This Vegan White Bean Soup is one of my non-vegan daughter's favorites. Creamy white beans come together with lots of veggies in a delicious, comforting broth.
Deliciousness in a bowl!
It's chilly outside. Autumn is definitely here with the cooler, rainier weather. And you just want something to warm your bones. And only one thing will do it.
A nice hot bowl of bean soup.
Not that 'stuff' in a can. That's basically salt water with added chemical flavoring. I'm talking about REAL soup, homemade, that's bursting with flavor, without all the chemical additives, sodium, and fat.
I'm talking about THIS soup, Vegan White Bean Soup with carrots, celery, and tomatoes. Oh, and maybe a big hunk of my cornbread on the side.
Mmmmm, comfort food at its finest.
Vegan White Bean Soup
I hear so many people say "I hate to cook" or "I don't have time to cook" and I wonder why. This dinner literally took minutes to put together and it is so good, healthy, and filling.
Really, cooking CAN be easy, and tasty too.
I started by chopping a yellow onion, a few cloves of garlic, a few ribs of celery, and a couple of carrots.
Add this to a large soup pan with just enough veggie broth to keep it from burning, and simmer until the onions start to soften and turn clear. Then sprinkle on a couple of teaspoons of dried basil, a teaspoon and a half of dried sage, and a ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
Now add about 3 ½ cups of low sodium vegetable broth and a ½ cup of unsweetened almond milk.
Now we add some white beans.
White beans are navy beans, great nothern beans, or even cannellini beans. My Kroger Store even has cans labeled "White Beans" by the S&W Brand. Last night I had 2 cans of white beans (they're just navy beans) and 1 can of cannelini. Use whatever you have.
So I use 3 cans of 15oz beans, first draining them in a colander and then rinsing them very well. This will eliminate a lot of the extra sodium that usually comes in canned beans. Add these to your soup, give it a stir, and cover it. Let it all simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, drain a 15oz can of chopped tomatoes.
And lastly, rinse and chop about 3 good handfuls of fresh baby spinach. I kind of bunch it together and slice it until it's in little slivers compared to big popeye sized leaves.
After the 20 minutes, turn off the heat and fold in the tomatoes and spinach. The spinach will immediately begin to wilt.
For a thicker soup, I like to take a few ladles (or cups if you prefer) and puree in my blender, then add back into my soup.
This soup has a little bit of everything, plenty of protein and fiber from the beans, vitamins from the veggies, and iron from the greens. For an added starch, you could either serve this over brown rice, or add a chopped potato while it's boiling.
That cornbread by the way is completely vegan, and also 100% fat-free. It's also very easy to make and goes great with a nice hot bowl of soup on a chilly autumn day. You can get that recipe for Country Vegan Cornbread here. It make awesome cornbread muffins too!
UPDATE: This was one of my very first recipes that I published in October of 2014. I think I took the original photos on my smartphone! What was it? A Samsung Note 4? lol This recipe badly needed a makeover so here you go.
I updated the photos last night, Halloween 2020 and I hope you enjoy the updates - especally the photos and video.
I will be updating more of these older recipes, adding better photos, instructional videos, etc. Leave a comment down below if you have a favorite you'd like to see updated.
See you soon.
Vegan White Bean Soup
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Category: Soup, Stew
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Vegan White Bean Soup is one of my non-vegan daughter's favorites. Creamy white beans come together with lots of veggies in a delicious, comforting broth.
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion - about 2 cups diced
- 2 carrots - about 1 cup chopped
- 2 ribs celery - about 1 cup diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp basil
- 1 ½ tsp Sage
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 3 ½ cups low sodium vegetable broth
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3 cans white beans (15oz cans navy, great northern, or cannellini)
- 1 can diced tomatoes (15oz)
- 3 handfuls baby spinach
Instructions
- Chop the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot and add to a large soup pan
- Saute in a little veggie broth or water until onion is softened
- Season with basil, sage, salt, and pepper
- Add the vegetable broth and almond milk and stir to combine
- Rinse and drain the beans and add to the soup
- Cover and simmer on med-low for 20 minutes
- Rinse and drain the tomatoes and fold into soup
- Roughly chop 3 handfuls of baby spinach and add to soup
- Remove from heat and allow spinach to wilt
- Puree 2 cups of soup in a blender and add back in for a thicker soup
Ron
I make a similar recipe all the time, sans the milk. It is quick, easy and delicious.
Mark
This soup is now in my rotation. Need more soup recipes like this, simple, yet bursting with flavor.
BJMarely
What would you do differently if you were wanting to use dry beans rather than canned?
Have you adapted this to the electric pressure cooker?
Jeannine
My husband and I loved this soup. So flavorful!
Myrl
Do you use fresh or dried basil and sage, or does it matter??
Shauna
This is delicious! I will try your tip next time. I made the corn bread with the creamed corn and it was the best vegan cornbread I have ever had. Thank you so much!
Janice B
Made this soup today and it was delicious!! Both my meat eating husband and son devoured it.
Need to make another batch!! It was easy to prepare.
Thanks for sharing. I also used white beans instead of almond milk.
Sarah deGrood
My husband and I are loving this soup. I used homemade beans rather than canned and otherwise followed the recipe exactly.
Thank you fir a wonderful lunch with leftovers to look forward to!
Karla
Just made this. Wish I had doubled the recipe;)
Judy
I made this tonight with a can each of cannellini, great northern and navy beans. I also added mushrooms and used your idea of cannellini beans with Italian seasoning instead of almond milk. My husband said a couple times how good it was. Thanks, Chuck for the upgraded version and the suggestion to make it this week!
VASILIKI
Its a wonderful soup. If you want can add one cup of grapefruit, citrus fruits give an extra taste to beans.
Margie Sutej
Hi Chuck! I understand why the beans are drained and rinsed, but why do you d/r the tomatoes?
Thanks!
Chuck Underwood
You don't have to - I just didn't want all that liquid.
christine carrejo
have you ever tried kale instead?
Chuck Underwood
Yes - it's fine
Maria
Is this something you can throw in the crock pot and let cook all day? I've never done that with soups that have plant milk in them, but it would be so convenient if so! But, either way, I'm making this soup (on the stove!) tonight!!
Earthgirl
I making this soup right now it smells so good. I'm using Arugula in place of spinach and tossing in a handful of parsley. I used Cannelloni beans as well.
diane
Do you use the white navy beans or the cannelloni beans for the beans in the soup? You call them 3 - 15 oz cans white beans....
diane
Do you use the white navy beans or the cannelloni beans for the beans in the soup? You call them 3 - 15 oz cans white beans....
Chuck Underwood
Our store sells just plain "White Beans". I think they are Great Northern, but I did use a can of Cannelloni Beans too.
washbear
We enjoyed this soup last night just as it was dropping down into the teens. It was mighty good! Thank you for another great recipe!
Chuck Underwood
I've been eating this for lunch all week - but I made a slight tweak and I really think it makes it better! Instead of using the Almond Milk - blend a can of White Cannellini Beans in the blender with a little veggie broth to liquify it - and add a tbls of Balsamic Vinegar. So creamy and good!
washbear
Oh, good tip! I'll try it this way the next time I make it. Thanks!
Carla
Hoe could you modify for the crockpot?
Amy Wise
Can you use coconut milk?
Mark
Personally, I would not use coconut milk in this recipe.
I didn't want to spend four dollars on Soy Milk that I never use, so I left the milk out completely, and just added more broth.
Then at the end, I blended a few cups of the soup and returned it to the pot, to make the soup a bit more creamier before adding the Spinach.
The problem I find with many of these vegan recipes is that they are super-expensive to make, especially when you start adding a quarter cup of this or that, small quantities of specialty ingredients.