When it’s cold outside, I love a big bowl for hearty vegetable soup for dinner. Soup recipes are easy to pull together, make a ton, and are a very comforting way to end the day. Plus, and this is a big plus, it’s something everyone in my family seems to enjoy. It’s another way I can fill my kids’ bellies with veggies.
How To Make White Bean Veggie Soup
This hearty vegetable soup is particularly easy to throw together. Chances are you probably already have all or most of the ingredients in your fridge or pantry already. But if you don’t there’s a handy shopping list at the bottom of this post for your convenience.
As with most soups, this one is easy to make your own. By that I mean that there is a lot of room for you to experiment and turn it into a soup full of your favorite veggies. If you aren’t a big fan of butternut, no biggie. Leave it out and use a different kind of squash or veggie. The kale is interchangeable with spinach, chard or even beet greens. We lovingly refer to this soup as “clean out the fridge” soup.
Bonus if you have leftovers from Sunday dinner you can turn those ingredients into a great soup to start the week. This soup is great on its own, ladled over hot rice or quinoa or with a big slice of homemade bread or a grilled cheese sandwich on the side.
Photos by Ana Stanciu
Hearty White Bean Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 2 celery ribs diced
- 1 large leek sliced into 1/2โณ rings, washed well to remove any sand and drained in a colander
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups cooked white beans rinsed (one 15 ounce can or homemade from dry beans)
- 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 6-8 cups vegetable or chicken broth or water
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 cups diced butternut squash
- 4-5 kale leaves ribs removed, roughly chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until the onions starts to soften. Add the carrots, celery, and leeks. Continue cooking, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds, being careful not to let it burn.
- Next add the tomato paste and stir well. Let cook for 30 seconds then add beans, diced tomatoes, broth, thyme, and butternut squash. Add salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste. (It might not need much salt if the broth is salted.) Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until the squash is tender.
- Add the chopped kale and let cook for another 5-10 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Ladle into bowls and serve hot with warm rolls or bread on the side.
I made this tonight for supper in the slow cooker and we’re overall quite pleased with it! (We cooked it 6 hours on high with dry beans and it was just right.) It does need a bit more flavour for us, though, so next time I’ll add a bit more fresh herbs–maybe some of the oregano and/or basil that we grow on our windowsill. Thanks for the great recipe! :)
Made this yesterday for my meal prep lunches for the week and I love it! It’s great with a little whole grain crisp bread and it freezes very nice. Quite low calorie, too and I made it into 5 servings.
amazing recipes looks so yummy.. hope i will cook it tomorrow
I’d love this for a wintery dull cosy dark days, bute certainly “not” for a party!!!lol
Thanks for your share๏ผ
Well, it looks so delicious!
It looks delicious!
Oh my everything sounds so delicious! Thank you for the recipes!1
This is a great recipe! I made it post-Thanksgiving when no one wanted another bite of turkey or mashed potatoes and gravy. It’s hearty and filling without being a creamy, fattening soup. My family loved it! Thanks for posting!
This looks awesome, I’m planning to make it soon! Just wondering, what is the purpose of adding the tomato paste to the onions before you add everything else? Could I leave the paste out? Thanks!
Hi Lauren! It just helps thicken the soup. If you don’t have it, don’t stress. It’s fine without it. :)
I’ve made this recipe a few times now tweaking it a little bit each time based on what I had in my fridge. By far the best combination included the butternut squash and a dark green (I’ve used both collard greens and Swiss chard). I also cut the canned tomatoes in half which made it less acidic. I added some different seasonings, like paprika, dried thyme instead of fresh, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and dried basil. Overall this is an incredibly flavorful, filling and plain delicious soup!! Thank you for sharing, it’s now part of my repertoire.
Sounds wonderful! I’ll have to give those a try! Thanks for coming back to tell us!
This recipe is DELICIOUS, especially on these winter days! We replaced the butternut squash with potato and it turned out fine. Thank you posting.
I am sitting here FREEZING right now and all I can think about is how much I wish I had a bowl of this soup to warm me up!
I want the soup too! So warming and delicious.
We just had a soup pot lick at work, and it was awesome. I made a bean and potato veggie soup, and it rocked!