my Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe (Texas Toast Garlic Bread). Perhaps even drizzle a little pesto over the soup with some croutons!
Top Tips For This Parmesan And White Bean Soup
- If you want you can use dry beans, but canned beans work fine.
- This works great with kale or spinach.
- The wonderful thing about this soup is that you can use whatever herbs you have on hand. I used fresh parsley.
- Top with Parmesan and serve with crusty bread.
Check Out These Other Great Soup Recipes
- Hearty Vegetable Soup Recipe
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Shepherd’s Pie Soup
- Turkey Noodle Soup Recipe (Thanksgiving Leftovers Idea)
- Bacon Cheeseburger Soup Recipe with Bacon Croutons
- Broccoli and Cheese Soup with Gnocchi (Cheesy Broccoli Gnocchi Soup)
Have you tried this Parmesan and White Bean Soup? Feel free to leave a star rating and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
White Bean Parmesan Soup with Kale
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or rendered bacon fat
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- ½ fennel bulb cored & finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/3 cup white wine dry or semi-dry
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 15-ounce cans white beans (Great Northern & Cannellini), drained & rinsed
- 4 ounces Parmesan rinds enclosed in cheesecloth or muslin
- 4 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound baby kale or baby spinach stemmed and torn into bite-size pieces
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven, add oil, butter, onion, celery and fennel. Cook over medium heat until vegetables have softened. Add garlic, thyme, fennel seed and red pepper flakes; cook an additional 30 seconds.
- Deglaze the pot by adding white wine while scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 minute.
- Add chicken stock, bay leaf, drained beans, Parmesan rinds, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Simmer 20-30 minutes or until liquid has reduced a little.
- Add kale or spinach, stir well and cook an additional 10-15 minutes or until soup has reduced to your liking.
- Discard the Parmesan rind and bay leaf.
- Season to taste with additional salt & pepper.
- To serve, ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon juice.
- Enjoy!
Becky's Tips
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? Leave a comment!
Outstanding! My only change to this was to put the rind directly into the soup (I didn’t have any cheesecloth & I read other recipes where you just put it in the broth). Because the cheese was melted into the soup, I didn’t need to add any before serving.
Someone wanted to know how many this served — for two adults, we got two meals out of it, but all we had those two meals was soup — no bread. This is a great meal for someone trying to eat healthier since it is relatively low calorie and high fiber, packed with the benefits of the kale.
I’ve made this soup many times and absolutely love it. I use the whole fennel because what would I do with the other half? Also add an orange pepper that gives a nice pop of color and another vegi Great as is or with slight changes..yummy.
Sounds wonderful, Mary! Thanks so much for sharing what works for you!
Loved this thank you!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
Used butter beans 2nd time making this recipe which is excellent. Left out chili flakes and used spinach instead. Will be regular winter dinner!!
Looks absolutely delicious!
Delicious! Would like nutrition info! Thanks for sharing. Was great with butter beans and canellini beans!
At the bottom of the recipe card you can click Nutrition Information and it’ll show up!
Looks great but how many does it serve?
It serves around 8!
Fantastic! Even the kids love it! Thanks!
That’s so awesome to hear! I’m glad you all enjoyed it!