• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Crowded Kitchen
MENUMENU
  • Recipes
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Sign Up
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • About Us
  • Recipe Index
  • Contact
×

Home » Recipes » Soups

White Bean Kale Soup

Published: Aug 2, 2021 by Lexi

2.3K shares
Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

This comforting, vegan White Bean Kale Soup is one of our all-time favorite soup recipes. It has plenty of fresh lemon for brightness, a kick from red pepper flakes and potatoes for a little heartiness. It's even better as leftovers the next day!

Overhead view of two bowls of white bean and kale soup with beans, carrots, and kale.
White beans, potatoes, carrots, and kale provide a ton of heartiness to this soup.
Jump to:
  • 🥣 Why We Love This Recipe
  • 🥬 Ingredients
  • 📋 Ingredient Notes
  • 🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
  • 🎥 Recipe Video
  • 💭 Expert Tips and FAQs
  • 🍽 Related Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Reviews

🥣 Why We Love This Recipe

  • Simple prep: After some chopping, you're done prepping and all that's left is adding ingredients to the pot, which makes this soup super easy to put together.
  • Tastes like it took hours to make: Even though this soup comes together in under an hour, it has a rich and hearty vegetable flavor that tastes as if it were simmering for hours.
  • Easy to adapt: This white bean kale soup is naturally vegan (and gluten free!), but it's also great for the meat eaters in your family because chicken, sausage, etc. are all great additions.
  • Perfect for meal prep: this soup tastes just as good on day 3 as it does fresh from the stove. Make a big batch on Sunday and enjoy all week!

🥬 Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this white bean kale soup:

Overhead view of all ingredients, including veggie broth, kale, and white beans.

📋 Ingredient Notes

  • White beans: We used cannellini beans, but you can substitute for great northern beans, navy beans, or even kidney beans. They all have a similar taste and texture.
  • Kale: We used lacinato kale (aka dinosaur or Tuscan kale). Regular leafy green kale would work well too, but we prefer the texture of lacinato in this recipe. You can also sub with another leafy green like collards or swiss chard.
  • Vegetable broth: We usually opt for low-sodium vegetable broth so that we can adjust the salt levels as we see fit. If you use a full-sodium broth and the recommended amount of salt in this recipe, it may end up being too salty, so make sure to taste as you go along!
    • Pro tip: try homemade vegetable broth using leftover veggie scraps or corn cobs! You can freeze it and use in several recipes.
  • Dried parsley: Dried herbs are more concentrated than fresh herbs, so if you're using fresh parsley, you'll have to use ¼ cup instead of 2 teaspoon of the dried stuff.
  • Italian seasoning: this dried herb blend makes it easy to add flavor to this white bean kale soup without having to open and measure several different dried herbs. If you don't have any of the blend, you can also use 1 teaspoon total of a mixture of dried basil, parsley and oregano instead.
  • Potatoes: we prefer yukon golds in this recipe, which have a buttery flavor and don't get mealy in this soup.
side view of white bean kale soup in black bowl on wood table.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

(1) Heat oil in large stock pot. Add onion and cook for 5-6 minutes, until softened.  Add garlic, carrot and potatoes - stir and continue cooking 5 minutes, until carrots are slightly softened.

(2) Add bay leaves, parsley, Italian seasoning, salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Stir well, then add broth and bring to a boil. 

On the left: all the veggies added to the pot. On the right: spices, then broth being added and brought to a boil

(3) Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender.

(4) Add in kale, cannellini beans and lemon juice and cook until kale is wilted (about 10 minutes). Taste and adjust salt + lemon as needed. 

On the left: kale added to pot. On the right: cannellini beans added to pot.
After you add the beans, just cook until the kale is wilted, and you're done!

Serve topped with parmesan (vegan or regular) and more red pepper flakes. Enjoy!

🎥 Recipe Video

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

  • For the non-vegans in the family, this soup is great with some spicy Italian sausage or leftover rotisserie chicken added in. You can actually also add in a vegan sausage alternative – we love these ones from Field Roast!
  • Storage: let the soup cool before transferring to any container, and store in the fridge for 3-5 days or freeze (making sure to leave space at the top for expansion!) and enjoy within a few months. This is a relatively brothy soup, so it's great for freezing and reheating.
  • Reheating: Thaw the soup overnight in the refrigerator, then heat in a large pot over medium heat. You may need to add some extra broth or water if the soup looks too thick.
  • Serving suggestions: we love serving this soup with garlic bread, or better yet, a quick crostini: just brush your favorite bread with olive oil, sprinkle some cheese in there, and pop in the oven to toast. It's also great with a panini or a side salad!
What type of kale is best for this soup?

We recommend using lacinato or dinosaur kale instead of common curly kale. It has more flavor and holds its texture after cooking. We don't recommend swapping with spinach, which wilts too much in soup.

Overhead view of a big pot of white bean and kale soup.
Is there anything better than a big pot of a soup on a cold, gray day?

🍽 Related Recipes

  • Red Lentil Vegetable Soup
  • Three-Bean Vegetable Soup
  • Vegan Minestrone Soup
  • Super Green Vegetable Soup

Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or by subscribing to our newsletter.

Print

📖 Recipe

clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Overhead view of white bean and kale soup in a bowl.

White Bean Kale Soup


★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Lexi
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Description

This comforting, vegan White Bean Kale Soup is one of our all-time favorite soup recipes. It has plenty of fresh lemon for brightness, a kick from red pepper flakes and potatoes for a little heartiness. It's even better as leftovers the next day!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 diced yellow onion (~1 ½ cups)
  • 3 cloves minced garlic (~1 tbsp)
  • 1 ½ cup diced Yukon gold or yellow potatoes
  • 1 ½ cup diced carrot
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tsp dried parsley (or ¼ cup fresh)
  • 1 ½ tsp dried Italian seasoning blend
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • 6 cups lacinato kale, roughly chopped
  • 2 14 oz. cans white beans*, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice + more to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in large stock pot.
  2. Add onion and cook for 5-6 minutes, until softened.  Add garlic, carrot and potatoes - stir and continue cooking 5 minutes, until carrots are slightly softened.
  3. Add all spices/seasonings, stir well, then add broth and bring to a boil. 
  4. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender. Add in kale, cannellini beans and lemon juice and cook until kale is wilted (about 10 minutes). Taste and adjust salt + lemon as needed. 

Notes

*White beans: We used cannellini beans, but you can substitute for great northern beans, navy beans, or even kidney beans. They all have a similar taste and texture.

Storage: let the soup cool before transferring to any container, and store in the fridge for 3-5 days or freeze (making sure to leave space at the top for expansion!) and enjoy within a few months. 

Italian seasoning: this dried herb blend makes it easy to add flavor to this white bean kale soup without having to open and measure several different dried herbs. If you don't have any of the blend, you can also use 1 teaspoon total of a mixture of dried basil, parsley and oregano instead.

Kale: We used lacinato kale (aka dinosaur or Tuscan kale). Regular leafy green kale would work well too, but we prefer the texture of lacinato in this recipe. You can also sub with another leafy green like collards or swiss chard. 

  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Bowl
  • Calories: 269
  • Sugar: 5.9 g
  • Sodium: 1032 mg
  • Fat: 5.4 g
  • Carbohydrates: 46 g
  • Fiber: 9.4 g
  • Protein: 11.9 g

Keywords: white bean and kale soup

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @crowded_kitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #crowdedkitchen

More Soup Recipes

  • Pinto Bean Soup
  • Red Cabbage Soup
  • Vegetable Dumpling Soup
  • Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Let us know what you think! Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Blair

    December 21, 2022 at 8:41 am

    This is a great recipe! We substituted rosemary, oregano and thyme for the Italian seasonings and could have just enjoyed the broth it was so savory and delicious! The lemon juice at the end is a perfect touch. 😘

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. That Linda

    October 23, 2022 at 1:30 pm

    Just made this recipe while enjoying a crisp fall afternoon in northern Michigan. It’s delicious!! I added a can of drained, diced tomatoes and also some sliced, chicken Italian sausage. It made for a hearty meal. Thank you for sharing this recipe. The flavor profile is perfection.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Betsy

    January 15, 2022 at 10:38 pm

    One of my favorites, and I keep coming back to it. Awesome for easy substitutions based on what I have.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Lexi and Beth toasting with wine.

Hi, we're Lexi and Beth, a mother-daughter team from Michigan. The recipes you'll find here are a reflection of how we bring our family together around the dinner table despite various dietary differences.

More about us →

Featured in:

Featured in Buzzfeed, yahoo, Men's Journal, Huffpost, MSN, Food & Wine, Country Living, yummly, and Parade.

Winter Recipes

  • Vegan Mushroom Stew over Mashed Potatoes
  • Vegan Coq au Vin
  • Vegetable Stew
  • Vegan Meatloaf
  • Vegan Pumpkin Chili
  • Vegan Broccoli Casserole

Most popular recipes

  • Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Creamy Beet Pasta
  • Super Green Vegetable Soup
  • Vegan Miso Soup
  • Vegan Jalapeño Poppers
  • Limoncello Spritz

See more-->

Footer

Back to top ↑

About

  • Learn About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • See our Portfolio

Newsletter

  • Sign up for weekly emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact Us
  • Work With Us
  • As Seen In

Copyright © 2022 Crowded Kitchen