Creamy White Bean Soup is a delicious dish made with potatoes, beans, onions, garlic, broth, spices, and milk. This comforting soup is the perfect weeknight dinner and is ready to eat in just 25 minutes. It's packed with flavor and has a creamy texture that everyone in your family will love.
This creamy white bean soup is a whole mood. Who knew that such simple ingredients could produce such incredible flavor? It can be made with your favorite type of white beans in a large pot or dutch oven. It's a great option for leftovers the next day or to meal prep for later in the week.
Make it smooth and creamy by mixing with a hand blender, food processor, or blender. Or you don't need to blend it at all and can leave it chunky and rustic. This soup is easily customizable with your favorite vegetables and seasonings.
Creamy White Bean Soup Details
- Texture: This creamy white bean soup has a velvety, smooth texture with soft cannellini beans. If you prefer, you can leave some of the potatoes and beans to the side and stir them back in after you blend them to make it more rustic.
- Flavor: We love a flavor-packed dish with minimal ingredients, and this soup recipe delivers BIG. The dried rosemary and minced garlic combination is delicious when paired with these classic soup flavors.
- Ease: This great recipe doesn't require much work— everything is tossed into one pot, then transferred into a blender (or use an immersion blender to keep it to one pot!) and blended until just about smooth.
- Time: Aside from prepping the ingredients, this soup takes 20 minutes to cook from start to finish. It's really that quick!
Ingredients for Creamy White Bean Soup
With only seven ingredients and seasonings, this delicious soup is easy to make and even tastier to eat.
- Butter: Just a couple of tablespoons of unsalted butter to get things cooking together in the pot.
- Potatoes: You can use any type of potatoes, but I find that using the smaller white or golden potatoes works best. Be sure to chop them up about the same size to ensure that they cook evenly.
- Onion: Grab any white onion for this, I prefer to use a sweet onion since that's usually what I have on hand.
- Garlic: For best results, use fresh garlic, but you can use garlic powder in a pinch.
- Beans: You can use any white beans, but I usually use great northern beans, cannellini, or navy beans. Make sure you drain and rinse the beans before using them.
- Chicken Broth: I recommend grabbing the low-sodium chicken broth. Remember, you can always add salt to a recipe, but you can't remove it.
- Milk: You can use any type of milk for this, I've made it with a variety of dairy-free milk, 2%, and whole milk.
- Spices: We're using 6 classic soup spice ingredients— salt, pepper, white pepper, Italian seasoning, fresh rosemary (it makes a huge difference when fresh!), and bay leaves.
How To Make Creamy White Bean Soup
This easy soup can be made in just three steps!
- In a large 5-7 quart soup pot, like this one, add butter or vegetable oil, onions, and potatoes. Let it cook for a bit, and add in the garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, white pepper, Italian seasonings, rosemary, and bay leaves.
- Pour the chicken stock in with the fresh veggies and stir with a wooden spoon, gently scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. This is where all the flavor comes from. Let it cook for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat, and then add the cans of beans.
- Add the mixture to the blender and blend on high until smooth. Depending on the size of your blender, you might need to do this in batches. Taste it and add additional salt or pepper as needed.
Expert Tips
This easy white bean soup is perfect for cold days. Here are some tips that will help you make this healthy recipe.
- Use an immersion blender for a mess-free creamy soup.
- Make a batch of fresh beans in a slow cooker or instant pot to use instead of canned beans.
- Let simmer for up to an additional 30 minutes to let all the flavors come together before serving.
- Fresh herbs have the best flavor, but you can use dried herbs too.
- Sauté the veggies in bacon fat for amazing flavor.
Variations
These variations and suggestions are great for making this soup your own.
- Top with shredded parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
- Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to make it vegetarian.
- Leave out the milk or use coconut or almond milk for a dairy-free version.
- You can use dried oregano and thyme instead of a pre-mixed Italian seasoning.
- Add chopped fresh parsley to the soup after removing it from the heat.
- Place a parmesan rind in the soup to give it a rich flavor.
- Squeeze lemon juice or add lemon zest for a tangy flavor.
- Add a splash of white wine for acidity.
- A sprinkle of red pepper flakes will make this soup spicy.
- Sprinkle crispy bacon on top right before serving.
- Add chunks of ham or ham hocks to the soup for a ham and bean soup.
- Use sweet potatoes instead of russet or red potatoes.
- Try kidney beans instead of white beans.
Other Cooking Methods
While this soup is cooked in a pot on the stove, there are other methods you can use depending on how much time you have and which equipment you want to use.
- Instant pot: Easily make this simple soup in an electric pressure cooker. Follow the instructions for the stovetop version, place the lid on the instant pot, seal it, and cook for five minutes. Carefully release the steam, remove the lid, and serve. This is a great way to use dry beans rather than canned beans.
- Slow Cooker: Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker except the tender white beans and milk. Allow it to cook on low for 4-6 hours, then stir in the beans and milk and serve.
Make Ahead Instructions
You can easily make this dish ahead of time by chopping the vegetables and storing them in an airtight bag in the fridge. If you're using dried beans, place them in a large bowl filled with cold water and let them soak overnight. If you plan on making homemade chicken broth, this is the perfect time.
You can then cook the soup and place it in an airtight container or quart-size zip-top bags and store it in the freezer for up to three months.
Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat it on the stove or in the microwave until warm and serve.
How To Serve
This creamy white bean soup is delicious on its own or served with a side dish. Here are some options you can try. Slices of toasted classic no-knead bread, toasted cubed bread to make homemade croutons, roasted veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, or green beans. Or you can serve it with a side of rice, a crunchy green salad, or a cold fruit salad.
How To Store
- Refrigerate: Keep any leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.
- Reheat: Simply pour into a pot over medium heat and cook until warm, or use the microwave to reheat.
FAQs
- What are the best beans for bean soup? Soft cannellini beans or other white beans are best when making creamy soup.
- Do I need to blend the soup before eating it? You don't need to blend the soup if you'd prefer not to go through the trouble of moving it to a blender, if you don't have one, or if you just like your soup a little chunkier.
- How to make white bean soup thicker? If the soup isn't thick enough, you can make a slurry by scooping a half cup of broth into a bowl and whisking it with all-purpose flour or cornstarch until you get a paste-like consistency. Then stir this mixture back into the pot to thicken the soup.
More Soup Recipes To Try
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
- My Favorite Minestrone Soup
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread
Creamy White Bean Soup
Description
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups small white potatoes, about 4
- 1 cup sweet onion, diced, about 1 medium
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 32-ounce low sodium chicken broth
- 4 15-ounce cans great northern or cannellini, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup whole milk
- Optional: toasted bread for serving
Instructions
- In a large 5-7 quart pot, like this one, over medium heat, add the butter, onions, and potatoes. Stir together and cook for 5 minutes, stirring every couple minutes. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, white pepper, Italian seasoning, rosemary and bay leaves. Let these cook together for another 5 minutes.
- Turn up to high heat and stir in the chicken stock, gently scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring it up to a boil and let boil for 5 minutes. Then, reduce the heat to medium and stir in the beans. Let cook for another 5 minutes.
- To the blender, add the milk and the soup mixture, or use an immersion blender. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender. Blend on high until velvety and smooth. Pour the soup back into the pot, give it a stir and a taste. Add additional salt and pepper, as needed. Serve warm with a sprinkle of fresh rosemary and toasted bread (or croutons!)
- Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. To reheat, simply pour into a pot over medium heat and cook until warm, or use the microwave. Soup freezes well up to 3 months.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: This soup freezes wonderfully! Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat on the stove until warm.
- Slow Cooker Instructions: Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker except the beans and milk. Allow to cook on low for 4-6 hours, then stir in the beans. Continue with step 3.
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