Easy, wholesome, and comforting is the name of the game in this Creamy White Bean Soup with Kale. Its luscious texture will feed your soul while the unique flavors and zesty finish will keep you coming back for more.
As someone who gravitates towards hyper-flavorful curries and Asian-inspired soups, I knew I needed to work extra hard to make the flavors pop in this white bean soup.
So I used three techniques for an epic flavored soup: a bouquet garni, gremolata, and finishing with olive oil. The bursts of refreshing, herbaceous, zingy, and comforting flavors here feel like fireworks.
And you agree! This white bean soup has racked up 250+ five-star reviews!
Table of Contents
1. Why this recipe works
2. Ingredient notes
3. Step-by-step instructions
4. Tips for making this recipe
5. Frequently Asked Questions
6. Recipe card with notes
Why this recipe works
Major creaminess.
This white bean soup gets its natural creaminess from just two ingredients: white beans and potatoes. No dairy, coconut milk, or cashews needed!
When partially blended, the cannellini beans and potatoes become velvety smooth while naturally thickening the soup.
Just don’t forget the crusty bread for dipping!
Gourmet flavors but wholesome.
There are three techniques that make this soup a flavor bomb.
- A bouquet garni, a French term for a bundle of herbs tied together. A bundle of fresh rosemary & sage + bay leaves infuses every spoonful with layers of deep woodsy flavors.
- A gremolata is stirred into each bowl of soup before serving. Made with just parsley, basil, lemon zest, and garlic, it takes mere minutes to make but adds a zesty, lemony pop to each bite.
- A drizzle of good-quality extra virgin olive oil at the end adds rich mouthfeel and body to this veggie-packed soup.
Despite being gourmet and creamy, this soup is 100% wholesome and allergen-friendly (free of nuts, soy, gluten, and dairy).
It’s packed with five(!) veggies, 19g of protein, and 16g of fiber!
Surprisingly easy!
First of all, you probably already have most of the ingredients in your kitchen and pantry.
Second, it’s made in just one pot. Just use an immersion blender to blend roughly half the soup right in the pot.
If you want to make prep time quicker, I recommend one of these ninja vegetable choppers (we recently got one and just wow!) (affiliate link).
You can also make this white bean kale soup in your Instant Pot (check out the FAQ section for instructions).
Perfect for meal prep.
No more searching high and low for perfect vegan meal prep recipes. This white bean and kale soup is easy to prepare ahead of time and can be stored in the fridge throughout your work week.
Plus, cannellini beans are an amazing source of protein (17g in just 1 cup!), helping you stay full throughout the day. They’re also the star in my creamy vegan broccoli soup and creamy vegan cauliflower soup.
Ingredient notes
Fresh herbs. To make the bouquet garni, I use fresh sage and rosemary, plus dried bay leaves. All three pair really well with white beans.
Substitute: You can replace sage or rosemary with fresh thyme. While dried herbs can be used in a pinch, they simply do not add the same punch of flavor.
Cannellini beans. AKA white kidney beans. These are some of the creamiest beans out there. They’re also what make this Instant Pot Wild Rice Mushroom Soup stick-to-your-ribs comforting.
Substitute: If you can’t find them, use another white bean.
Yukon gold potatoes. When cooked down, potatoes naturally thicken this soup. I use just one medium Yukon gold potato, but if potatoes are your jam, feel free to add some more (you might want to add a bit more vegetable broth to compensate).
Substitute: If you only have sweet potatoes on hand, add a small sweet potato for a different flavor profile.
Lacinato kale. Also known as dino kale or Tuscan kale. This soup feels like it comes from the hills of Tuscany, so lacinato kale is the preferred option!
Substitute: Curly kale works but may take a few extra minutes to become tender. Baby spinach is fine too, but will add a softer texture.
Lemons. Lemon zest is a key element in gremolata and gives this soup its punchy finish. To prepare lemons for zesting, remove any produce stickers from the outside and scrub the peel very well before using. I prefer to use organic lemons for zesting.
Extra virgin olive oil. Because this soup is naturally low in fat, the olive oil at the end really takes it over the top, adding a rich and luxurious mouthfeel that’s often missing in plant-based soups.
Step-by-step instructions
Saute the vegetables. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven (affiliate link) over medium-high heat. Once hot, sauté the onion, celery, and carrots until soft.
Next, add the garlic and red pepper flakes (you can leave these out if you don’t want the kick).
Deglaze the pot. Pour the vegetable broth into the pot and scrape up any stuck browned bits on the bottom.
Stir in the salt, pepper, bouquet garni, potatoes, cannellini beans, and artichokes.
Simmer the soup. Bring the soup up to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover with a lid, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the gremolata. Finely chop the parsley and basil. Grate the garlic over the herbs, then zest the lemon on top. Stir the garlic and lemon into the herbs. Chop the herbs once more until they’re finely minced. Finish with a sprinkle of sea salt.
Blend the soup. Once the potatoes are tender, turn off the heat and remove the bouquet garni.
Use an immersion blender directly in the pot to blend half of the soup (or transfer half of the soup to a stand blender and blend until smooth, and stir the blended soup back into the pot).
Add the chopped kale to the soup and simmer until tender. Adjust the seasonings.
Serve. Ladle the white bean kale soup into individual bowls. Sprinkle a generous amount of the gremolata on top and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!
Tips for making this white bean soup
Watch the lemon pith. The white pith underneath the lemon peel is quite bitter. Be sure to not zest too deeply, or you’ll end up with pith in your gremolata. A microplane is the best tool for getting the zest but not the pith.
No kitchen twine for the herb bouquet?
You have a few options to make your bouquet garni if you don’t have kitchen twine:
- Add the herb sprigs into the pot and use tongs to remove them after cooking; or
- MacGyver it: tie the herbs using a leftover scallion or the string from a tea bag; or
- Chop the herbs (not the bay leaves) and sauté them when you add the garlic.
Partially blend the soup. Make sure to not blend the entire batch. Blending half of the soup before adding the kale creamifies the soup yet retains a good amount of texture.
Deglaze with wine instead. If you have an open bottle of dry white wine (think Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, etc.), feel free to deglaze the pot with 1/4 to 1/3 cup for an extra depth of flavor.
Add toppings! Feel free to garnish this soup with croutons, a sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese, or homemade cashew parmesan. We love serving it with slabs of seeded whole grain bread for a balanced, wholesome meal.
Use these flavor techniques elsewhere. Tuck a bouquet garni into your next pot of beans, or try it with my fall favorite Pumpkin Lasagna Soup. Gremolata is a lovely topping for crostini, pizza, and pasta, like my Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes!
1) Select the Sauté setting on the Instant Pot and let the pot heat up for a few minutes before adding the olive oil (you may need more than 1 tbsp to prevent sticking). Once hot, add the onion, carrots, and celery and a pinch or two of salt. Cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened.
2) Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
3) Pour in the broth to deglaze the pan and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the 1 teaspoon kosher salt, black pepper to taste, bouquet garni, potatoes, cannellini beans, and artichokes (if using). Stir well.
4) Select the Pressure Cook setting at high pressure for 7 minutes. While the soup cooks, make the gremolata.
5) Once the 7-minute timer goes off, allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes and then manually release any remaining steam.
6) Transfer half of the soup to a stand blender and blend until thick and smooth. Then return this pureed soup back to the pot and stir to incorporate. Or, use an immersion blender throughout half of the soup, but be sure to not blend it all – you want to retain some texture.
7) Now stir in the kale. Select the Sauté setting and heat until the kale is wilted, about 3 minutes. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt as needed. When the soup is done, remove the bouquet garni. Transfer to bowls, top with gremolata and olive oil, and enjoy.
Technically no, but it’s recommended! It really makes this soup unique and shine in flavor. Plus, it takes like 5 minutes and you can easily make it while the soup is simmering.
You can use 1/2 pound (227g) dried white beans but you’d need to cook them plain ahead of time (this is a quick-simmering soup, so the dried beans won’t cook through in it).
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
If you are not eating all the soup now, store the gremolata in a small jar and drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil for better storage in the fridge. You can spoon this herby oil directly on your soup when ready to reheat and eat instead of finishing with olive oil.
Yes, it freezes well! Transfer the cooled soup to a few airtight containers. We love using these nifty Souper Cubes for single-serve portions that are quick to defrost (affiliate link).
Freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw in the fridge overnight. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
If freezing, do not add the gremolata. Instead, make the gremolata fresh when you are ready to reheat the soup.
More soup inspiration
Once you add this white bean soup to your rotation, be sure to try out one of these 17 excellent vegan soup or stew recipes! And if you have my cookbook, The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook, Chapter 6 is packed with globally-inspired soups and stews.
Watch! How to make Creamy White Bean Soup
Creamy white bean & kale soup | cozy one-pot vegan dinner
If you love this White Bean and Kale Soup, please rate and review the recipe below. It’s always much appreciated :)
Creamy White Bean Soup with Kale
Ingredients
- 1 generous tablespoon olive oil*
- 1 large sweet onion (or yellow onion or leek), diced
- 3 sticks of celery, diced
- 3 medium carrots, diced
- 6 garlic cloves, chopped finely
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 ½ cups (840 mL) low-sodium vegetable broth**
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- Bouquet garni: 2 bay leaves + 1 large sprig of sage + 1 large or 2 small sprigs rosemary, tied tightly together with kitchen twine***
- 1 medium Yukon gold potato (about 6 ounces or 170g), peeled and finely diced
- 2 (15-ounce/425g) cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or 3 1/2 cups cooked cannellini beans)
- 1 (14 ounce/400g) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped finely (optional)
- 1 small head of lacinato kale, center rib removed and shredded (about 1 small bunch)
- Good-quality extra virgin olive oil (for finishing)
Gremolata
- 1 loosely packed cup (12g) Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves
- ½ loosely packed cup (8g) fresh basil leaves
- 2 large garlic cloves, left whole and peeled
- 2 medium lemons (I prefer organic since we're using the peel)
- Coarse or flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion, celery, and carrots, along with a pinch or two of salt. Cook until the vegetables are softened and starting to just turn brown, 6-9 minutes.
- Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook another 1-2 minutes until very fragrant.
- Pour in the vegetable broth and deglaze the pot, stirring up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the 1 teaspoon kosher salt, black pepper to taste, bouquet garni, potatoes, cannellini beans, and artichokes (if using). Stir well.
- Bring the soup to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover the pot, and simmer the soup for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- While the soup is simmering, make the Gremolata. Finely chop the parsley and basil. Using a microplane, grate the garlic directly over the parsley and basil. Then zest the lemons on top of this mixture, taking care to not zest the white pith underneath the skin. Mix the garlic and lemon zest into the herbs and chop the herbs until they’re finely minced. Sprinkle with a bit of the coarse or flaky sea salt.
- Transfer half of the soup to a stand blender and blend until thick and smooth. Then return this pureed soup back to the pot and stir to incorporate. One-pot option: Remove bouquet garni and use an immersion blender throughout half of the soup, but be sure to not blend it all – you want to retain some texture.
- Add the kale to the soup and simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the kale is tender but still bright green. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt as needed. When the soup is done, remove the bouquet garni.
- Serve the soup in bowls and sprinkle a generous amount of the Gremolata over each bowl and a drizzle of the extra virgin olive oil.If storing leftovers, add the gremolata to a jar, drizzle some olive oil in there, and refrigerate. Spoon this over leftover soup.
Notes
(2) MacGyver it: tie the herbs using a leftover scallion or the string from a tea bag; or
(3) Chop the herbs (not the bay leaves) and sauté them when you add the garlic. PS: Instant Pot instructions can be found in the first FAQ in the blog post.
This looks amazing! Could I sub the potatoes for sweet potatoes. I’m on AIP and potatoes are a no go for me. Thanks!
Sure, Johanna! Enjoy!
I always cook my beans from scratch in an InstaPot (I use the cooking time chart from your cookbook all the time!) and I was wondering if you had any suggestions for combining the cooking of the Cannellini beans in with the cooking of the soup? The cook times are pretty similar when using soaked beans, but do you have any suggestions for liquid additions to ensure the beans don’t dry up the soup?
From Nisha: “Hi Chloe, I haven’t tried this myself, but I would soak the beans overnight (or for 8 hours) and I think you could add an additional 1 cup of broth or just water to be safe. And you’d have to bump up the cook time on the IP significantly, probably 25 to 35 minutes to ensure the beans fully cook through (cook time isn’t the same as if you were to just cook plain beans). You can also soften the beans more by soaking them in a bit of baking soda (1/2 tsp for 1/2 pound of beans). Hope that works!”
The recipe sounds great. I can’t eat onions and garlic at the moment unfortunately. Was thinking of using Asafoetida. How much would I use in this recipe? 1/8 tsp, 1/16 tsp? Don’t want to overdo it. Thank you!
Hi there Eva, here’s Nisha’s response: “I have not subbed asafoetida in non-Indian recipes myself, but I think 1/2 teaspoon would be appropriate for this amount. Can you have fennel? That might be a nice addition to this soup when you add the carrots and celery.”
This was so delicious! A fresh,healthy,and nourishing soup I just wanted to keep eating more. Thankyou for the recipe.
That’s wonderful to hear, Stephanie! Thanks for the review!
This soup is crazy good!!! It’s a flavor explosion and don’t skip the
Gremolota! Very excellent!!!!
This young lady knows how to floor up deliciousness!!!
Hi Claudia, we’re thrilled to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating alongside your review? Star ratings are big help to readers who are thinking of making the recipe. Thanks!
Oh Nisha, this one is another winner. You have literally changed my life. I’ve tried veganism in the past but I guess I wasn’t trying the right recipes. I’ve tried a few of yours now (will review them all) and they’ve been stunning EVERY time. I’m telling friends about you and after one taste they’re hooked as well.
THANK YOU! x
Thank you so much Sandy! We love to hear that you’re a fan of the recipes!
This soup is delicious. I have made it at least four times. The Gremolita really takes it over the top. I love it!
I tried this recipe and despite my doubts, it turned out to be amazing. I had already tried other recipes such as red lentil curry or mushroom stroganoff and this one somehow I was less convinced as it didn’t involve many fat or cream ingredients. Also I didn’t have some ingredients such as potatoes or archichoke or kale. I used Pak choi. The base of this soup: carrot, celery, oignons are just marvellous.. without Gremolata it was already 8/10 but with Gremolata it was an wow. 10 out of 10. So flavourful and hearty, tasty,.. I am a new Vegan wanna be and your recipes are convincing me and my other friends and family to convert to vegan because it’s easy to use meat or cream to make a tasty food, but your recipes are so original, fun and flavourful that it’s ten times better than non-vegan recipes. I think you are saving more people and our planet now then as your previous job :) we should all be thankful you quit law :) thanks a lot again and I will spread your recipes to more people by cooking them and sharing the recipes. You are a treasure.
Thank you for your kind words, Soohyun! We are so happy to help you and your loved ones eat a more plant-based diet! :)
This is so delicious! My whole family ate this with some loving it and one saying it was better than it should be. (my son the carnivore) I served this soup over jasmine rice and I wish I’d made so much more of it!
Thanks for sharing, Heather!
Personally, my favourite soup! I prefer to swith out the beens for cheakpea’s, but hey, that’s all of the “research” from my side :). Love it, love it, love it!
My family has one more soup we really like: Turkish lentil soup or ‘mercemek’. It’s vegan in and of itself, but maybe you like it too and can make a Nisha-version?!
I used to be bean-hating vegan before I came across this recipe! It’s phenomenal. I made a big batch and was excited to eat it for dinner every night of the week. Life-changing! Thanks Nisha.
Isn’t this soup the best?! Thanks for your review Maddy!
It was absolutely delicious! My wife wishes I doubled the recipe. I did have to substitute the kale with spinach as I couldn’t find it at my grocery store. Followed the rest of the recipe to the letter. The Gremolata on top was spectacular! Love this recipe! Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to trying many more of your recipes.
Awesome, Eric. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
My first batch will not be my last! I substituted spinach for kale and used white and black beans. Also added a tsp. Thai Red Curry paste because, I couldn’t help myself.
BTW this recipe is WW (Weight Watchers)!friendly !!!
The only ingredient that has a point value is the olive oil.
Leave it out and the soup is considered low-zero points depending on which WW plan you follow.
Thanks Nisha.
This meal was so
uber-delicious. Thank you for sharing. I’ll eat the little I have leftover for lunch today. I’m overly excited about today’s dinner. It’s 3 am and I’m looking at all the recipes in your 7 day vegan challenge. Lol. 🤪
Making this soup for the third time tomorrow. It is absolutely amazing, and I am now a gremolta addict. The only thing I changed was I omitted all of the oil (sautéed the veggies with a very small amount of veg broth instead. I’m just not a fan of oil), and it was absolutely delicious.
This came as a *very* pleasant vegan surprise to this omnivore. There’s an awful lot of prep, though. So be prepared. But totally worth it. Especially the addition of the gremolata. Adding this to my regular rotation.
I put a bowl of this soup, with a small dollop of gremolata on it, in front of my husband, telling him what it is and saying “Stir it up before you eat it.”
He doesn’t listen, takes a spoonful of mostly gremolata and says “It’s too salty!”
“Did you stir it?” I ask.
(quiet pause) “no.”
(stir, stir, stir) “YUM!”
This recipe was super delicious! I did everything except on the Gremolata , I had trouble getting the lemon zest so I didn’t worry about that and just squeezed some lemon in. I rarely go back for seconds but I did on this soup!
Absolutely fantastic! I’ve been making kale bean soup for years and this is the best! I love your description of using sage and Rosemary and also loved the artichokes! My jar was water-based and I put a little of that in for extra flavor. Thank you!
I made this recipe last month and when I say the flavor was so comforting and delicious I finished the soup by the second day. I do wish I had bread to compliment it when I made it but definitely next time. For sure a dish I will make over and over. Thank you for this comforting and rich flavored soup!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, La’Porscha!
Very tasty. DO NOT skip the gremolata—it really makes the soup. (If you absolutely can’t make it, I’d recommend adding some lemon juice or vinegar). Because of what I had on hand, I substituted spinach for kale and great northern beans for cannellini beans—still great.