This creamy vegan white bean soup comes together in less than 30 minutes with pantry ingredients and fresh veggies. It's the perfect quick and easy dinner when you're looking for something hearty and satisfying!
You Will Love This
- It's super quick and easy! We are talking 25 minutes from the stovetop to your dining room table! Canned beans, canned coconut milk, and chopped kale make this creamy, dreamy vegan recipe possible on even the busiest of weeknights. A classic mirepoix gets a quick sauté and then everything goes in the pot to simmer together.
- It's filled with veggies but also very hearty and satisfying! This kale white bean soup is LOADED with vegetables and beans, but don't let that fool you into thinking that it's not going to fill you up and fuel you through the day! The coconut milk in this soup works in combination with the vegetables to give you an energizing meal that will leave you satisfied. Looking for more easy soup recipes - check these out!
- If you loved this kale soup recipe, be sure to check out my Creamy One Pot Vegan Chickpea Stew, my Easy One Pot Vegetable Stew, or my One Pot Creamy Vegan Mushroom Soup.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Carrot, Onion, Celery — AKA mirepoix — This is what gives this soup its delicious, aromatic flavor base. If you're looking for a shortcut, most grocery stores now carry a pre-made mirepoix (diced onion, carrot, and celery mixture)! You'll want about 3 cups total of this diced mixture so plan accordingly as the mirepoix seems to come in varying amounts depending on the store. This will save you at least 5 minutes of prep time!
- Garlic — Mincing garlic yourself releases all those oils for a super fresh, bright flavor, but I also totally get that sometimes you just need that jar. Sub ½ teaspoon of pre-minced garlic, or ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder, for each clove.
- Dried Herbs - Dried oregano, dried thyme, and rubbed sage are my favorites for this recipe. If you're out of any of these herbs just substitute more of one of the others, or use Italian seasoning in place of all three. Dried rosemary or bay leaves would be a delicious addition as well!
- Veggie Broth — If you’re not worried about this soup being vegan, you can use chicken broth instead of veggie broth.
- White Beans — Use whichever white beans you prefer, or a mixture of three! Cannellini beans, Great Northern beans, baby lima, and even Navy beans will work well in this soup. You could also use kidney beans, chickpeas, or even pinto beans in place of white beans. Just stick with 3 (15-ounce cans) of whatever beans you're using. Also if you're using low-sodium beans, be sure to salt the soup to taste.
- Coconut Milk — Full-fat canned coconut milk is the magic in this creamy vegan soup and it does not make the soup taste like coconut. If you’re not worried about this being vegan, go ahead and use heavy cream instead. I'd use about ½ to ¾ cups of heavy cream in place of the 15 oz. can of coconut milk.
- Fresh Kale — Did you know there are lots of different kinds of kale? Curly kale is the most common and will work fine in this white bean soup. However, Tuscan kale or dinosaur kale will work as well! Baby spinach will work in its place.
- Vinegar — Vinegar might seem like an odd addition to this recipe, but just trust me on this! A splash of vinegar is going to cut through the creaminess of the kale soup and make all the flavors sing! You can use white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, white balsamic vinegar, or apple cider vinegar. If you don't keep vinegar on hand, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice will work as well!
Instructions
Heat oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots. Cook, stirring frequently for 8 minutes until tender.
Add garlic, oregano, thyme, sage, and a large pinch of salt and pepper.
Cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Add vegetable broth to the pot.
Add white beans.
Add coconut milk.
Stir to combine.
If desired, remove about two cups of the soup mixture and blend in a high-speed blender or use an immersion blender. Return blended soup to the pot and bring everything to a simmer over medium-high heat (no need to boil).
Turn heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in kale and vinegar.
Season to taste with Kosher salt and black pepper.
Garnish with homemade croutons, fresh parsley, and vegan Parmesan cheese, and enjoy! Red pepper flakes are also a fun addition if you like it a little spicy!
Tip
- The coconut milk is optional (but highly recommended) in this recipe! If you prefer a more brothy and less creamy soup, feel free to leave out the coconut milk. Also, don't worry - the soup won't taste like coconut! The flavor of the coconut milk is really masked by the mirepoix and the myriad of dried herbs. It will impart just a tiny hint of sweetness, but you won't actually taste the coconut flavor. If you don't believe me, read the reviews! Coconut milk is one of my favorite ways to add creaminess to dairy-free soups without impacting the flavor. It's much less labor intensive than cashew cream but it gives a similar effect!
Variations
This soup recipe is super forgiving, so feel free to switch up the ingredients based on what you've got on hand or what you need to use up in the fridge. I like to add:
- canned fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- diced baby yellow potatoes
- spicy Italian sausage (can use vegan if you want to keep the recipe vegan)
- cooked orzo pasta
- Parmesan rind (if you're not worried about it being vegan)
Is white bean soup good for you?
I prefer not to refer to foods as good or bad, but this white bean soup is loaded with real, wholesome ingredients so you can feel good about eating it! It's filled with veggies for fiber and has plenty of protein from the beans as well.
What is the thickener in white bean soup?
The secret to this creamy kale soup is full-fat canned coconut milk (which is naturally gluten-free)! It gives the soup a creamy, dreamy texture while still keeping it totally dairy free. Blending a portion of the soup also adds to the smooth, rich, creamy texture too! Instead of blending you could add a couple tablespoons of the cornstarch slurry to thicken it up as well!
What are the white Italian beans called?
Cannellini beans are a popular white bean in Italy. The term "white beans" is an umbrella term that refers to four varieties of beans including Cannellini, Great Northern, Navy, and baby lima beans. You can use any white bean you have on hand for this easy soup recipe!
Make Ahead, Storage, Freezing and Reheating
- Make Ahead: This white bean soup recipe is one of my favorite make-ahead meals! I love to throw a big batch together over the weekend and then I've got quick and easy lunches ready to go whenever I need them!
- Storage: Store leftover kale soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Freezing: Freeze leftover soup in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight before reheating.
- Reheating: Reheat soup in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently until warmed through. You can also microwave the soup in 30-60 increments until warmed through. Be sure to season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.
Easy Soup Recipes
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White Bean Kale Soup
This creamy vegan white bean and kale soup comes together in less than 30 minutes with pantry ingredients and fresh veggies. It's the perfect quick and easy dinner when you're looking for something hearty and satisfying!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 1 cup sliced carrot
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 3 (15 oz.) cans white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz.) can full fat coconut milk
- 3 cups chopped kale
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (apple cider, white wine, red wine, balsamic)
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
Garnish:
- homemade croutons
- fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
- Add onion, celery and carrots. Cook, stirring frequently for 8 minutes.
- Add garlic, oregano, thyme, sage and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Add veggie broth, white beans, and coconut milk to the pot. Stir to combine.
- If desired, remove about two cups of the soup mixture and blend in a high speed blender.
- Return blended soup to the pot and bring everything to a simmer over medium high heat.
- Turn heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Stir in kale and vinegar.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with croutons and fresh parsley and enjoy!
Notes
- Make Ahead: This white bean soup recipe is one of my favorite make ahead meals! I love to throw a big batch together over the weekend and then I've got quick and easy lunches ready to go whenever I need them!
- Storage: Store leftover kale soup in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Freezing: Freeze leftover soup in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight before reheating.
- Reheating: Reheat soup in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently until warmed through. Be sure to season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 287
- Sugar: 4.1 g
- Sodium: 295.3 mg
- Fat: 14.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 9.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 32.2 g
- Fiber: 8.6 g
- Protein: 10.6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: white bean soup, white bean and kale soup, white bean kale soup, kale white bean soup
Liane Loyd
Delicious!! Made it with the coconut milk and was amazed it didn’t have any coconut flavor! It’s so delicious!
★★★★★
Ala
I used everything except the homemade croutons (we’re fasting).
It was a success from my normally picky family. I also added some chicken base to the vegetable broth. Next time I’ll solely use chicken broth instead for more flavor.
★★★★★
jolene
Thank you for posting this recipe! I'm looking forward to making it! Just a quick note about olive oil and high heat. For some reason we've been taught that olive oil is good to cook with, and it's still stated in many recipes, but heat and olive oil don't mix well! It's a great oil for salad dressings. The chemistry of it changes with heat and can cause inflammation in the body. Oils like rice bran and coconut oil are good high heat/cooking oils. A great book and very informative is "The Coconut Oil Miracle" by Dr. Bruce Fife. He talks about more oils than just coconut. Can also get it on audiobook. Blessings~
★★★★★
jolene
One of the best soups I've ever had, and I'm picky ~<3
★★★★★
casey
I love this soup! I make it all the time. Could you tell me what the serving size is for the nutrition information?
★★★★★
Kylie
I'd guesstimate around 1-1.5 cups is a serving.
Sue Stockman
This was excellent!! I used chicken broth instead of veg broth and added 1/2 lb of hot Italian sausage. So very good and flavorful!!
★★★★★
Kylie
I am so glad that you enjoyed this white bean soup, Sue! Sausage sounds like a delicious addition!!
Corinne
This is my new favorite soup. Added some ground turkey into it and turned out amazing.
★★★★★
Kylie
I am so glad to hear that, Corinne! Ground turkey sounds like a delicious addition. Thank you for leaving a review - I really appreciate it 🙂
Jodie
I don’t have coconut milk what substitute use sour cream or fat free milk or what
Kylie
I'd recommend using heavy cream in place of the coconut milk. Fat free milk will not give you as much flavor or a creamy texture.
Shannon
Hi, I was wondering if you could make this soup with dried beans and just soak them over night first. How many cups of beans would you use?
Thanks!
Kylie
I haven't tried this with dried beans, but the recipe is written to be made with cooked beans, so I would probably just soak them and cook them like you normally would and then go from there with making the soup. Hope that helps! 🙂
James
I just made it and it is great! It’s very flavorful. Thank you very much for this great recipe.
What is the serving size though?
Thank you again.
★★★★★
Kylie
I am so glad that you enjoyed this one, James! Thanks for leaving a review. I would estimate a serving size to be between 1-2 cups. I don't measure my recipes too exactly as far as the serving size goes since every person will enjoy a different size serving!
Les
Going with what I have in the house, could I sub 1 can cannellini, 1 can chickpeas, and 1 cup small chop white potatoes instead of 3 cans of beans? I also only have lite coconut milk but will make a slurry if needed...
Kylie
Yes! You can totally improvise this soup! I'd definitely recommend a slurry if it's a little too thin! Or you could blend part of the soup as well.
Susan T.
THIS is without a doubt my all-time favorite soup. I've made it 4 times in the past few weeks and was about to do another batch, but... I could NOT find your recipe anywhere and totally freaked out! I even had trouble on Google searches until I searched for [White Bean Kale Coconut Milk]. There it was! LOVE it! (I may have to have this printout laminated!) ;^D
★★★★★
Emily
This was great! All three of my picky kids ate it! Healthy and delicious! Thank you!
★★★★★
LC
I (regrettably) doubled the soup and used 4 cans of organic pinto beans and 2 cans of organic great northern beans. Absolutely did not like the flavor the pinto beans added and would stick to using true white beans.
Michele
Great quick soup for a cold day! Thank you!
Michele
★★★★★
Christine
Delicious
Sarah
Fantastic recipe. My kids loved it and I'm back to make it again!
★★★★★
Harley
this was literally so delish. i added spicy italian sausage to this and the coconut milk helps cut the spice so perfectly that i can actually enjoy the spice - ty for this!!
★★★★★
Kylie
YUM! Sausage would be such a delicious addition to this, especially with that creamy coconut milk. Great idea! Thanks for leaving a review - I really appreciate it!
Amy
How h about making this in a crockpot? Would I hold off on adding the beans and kale until an hour before serving?
Kylie
I think it could work in the crock pot, although I've never tried it before! Since white beans are a little more tender, waiting to add them along with the kale an hour before serving is a great idea! Definitely let me know how it turns out if you give it a try 🙂
Susan
This is a great recipe! I have loved Emeril's kale and sweet potato stew with coconut milk and this is similar. I love coconut! However, I was out so used heavy cream instead and enjoyed the different flavor. The combination of spices you suggest are excellent. I made minor changes- red pepper and butternut squash instead of carrot and topped it with parmesan cheese, but otherwise followed your recipe closely. I was really surprised how different it tasted from Emeril's kale stew. Using heavy cream instead of coconut milk works, too!
★★★★★
Valerie
This is awesome!!! I used balsamic. Sooo good. I printed this one. Definitely adding to my soup rotation.
★★★★★
Kylie
I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, Valerie! Thanks for leaving a review - I appreciate it!