This is a bean soup with a thick, creamy tomato broth that’s soothing, nourishing and extremely economical. It’s incredibly simple to make, yet full of savoury flavour. Use canned beans for a 20 minute meal, or dried beans if you’ve got the time.
Make this with any type of white beans – cannellini, navy, great northern, butter beans, lima. Coloured beans will also work perfectly though the colour of the broth will be different!
Creamy Tomato Bean Soup
This is the part where I do what every food blogger does – the “big sell” to convince you that this the best bean soup recipe in the world and how you absolutely must try it right now!
It will be littered with lots of exclamation marks – because I am an excessive user of exclamation marks, to the point that I have been told off by a reader who wrote in to say that it’s unprofessional to use so many, just one per sentence is sufficient, and in any case, I’m much too old to be writing like that.
(To which I replied “Dear X, I’m so sorry to hear that the way I write offends you!!!!! I’m just a naturally enthusiastic person and I just can’t help it!!!! Sincerely, Nagi!!!)
😂
But actually, today, I’m not going to do the big sell. I’m just going to quite simply say this to you:
This soup is a very easy way to turn boring canned beans into an extremely delicious meal.
(And yes, you absolutely must try it right now!😉)
What goes in this bean soup
Here’s what you need:
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Canned or dried white beans – any type. More on this below!
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Wine and cream recommended / you’ll thank me for it – but still scrumptious without (as I have done numerous times in recent weeks);
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Parmesan provides umami here, the fancy word for “savoury flavour”;
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Italian herbs – sub with dried basil, parsley, oregano, thyme or any combination thereof;
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Tomato paste – quite a bit of it! Because we’re not using canned tomato here, this is what gives the tomato flavour and helps thicken the soup;
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Carrot (optional), onion and garlic – an essential flavour base for an otherwise simple soup broth. The trick here is to sauté them for 5 minutes until sweet, then they get blitzed up with the liquid. Blitzing releases flavour!
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Baby spinach – completely interchangeable with any leafy green suitable for stirring through the soup. OR get your veg quota by using diced vegetables of any kind!
Dried vs canned beans
Dried will give you slightly better flavour in the beans, you can control the salt yourself (because canned beans are typically quite generously salted) and is more economical. Canned beans is sheer convenience – and is what I use 95% of the time.
You’ll need either 2 cups of dried beans, or 3 canned beans. I’m using white cannellini beans in these photos and the video, but you can use any white beans:
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lima
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butter beans
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navy beans (haricot)
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great northern
This recipe will also work with coloured beans (kidney beans, black beans etc) without changing the flavour BUT you might end up with an interesting broth colour!
Recipe includes directions for how to cook dried beans.
How to make this creamy bean soup
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Saute onion, carrot, garlic and tomato paste;
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Simmer with stock/broth;
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Add just 1/2 cup of beans – we use this to thicken the broth!
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Blitz blitz blitz
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Add remaining beans and spinach,
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Serve!
Three little things that make all the difference…
The three things in this recipe that makes a relatively simple soup taste so much better than you think it will are:
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Slowly sauté onion, garlic and carrot which makes them sweet and flavourful;
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Cook off the tomato paste – this takes off the harsh raw, sour edge;
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Blitz it all up with the stock/broth and some of the beans. Blitzing = flavour release, beans = thickens soup!
And here’s what you end up with – a thick, creamy soup with the wonderful scent of tomato but tastes creamy and savoury like a chowder. It’s incredibly filling – and will keep you full, thanks to all the beans!
Serve with soup dunkers
Beans are a starch, so technically I guess serving with bread could be considered carb overkill. BUT! Remember that beans are good for you – they are the world’s best plant based source of protein, high in fibre, low in fat.
With all that goodness happening in this bean soup, I feel like a soup dunker is not just ideal, it’s justified – so try one of these!
Also, I use a large mound of spinach in this to get my veg quota in. But a big leafy salad certainly wouldn’t go astray – tossed with a salad dressing of choice! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Creamy Tomato Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp/ 30g butter , unsalted
- 1 onion , finely chopped (brown, yellow, white)
- 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- 1 carrot , large, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp Italian herb mix OR other dried herbs (oregano, thyme, parsley, basil, or mixed)
- 3/4 cup (170g) tomato paste (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup (125ml) dry white wine , optional (can omit)
- 4 cups (1 litre) stock/broth, chicken or veg , low sodium
- 3 x 420g/15oz cans cannellini or any white beans, drained & rinsed (navy, butter, great northern, lima) (OR 2 cups dried beans, 5.5 cups cooked, Note 2)
- 1/2 cup (50g) parmesan , grated
- 1/2 tsp EACH salt and pepper
- 120g/4oz baby spinach (or 5 - 6 cups any other leafy greens OR 4 cups diced veg, Note 3)
- 3/4 cup (185ml) cream, heavy/thickened (optional) OR more butter!
Instructions
- Melt butter in a pot over medium high heat. Cook garlic, onion and carrot for 5 minutes until carrot is soft and sweet.
- About 3 minutes in, add the Italian herbs and cook with the onion (makes the herb flavour "bloom").
- Turn heat up to high, add tomato paste. Cook for 2 minutes to remove the “raw” flavour.
- Add white wine, cook for 3 minutes until the harsh “winey” smell is gone and mostly evaporates so you’re just left with tomato paste again.
- Add 1/2 cup of beans (to thicken soup), stock, parmesan, salt and pepper. Stir, low heat, cover and simmer 3 minutes, stirring every now and then.
- Use a stick blender to puree until smooth (or transfer to blender).
- Add remaining beans, simmer 3 minutes. Stir in spinach until wilted, then stir in cream if using. Add more salt and pepper if needed (note: canned beans are already salted).
- Serve with crusty bread for dunking!
Recipe Notes:
- 1 can = 1 3/4 cups beans once drained
- Recipe calls for 3 cans = 5 1/4 cups beans
- 1 cup dried beans = 2 3/4 cups cooked
- So you will need 2 cups dried beans (2 x 2.75 = 5 1/2 cups cooked beans)
Nutrition Information:
More bean recipes
No bland beans around here!!
And more hearty soups!
Life of Dozer
Just another day in the Hard Life of Dozer – starting the morning with a beach play!
This was so delicious! I used asiago cheese in place of Parmesan as I love asiago; otherwise stuck to the recipe. This soup was delightful and, yes, I may be full for the rest of the day..
Made it, loved it. Your suggestion to serve with bread should be a required ingredient
Wow! absolutely delicious. I want to give it 0 stars…. for making me eat so much I can’t move! but truely delicious.
This soup is fantastic ! I’m trying to use up the easter ham so chopped some and added to soup. Even my husband who doesn’t like beans is a fan . Thanks Nagi !
Wow, this was delicious! I didn’t add wine but followed the rest of the recipe. Definitely making it again. My husband who is a picky eater also loved it! Thank you for a great recipe!
have you compared tofu v beans for protein content? Seems I read somewhere that tofu was highest rated. Only wondering how that might affect the carb count for those on a low car diet.
Yum! Yum! Yum!
There’s nothing else to say.
Just yum! Yum! Yum!
Looooooveeee this soup. I make it every week to fortnight, massive pregnancy craving at the moment. Only thing i dont add is the wine, but its nice with or without it. Thank you for your amazing recipes. Such a winner
FYI, alcohol cooks off completely at these temps and leaves only the essence of the grape.
Completely untrue
This soup is the bomb! I didn’t have any wine so I substituted verjuice and it worked well. I needs the cream I think. So quick and easy. Absolutely delish!
We loved this soup! We skipped the cream, and is was beautifully thick. We might try it with the cream next time, because we’ll definitely be cooking it again.
That’s amazing Kristy!! N x
I made this soup tonight and it was delicious! The wine gives it a wonderful sophisticated flavor. My kids loved it, as well. I made a couple of changes: I used garlic confit instead of fresh because it’s what I had on hand; and I added the spinach before the blending step so my kids would fuss less. I also appreciated your explanation about why you do certain steps (flavors bloom, etc). Thank you.
I am glad you enjoyed it Dawn – and your kids too!! N x
Seriously delicious for a humble bean soup. If you can get yourself organised – soak dried beans for a better consistency! And cream is a must.
Woo hoo I am glad you liked it Grace!! N x
Gosh this was yummy. Served with my friend’s home made sour dough was an absolute winner in my house. Cooked according to recipe with a little less cream at the end. Will be going on high rotation thanks Nagi!
Amazingly good! I didn’t change much but here’s what I did different because I had the time: I used 5 cloves of garlic, 2 carrots, 1 large onion, 2 small pieces of Parmesan rind, 3 celery ribs, and fresh herbs (besides the oregano). I used dried Rancho Gordo alubia blanca beans because their beans are to die for! I added them to the other ingredients after I added the broth and brought them to a boil for a few minutes and then popped them in a 365 oven. I checked them often as Rancho Gordo beans are fresh and cook fast, it took 1-1/2 hours. I added water as needed. When they were tender I added a whole carton of super greens (5oz) until wilted and then the cream. It didn’t even need Parmesan but I love cheese so… thank you for this recipe! Tomorrow with the leftovers I’m going to make a grilled cheese on Texas toast for dipping because why the hell not:)?
Really delicious. Adding the cream is a must.
Hi Nagi, hope you and Dozer are well. Made this soup on Tuesday evening, really filling, especially with a fresh loaf of bread to dip into it, was enough for our dinner last night too and a little bit for our friend that I put in the freezer for him. We love meat but didn´t miss it all in this ever so filling soup. Have a good weekend! X
Cooked this 3 times now. I’m a meat eater the missus loves vego. We meet in the middle with this one. Love ya work Nagi.!
Made the Creamt tomato bean soup tonight. Ohhhh absolutely amazing.
So glad you enjoyed it Lee! N x
My boyfriend said “this is the best soup I’ve ever eaten in my life.” Needless to say I will be making it again. You are my go to website almost daily. Thank you so much for the fabulous recipes.
My boyfriend said “this is the best soup I’ve ever eaten in my life.” Needless to say I will be making it again. You are my go to website almost daily. Thank you so much for the fabulous recipes.
Thanks! N x