Creamy White Bean Soup

Creamy White Bean Soup is incredibly easy to make but so satisfying.

Its creaminess comes largely from beans such as cannellini cooked in stock and milk along with onions, celery and garlic.

Pureed with a hand blender, the soup is rich and smooth even if you decide not to add the optional cream.

In this post I’ll also tell you how, with a couple of tweaks, Creamy White Bean Soup can be made completely plant-based.

With a cook time of around 30 minutes, this soup is a comforting delight. Try it with a topping of crunchy garlic and rosemary croutons.

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CREAMY WHITE BEAN SOUP – WITHOUT THE CREAM

I think there’s something particularly comforting about a creamy soup. But, go too far in the creamy direction, and it can get a little cloying. That’s why I love pureed white bean soups (and dips and pates, come to think of it). As well as providing healthy fibre and protein, the beans give the soup an extra creaminess.

In fact, my Creamy White Bean Soup doesn’t have to have any cream in it at all. That’s because, along with cannellini beans, I’ve used whole dairy milk for half of the liquid (stock for the other half) plus a small amount of potato. Together, I think these give the soup just the right level of creaminess.

Vegan soup: Creamy White Bean & Coconut

If you want to make this soup entirely plant-based, then it’s dead easy. Just follow the recipe and substitute coconut oil for the butter and coconut milk for the dairy milk and optional cream.

You don’t have to use cannellini beans either. Any white bean will do, such as butter beans or haricot.

But I find cannellini have the best flavour.

Besides onion and celery I’ve flavoured the soup with garlic and rosemary which make for a delicate taste.

GARLIC & ROSEMARY CROUTONS

One thing pureed soups do need in my opinion is some contrasting texture. Also, as you can see from the image above, a bowl of beige-ish soup all on its own doesn’t look that appetizing, no matter how delicious it tastes.

I think some simple croutons of good bread are what’s called for. And in this case I’ve echoed the aromatics used in the soup and flavoured them with garlic and rosemary.

If you’ve never made croutons before, they’re very simple. Just douse some bread, cut into cubes, in your chosen seasonings, drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 10 minutes. I’ve given full instructions in the recipe.

I tend to make the croutons at the same time as the soup, switching between sauteing the veg and checking the bread isn’t burning. But if you’re not much of a multi-tasker then concentrate on making the croutons first, set them aside and then make the soup.

As well as the croutons, I like to sprinkle the finished soup with a little more chopped rosemary and grind over some black pepper.

Doesn’t that look much better for just a teeny bit more effort?

I think Creamy White Bean Soup is delightful to dip into and makes a fabulous lunch on a chilly day. It’ll also provide you with at least two of your daily portions of vegetables.

With a light creaminess and delicate, garlic-herb flavour it’s utterly satisfying. And with a scattering of crunchy croutons on top you get the perfect textural contrast too.

5 from 1 vote

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Creamy White Bean Soup

A satisfying, lightly creamy soup flavoured with garlic and rosemary. A topping of crunchy croutons provides perfect textural contrast.

See Recipe notes for a completely plant-based vegan Creamy White Bean & Coconut Soup

Course Soup

Cuisine Vegetarian

Keyword soup, bean soup

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 2

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 30 g butter
• 2 medium onions finely chopped
• 2 sticks celery finely chopped
• 1 medium potato (approx 150g) diced small
• 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 230 g cooked white beans (1 standard tin, drained) e.g. cannellini, butter bean, haricot
• 250 ml whole milk
• 250 ml stock
• 1-2 tbsp single cream optional

For the croutons:

• 1 slice good crusty bread e.g. sourdough approx 80-100g
• 1 clove garlic finely chopped
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until starting to soften without browning (10-12 minutes).
   

2. Add the potato, garlic, HALF the rosemary and season with salt and pepper. Stir well and cook for a further minute until the aroma rises from the garlic and rosemary.

3. Add the cooked white beans, milk and stock and stir well.
   

4. Bring to the boil: putting a lid on will speed this up but be careful it doesn't boil over. Immediately turn the heat to low and simmer with the lid on until the potatoes are soft (approx 15 minutes).
   

5. Off the heat, liquidize the soup then check the seasoning. If using the optional cream, stir it in, reheat and serve the soup sprinkled with the remaining chopped rosemary, a grind of black pepper and the croutons.
   

For the croutons:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C with a shallow baking tray inside.
   

2. Cut the bread into approx 1cm cubes and put into a bowl.
   

3. Sprinkle the bread cubes with the garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper then drizzle the olive oil over. Mix with your hands so that each cube is covered in seasoning and oil.
   

4. Put the bread cubes on the preheated baking tray in a single layer and put in the hot oven.
   

5. Bake until the croutons are golden and crunchy (approx 10 min), turning occasionally and making sure they don't burn.
   

6. Set aside to cool then serve sprinkled over the soup.
   

Recipe Notes

Variation: Creamy White Bean & Coconut Soup For a completely plant-based, vegan version, follow the recipe substituting coconut oil for the butter and coconut milk for the dairy milk.

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