This smokey white bean and vegetable soup is warming and nourishing and perfect for a cold winter day. It get’s a slight smokiness from smoked paprika and warmth from cumin and turmeric. It’s easy to make, uses regular pantry items that you likely already keep on hand, tastes even better the next day and freezes very well making it the perfect weeknight meal or meal prep recipe. Try it in your meal plan this week.

I’ve used leeks but you could easily use the same amount of onion or shallot in it’s place. I wrote this up with carrots and spinach because it’s what I had on hand when I was making it this time around, but you could also use sweet potatoes, squash or beets in place of or in addition to carrots, and chard, kale or a mix of dark leafy greens in place of or in addition to the spinach.

I cooked the cannellini beans ahead of time and you can do the same or use pre-cooked cannellini or any other small white bean in it’s place. Look for beans stored in glass jars or BPA free cans if jars aren’t available to you. Just make sure to rinse them really well.

If you’re in Italy, some gastronomie also sell plain pre-cooked beans, my mother in law buys hers that way in Tuscany, so look for those in your region, as an alternative to the canned variety.

This soup freezes well, and tastes even better made in advance as the flavours have more time to infuse the broth. Feel free to make it in the morning or the night before you want to serve it and go ahead and double or triple the recipe to freeze it for another time. That’s just one of the many meal planning and preparation hacks you’ll find in my free guide. Be sure to get your free digital copy here.

Smokey White Bean & Vegetable Soup

Author Nissrine Boufawaz @ HolisticNiss.com

Time 30 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Servings 4
Diet vegan, gluten free
Category Soup, Stew

Ingredients:

400g Cooked White/Cannellini Beans (about 2.5 cups)
1 Leek, white and light green parts only (about half a cup)
3 Medium Carrots, sliced diagonally
4 Cups Filtere Water
1 Tsp Sea Salt
1 Tsp Thyme
1/2 Tsp Smoked Paprika (you could also use sweet paprika if you're not into smoke, or up to 1 tsp if you want it extra smokey)
1/4 Tsp Cumin
1/4 Tsp Turmeric
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste
Fresh Baby Spinach or other dark leafy green, to serve (1 large handful per serving)*

Method:

Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, chopped leeks, carrots and sea salt to a stock pot and sautée until leeks are wilted
Add filtered water and bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low, add smoked paprika, cumin, turmeric and fresh ground black pepper, stir then cover and simmer until carrots are tender, abut 15 minutes
Add cooked white/cannellini beans and thyme and let simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
To serve, add a large handful of baby spinach to a bowl and pour the hot soup over top, then stir. Alternatively, if you think you're going to get through the entire pot in one meal,feel free to toss all of the spinach in the pot after the soup has finished cooking and give it a good stir. The heat will wilt the spinach without destroying it's delicate nutrients.
Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and serve.

*note, if you're using heartier greens like kale or swiss chard, you'll want them to cook a bit, so toss them into the soup in the last 5-7 minutes of cooking time. Alternatively, you can just steam them or blanch them and toss them into the bowl of soup when you're ready to serve.