Cannellini Bean Soup is a hearty soup full of Italian sausage, potatoes, and of course cannellini beans.
Perfect for busy weeknights, this easy stove-top soup is quick and easy!
Creamy, hearty, and full of flavor, this soup is a favorite.
Why We Love This Soup
- Not only is Cannellini Bean Soup ultra-hearty and packed with fiber and flavor, its perfect for leftover add-ins and mix-ins.
- It’s a great base soup recipe for whatever is on hand in the pantry or the fridge! Add in extra veggies, chopped peppers, or leftover chicken breasts.
- The creamy texture comes from blending some of the beans (and not heaps of heavy creamy).
- Creamy Cannellini Soup is fast! Only has 10 minutes of prep time and 30 minutes to cook on the stovetop!
Ingredients & Variations
Healthy cannellini beans, Italian sausage, chicken broth, and a few veggies and herbs are all that’s needed for the best soup ever!
SAUSAGE – Italian sausage adds the perfect flavor to this recipe! No sausage? Sub out ground beef or leftover chicken or turkey and add in a few extra spices to balance out the flavor.
BEANS – Canned cannellini beans are a quick and easy addition. Beans labeled Great Northern Beans or White Kidney beans (or really any white bean) will work in this recipe!
VEGGIES I love to add celery for the perfect crunch and potatoes for a hearty addition. This soup would also be great with kale or spinach for a pop of color and extra nutrition!
For a lower-carb version, switch out the potato for cauliflower!
BROTH Chicken broth is the perfect base for this soup but it can easily be substituted for vegetable or beef broth depending on what you have on hand.
Canned vs. Dry Beans
This recipe uses canned beans to make it quick!
If you have dried beans, feel free to use those. Since dried beans expand while cooking, use half the amount of dried beans than canned beans and be sure to soak them overnight before adding to the soup.
Find more info about different ways to soak beans here (overnight/quick/microwave/hot soak).
How To Make Cannellini Bean Soup
This hearty soup is as easy as 1, 2, 3 to prepare.
- Saute onion, sausage, and celery (per recipe below)
- Add remaining ingredients (except one can of beans) and simmer.
- Puree remaining beans, add to soup and simmer.
Season with salt and pepper and parmesan cheese. Serve with a slice of French bread or a side salad for a complete meal!
How to Store
Leftovers: Cannellini Bean Soup tastes even better the next day! Store it covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and let the flavors meld together.
Reheat: Put soup on the stove or in the microwave. Give it a good stir and refresh the flavors by adding a pinch of salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese!
To Freeze: This soup can be frozen easily, but the beans might not be as firm once it’s thawed. If that happens, add a fresh can of beans and reheat as per instructions above!
More Bean Soup Recipes
- Italian Bean Soup – budget-friendly
- Ham and Bean Soup {Crock Pot Version} – loaded with flavor
- Minestrone Soup– classic family favorite
- Pasta Fagioli Soup Recipe – an Italian favorite
- Ham Bone Soup (Slow Cooker) – an old fashioned favorite
Did you try this Cannellini Bean Soup? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Creamy Cannellini Soup
Ingredients
- 1 onion diced
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- 8 ounces Italian sausage
- 1 russet potato peeled and chopped
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 30 ounces canned cannellini beans 2 x 15 oz cans, drained and rinsed, divided
- 4 cups chicken broth divided
- 1 tablespoon pesto more to taste
Optional Garnish
- 1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese
- chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Combine onion, sausage, and celery in a large saucepan. Cook until sausage has no pink remaining. Drain any fat.
- Add potato, seasoning, one can of cannellini beans, and 3 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine remaining cannellini beans and 1 cup chicken broth in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Add to soup and simmer an additional 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in pesto. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with parmesan cheese and parsley if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Lunch, Soup
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I made this soup yesterday and even though I made some minor changes because I didn’t have the two cans of beans, it still turned out delicious. I substituted 3 cups of cauliflower that I charred in a pan and then finished cooking them in chicken broth. I puréed them in place of the second can of beans and they made the soup super creamy. The rest of your recipe I followed to a tee and it was such a delicious, hearty and comforting soup. It is definitely a keeper. Thank you for posting this recipe.
What type of Pesto, This ingredient will be new to me. Thank you
Any pesto you have should work just fine. Pesto will have a rich consistency from the oil and a herbaceous flavor from the basil and can be made many different ways but all will have a similar profile that will work in this soup. You can also make your own!
I am an English woman living in Spain and love receiving your recipes. I confess I make only a few of them but get great pleasure in just reading them. Some of the ingredients are new to me here but I can usually find a substitute. I am sure your recipes and advice bring pleasure to thousands, if not millions. Thank you for a daily dose of pleasure.
I’m so glad you’ve loved the recipes Mary, thank you for following along! If you ever get stuck on a substitution, please leave a comment on the recipe and I’ll see if I can offer some suggestions. Happy cooking!
The Cannelili Bean soup was excellent. When u added the pesto and Parmesan cheese it was more excellent. Will be my new favorite.
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Patti!
Would it taste okay without the pesto? I really, REALLY do not like pesto.
You can skip the pesto Beth. Let us know how it goes!
I made this for dinner tonight and served with crispy bread. It was SO good!
I made this soup today. It was delicious! I pretty much made it as written (which is unusual for me). But it sounded so good, I thought that I’d try it out. I did add a can of great northern beans in addition to the cannellini beans because I love beans. Perfection!
When you said creamy soup, you really meant it. And that’s what I love about this recipe. I even tried adding more to make it creamier and it still turned out great!
I stumbled across this recipe & had almost everything on hand. I invited my neighbor over for lunch today & this is what we had – it was absolutely delicious! I have to count carbs so I think next time I will leave the potato out but it was a cold day & this hearty soup just hit the spot! I am heating up the leftovers for dinner but added some roasted broccoli & green beans just to get some veggies in!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Karen!
This sounds great! What seasonings do you recommend adding if using ground beef instead of sausage?
I usually add Italian seasoning, a bit of garlic and onion powder and some fennel.
receipe needed for cream of potato soup
Take a look at Creamy Potato Soup Jean!
This soup is so tasty and easy to do. Don’t let the creamy part fool you if you are non-dairy. The cream comes from blended beans and stock. Oh so good. I will be making this one again and again especially this winter as we are hunkered down avoiding Covid.