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White Bean and Kale Soup is a hearty blend of vegetables and beans, simmered together in a savory broth. A warm, cozy, satisfying meal that’s perfect to enjoy during the winter season!
When it’s cold outside, soup is one of our favorite family dinners! Whether it’s a slow cooker potato soup or a hearty lentil soup, a piping hot bowl of deliciousness is always a hit in my house. And this white bean and kale soup is our new favorite! It’s full of flavor, color and texture and is a total crowd pleaser.
This flavorful soup is completely vegan and made with nourishing, simple ingredients. It also packs plenty of fiber and plant-based protein. The perfect meal for a chilly day! It’s thick, creamy and so satisfying.
Ingredients needed
This good-for-you white bean kale soup is full of nutrients and cozy flavors that you’ll love all season long. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Vegetables. This soup recipe includes a hearty dose of nourishing veggies! We’re using garlic, onion, carrots, and kale.
- Seasonings. Aside from all of the flavor that the roasted garlic gives this soup, we’re adding in fennel seeds, fresh parsley, a bay leaf, lemon juice, and salt & pepper.
- Broth. To keep this soup vegan friendly, the base of this soup is vegetable broth. I suggest using low-sodium broth, so you’re able to control the saltiness of the soup.
- Beans. I typically use great northern beans in this recipe, but feel free to use cannellini beans or navy beans.
How to Make White Bean Kale Soup
This soup is easy to make with very little hands-on time. Here’s the simple process, but for the full, printable recipe, reference the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Roast the garlic. Prep the garlic by peeling off the outer layer of skin but leaving all of the cloves attached to the base. Cut the top off (about ½ an inch) and drizzle with about a teaspoon of olive oil and rub it in. Wrap the garlic in tin foil and bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes or until the garlic is soft and easily squeezes out.
- Sauté the onion and carrot. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and sauté the onion and carrot for 5 minutes. Stir in the salt, pepper, and fennel seeds and cook for 1 additional minute.
- Cook the soup. Stir in the broth, beans, herbs, bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and let cook uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and add in the roasted garlic (squeeze out the cloves, leaving any skin behind). Stir in the kale and cook for a few more minutes until the kale is fully wilted.
- Blend + serve. As desired, you can blend all or part of the soup. I like to use an immersion blender to blend about ¼ of the soup to add extra creaminess. Stir in lemon juice and ENJOY!
Serving Suggestions
Trying to decide what goes good with white bean kale soup? I personally think the soup itself is plenty satisfying, but if you want a little something extra, I won’t judge. Here are some tasty ideas:
- Salad. A light, fresh green salad pairs so nicely with this flavorful soup.
- Grilled cheese. Grilled cheese and soup is always a welcome pairing!
- Bread. Crusty bread, biscuits or cornbread – perfect for dunking!
- Crackers. I love the added crunch of buttery crackers, oyster crackers or saltine crackers crushed up in any soup recipe.
Is White Bean and Kale Soup Healthy?
In my opinion, white bean and kale soup is really nutritious. Healthy is subjective and means something different to everyone, but this soup is packed with good-for-you ingredients. We’ve got loads of veggies with plenty of complex carbs and plant-based protein in the form of beans, so it is a balanced meal. And for one big bowl, the calories and fat are really great!
Make Ahead + Storage Recommendations
- Make ahead. You can save time by roasting the garlic, chopping the veggies and measuring out the spices up to 1 day in advance. Store onion, carrot and garlic in the refrigerator.
- Leftovers. Store leftover white bean soup in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Reheat. Warm up leftover soup on the stovetop over medium-low heat. Add additional broth as needed to thin the soup. You can also rewarm this soup in the microwave.
- Freeze. Place leftover soup that is completely cooled in an airtight freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
This white bean kale soup is on my regular meal rotation during the colder weather months. It’s a great way to warm up and enjoy your veggies!
White Bean and Kale Soup
Ingredients
- 2 whole heads of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 medium yellow or sweet onion, finely diced
- 1 large carrot, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- Black pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon of fennel seeds, crushed
- 4 cups of veggie broth
- 2 15- ounce cans of white beans, drained and rinsed, about 3 cups*
- ¼ cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped (3 fresh sage leaves also work nicely!)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 3 cups of packed chopped kale, about ½ of a bunch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Prep the garlic by peeling off the outer layer of skin but leaving all of the cloves attached to the base. Cut the top off (about ½ an inch) and drizzle with about a teaspoon of olive oil and rub it in. Wrap the garlic in tin foil and bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes or until the garlic is soft and easily squeezes out.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and sauté the onion and carrot for 5 minutes. Stir in the salt, pepper, and fennel seeds and cook for 1 additional minute.
- Stir in the broth, beans, herbs, bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and let cook uncovered for 5 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaf and add in the roasted garlic (squeeze out the cloves, leaving any skin behind). Stir in the kale and cook for a few more minutes until the kale is fully wilted.
- As desired, you can blend all or part of the soup. I like to use an immersion blender to blend about ¼ of the soup to add extra creaminess. Stir in lemon juice and ENJOY!
This is hands down the best white bean kale soup recipe out there. The roasted garlic really takes it over the top!
a very nice soup, especially since the beans and kale (legumes and leafy greens) are two-thirds of the components of what I’m supposed to eat daily as part of my diet, and I getting sick of spinach and pinto beans, so thank for that part alone but like all of these other ingredients in a soup as well!