Some of the beans are pureed to give it the creaminess and the soup is just bursting with fantastic flavors.
We use good-grade olive oil with cannellini beans that are sauteed and flavored with pancetta before adding it to the pot.
In just a few hours you'll have this hardy bowl of the best-tasting Italian soup in its authentic original recipe just like Grandma used to make when we were kids.
Serve our tasty soup with Tuscan garlic bread or pita points and you will be sitting in front of this bowl with an addiction to your new favorite soup we grew up on!
If you love the flavors of Tuscany and are a fan of beans, this soup will be your new favorite.
We are big fans of any kind of Italian dish made with white beans, especially Escarole and Beans and Pasta Fagioli.
Scroll down to this printable recipe and see why it's been a favorite Tuscan Bean Soup since the 1960s.
Tuscany Foods
Some of the famous foods from Tuscany we love along with this soup is Fagioli con salsiccia, Pecorino Toscana, Tagliatelle al Tartufo, and Panzanella (which is my all-time favorite tomato salad).
This soup is great any time of the year and comes together fairly quick and easily unless you make the beans starting from being dried then which will require soaking overnight and boiling to get them soft.
Growing up in Central Utica New York, winters were cold and mom and my grandma made this soup very often during those months, it feeds a large family economically and is very delicious.
Ingredients You Will Need To Make Tuscan White Soup
- Cannellini Beans drained and rinsed or use any white beans you prefer (navy or great northern work perfectly fine)
- extra virgin olive oil
- fresh Italian parsley
- freshly sliced onion
- cloves of fresh garlic cleaned
- carrots sliced and diced
- salt, and pepper to taste
- celery
- Optional Serving suggestions: freshly chopped basil, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, Tuscan garlic bread, or salad, drizzle the top with olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper
Tips
- Pulse slowly for desired smoothness
- Add more olive oil on top when serving
- This dip taste better warmed just a little
- Adding cooked ham or cooked chicken for meat lovers
- For herbs flavored add more herbs you like, basil and oregano are good choices
- Use only freshly chopped herbs if available for the best results
- For a delicious topping add shredded mozzarella microwave or bake until cheese melts
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator in a sealed container and it freezes well
Try Some of My Other Favorite Recipes
Our Best Soup Recipes
Cranberries Brussels Sprouts
Holiday Side Dishes
Pin for later Tuscan White Bean Soup
Other Suggestions For Serving this Tuscan Bean Soup
This Tuscan White Bean Soup is terrific served alongside Bruschetta or a Panzanella Salad.
This soup is really a whole meal in itself but serving salad and bread along with it will be a heartier meal for sure.
Tuscan Bean Soup
Yield: 12
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinInactive time: 15 MinTotal time: 1 H & 15 M
A delicious creamy soup made with chicken broth, cannellini beans sauteed onions, garlic, and carrots in a fantastic bowl of Tuscan flavors.
Ingredients
- Flavoring the Beans First:
- 12 slices of pancetta or you can use bacon
- 16 ounces of canned cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 1 small sliced onion
- 4 smashed cloves of fresh garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- Soup Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 freshly minced cloves of garlic
- 1 small onion minced
- 2 stalks of celery diced
- 1 cup of chopped carrot pieces
- 1 fresh sprig of rosemary
- salt and white pepper to taste
- Garish:
- grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- olive oil
- freshly cracked black pepper
- chopped fresh parsley and basil
- Optional: for a more tomato base add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to the broth
Instructions
- In a 5-quart soup pot, saute the pancetta(or bacon) over medium heat until crispy and browned.
- Add the onion, and whole garlic cloves, and saute until fragrant around 2 minutes.
- Stir in the drained cannellini beans, and bay leaf, and (if using tomato paste add it in this step)add 1/2 cup of water and simmer until half the water is gone it takes around 14 minutes.
- In the same stock pot, remove the beans and add a little more oil to the pan, heat to low heat, and saute the onions, celery, and carrots
- and saute until the onions look clear and translucent.
- Add the garlic, and saute for just 1 minute then add the flavored beans back in along with the rosemary sprig and 5 cups of chicken broth.
- Simmer the soup on low heat and season with salt and white pepper to taste for around 30 minutes.
- Discard the rosemary sprig.
- Strain (with a ladle with holes in it) around 1 cup of the beans with whatever else comes out with it) and put this in a food processor to blend until it's pureed and creamy.
- Add back to the soup.
- When ready to serve add a drizzle of the extra virgin olive oil, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, and some freshly cracked black pepper if desired. Garnish with herbs of choice.
- We like to serve this also with Tuscan Garlic Bread for dipping in.
Notes
Tips
- Pulse slowly for desired smoothness
- Add more olive oil on top when serving
- This dip taste better warmed just a little
- Adding cooked ham or cooked chicken for meat lovers
- For herbs flavored add more herbs you like, basil and oregano are good choices
- Use only freshly chopped herbs if available for the best results
- For a delicious topping add shredded mozzarella microwave or bake until cheese melts
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator in a sealed container and it freezes well
Nutrition Facts
Calories
188.2Fat (grams)
13.08Sat. Fat (grams)
3.87Carbs (grams)
11.31Fiber (grams)
2.47Net carbs
8.83Sugar (grams)
1.25Protein (grams)
6.71Sodium (milligrams)
207.39Cholesterol (grams)
17.12
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More recipes we love:
Tuscan Brussels Sprouts
Tuscan Garlic Bread
Tuscan Grilled Steak
Tuscan Chicken Florentine
Tuscan Panzanella Salad
Tuscan White Bean Dip
Disclosure: This recipe was originally shared in 2011. It was edited and re-published in 2023.
