Creamy White Bean Rosemary Soup
September always feels odd seasonally. It’s the bridge between summer and fall and I always yearn for crisp mornings and a pot of soup on the stove even when my garden is still blooming and the weather is still warm.
One perfect chilly September morning inspired this soup as my garden rosemary was ready to be harvested and my family needed a cozy meal. This soup comes together extremely quickly, has wonderful flavor, and is the perfect comforting meal we all loved.
We topped this with some crunchy bacon and it was just so good. Next time I’m making some warm bread to go along with this, that would be perfect don’t you think? I’m leaning towards my favorite Grilled Flatbread. (Which can be made on the stovetop too!)
Ingredients needed for Creamy White Bean Rosemary Soup:
- Onions
- Garlic
- Extra Virgin
- Olive Oil
- 3 cans of white beans
- large sprig of rosemary
- chicken broth or vegetable broth
- sea salt & black pepper
- chopped bacon for garnish (optional)
Supplies needed for Creamy White Bean Soup:
- Immersion Blender (a regular blender will work in a pinch)
- large soup pot or dutch oven
The process:
Heat some oil in your soup pot over medium heat. Cook the onions and garlic and then add the beans, broth, and rosemary. Cook until broth comes to a boil and then simmer for 15-20 minutes. Either puree the soup smooth or leave a few beans whole. Season with salt & pepper and some red pepper flakes if desired. Cook bacon until crispy and then place in a paper towel lined bowl. Garnish with crispy bacon and a squeeze of lemon juice if desired and serve with warm bread.
What type of white beans are best to use for this recipe?
I have used great northern beans, navy beans, white cannellini beans beans or white kidney beans all with great success
If I don’t want a perfectly creamy texture can I leave some whole beans or small pieces?
Yes. I suggest using a slotted spot to reserve a cup of the whole beans and then pureé the rest and add the beans back in.
I don’t like rosemary- are there other fresh herbs I can use?
This soup would be wonderful with fresh thyme or sage too. You can also use dried herbs in a pinch.
Can I use a food processor if I don’t have an hand blender?
You can, but the texture of the soup will likely be not as smooth. If you don’r have any of those tools you can always just use a potato masher to smash up the beans a bit.
How to store leftover soup:
Once soup has cooled to room temperature place it in an airtight container. To reheat, warm soup up in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
Is there a vegan version of this soup?
Sure! Turn this into a Vegan White Bean soup by using veggie broth instead of chicken and omitting the bacon.
Can this soup be made in an Instant Pot or crock pot?
Yes! For instant pot- start with the sauté function on and brown the onions and garlic. Then add the other ingredients and cook on manual high pressure for 7 minutes. Do a quick release and pureé the soup as the recipe says.
For a slow cooker, Add all the soup ingredients and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-8. Pureé the soup after it’s done cooking and top with bacon if desired.
Can the soup be frozen?
Yes! If you are using the bacon though, I’d wait and add that when you thaw and eat it.
Creamy White Bean Rosemary Soup
Ingredients
- 3 15 oz cans white cannellini or great northern beans rinsed and drained.
- 4 cups sliced yellow onions (from 2 large onions)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large branch fresh rosemary off the stem
- 1 1/2 quarts chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
- Bacon for topping
Instructions
In a 5-6 qt. large stock pot or dutch oven heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the onions and cook for about 15 minutes- or until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for another few minutes.
Add the beans, broth, rosemary, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for about 20 minutes. Use an immersion blender, food processor, or regular blender to purée the soup until smooth. Add cayenne pepper to taste. Top with crispy bacon.
Notes
Recipe adapted from: The Food Network
I love a good white bean soup! So creamy and healthy at the same time. I also love, love rosemary – what a perfect addition to this soup. Stay warm!
I love the IKEA tea towels in the background!
Delicious! Definitely going on my ‘to-make’ list to help survive our Northern winters!
Audra, this looks so yummy! We just went to buy the ingredients to make this tonight. Hope you’re feeling well! :)
Made the White Bean Rosemary soup last night. Very nice flavor but I thought it was a little thin. I might try to not use so much stock next time. Did have some good crusty roasted garlic bread to go with it though!
When I make a creamy soup that is just not thick enough I add some dry potato flakes until I get the thickness I want. The flavour of the flakes are neutral and doesn’t alter the soups taste at all.
This soup is delicious. I got a little carried away with the immersion blender and over pureed. To bulk it back up I decided to throw in some (already cooked) yellow dal and it was a delicious addition. I love your recipes-everything I make, whether it is baked treat or healthy dinner always turns out great!
I’m so glad- thank you for letting me know!
This soup is amazing. Wouldn’t change anything except only 32 oz of broth is necessary. I felt it was too thin with the 48 oz.
I took small amounts of the soup and blended in my blender. Try it, even good without the bacon crumbs. The rosemary
added great flavor.
Thanks for the tip on the broth- maybe I’ll add a note to add the broth gradually :)
Also, I had only 1 onion and used 2 carrots and 2 stalks of celery for the other onion. GOOOOOD!!
How could this be made in my crockpot? It looks sooo good!
How would you cook this in a Crockpot?
Audra, thank you so much, with it being so cold, I wanted soup for dinner last night. I came across this recipe when looking for just soup in general, it caught my eye and I’m so happy it did. I try not to buy food in cans. I had some great northern beans, I cooked up 2 cups dry beans thinking once cooked it would equal the 3- 15 ocz cans, it only equaled 2 cans. But is still came out delicious! Also I had a partial carton of vegan broth opened in the fridge that I wanted to get used up so my broth was about 1/2 vegan and 1/2 chicken broth. The vegan broth is thicker so it still came out creamy. I made some cornbread to go with it Even with the changes I made I’m really happy with it, I’ll have to checkout some of your others
I just tried this. It is delicious. I added a bit of nutmeg and the flavor is marvelous
the recipe calls for 1 large rosemary branch off the stem. Does that mean I need to pick the off each rosemary needle then add it to onions and cook ?
Recipe calls for large branch of rosemary off the stem . Does that mean I need to pick off each rosemary needle from stem then adding to onions to cook ?
Hi sorry for the confusion.
Pick the rosemary needles off the stem and chop them!
This was so good. I used 5 cups of broth instead of 6 and added it gradually and it was not too thin, as some people here mentioned. Didn’t blend it completely either and it was amazing. Really reminds me of a split pea soup with ham, instead it’s beans and bacon! I’ll be making this more often.
Thank you!
We love this soup! We cooked it a little longer to reduce some of the liquid and the result was perfect. I didn’t chop the rosemary as we were blending it anyway. I did add a couple of shakes of fish sauce, and Trader Joe’s umami seasoning. I also felt it needed a bit of acid so I put 2 teaspoons of lemon juice in it, which really did the trick! my husband doesn’t even like beans, but he really loved this recipe. Thank you for sharing your easy, healthy, and delicious recipe!