This Creamy Broccoli & White Bean Soup is rich and luxurious, yet made without a drop of cream. Topped with soft ricotta, zesty lemon, fresh dill and crunchy pine nuts this soup is light and healthy, but doesn’t skimp on flavor!
Heeey-yo, friends! Happy Monday!??
The verdict is still out as to whether Mondays can ever really be ‘happy’. But, I’m going to keep things positive and just go with it.
So, HAPPY MONDAY!
Okay, not to be cliché or boring, but can we PLEASE talk about the weather?
What the chuck is going on with Mother Nature?!
Seriously, is it cold as a cast iron commode where you are at?
We actually got a SNOW yesterday… and legit, three days prior, it was bathing suit weather. Well, maybe not MY bathing suit weather, but if you are from the north I’m pretty sure YOU would have got in a bathing suit.
Just to state the obvious, we are exactly ONE WEEK from the official start of spring.
Can someone please alert Mother Earth that she needs to get her dang act together? I’m talking, birds chirping, flowers blossoming, butterflies fluttering, the warm sun shining… STAT.
Anyways, since the weather is crazy as a bullbat, and I’m not sure if I should be posting hearty soups or colorful salads, we are going to make something that is the best of BOTH worlds.
Hearty, yet healthy.
Cozy, yet light.
Winter, yet Spring… ish.
AAAAAAND, vegetarian for the #MeatlessMonday win. Holla!
Creamy Broccoli & White Bean Soup with Lemon & Ricotta
AKA a cozy soup that will give you ALL the happy spring feels.
Which also happens to be SEVEN ingredients (10 if you count the toppings) AND 30 minutes or less, from prep to finish!
And, my favorite part of this soup – it’s SUPER creamy, but made WITHOUT a drop of heavy cream.
Hello healthy, heavenly eats!
This soup is a silky, creamy, luscious mix of broccoli and white beans, flavored with dry white wine, onion-y leeks, pungent garlic and tart lemon. Finished with a generous dollop of cheesy, rich ricotta; a scatter of salty, crunchy pine nuts and a sprinkle of herbaceous, fresh dill, this soup is light and healthy, yet LOADED with feel good flavors.
How to Make Broccoli & White Bean Soup:
First you will heat a splash of oil in a medium pot until shimmering. Add in your sliced leeks, season generously with salt and pepper, and cook until softened.
Toss in the garlic, let it cook until fragrant, and then pour in the wine, stopping to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot (those browned bits equal FLAVOR).
Let the wine cook until it is almost all evaporated and then add in the chopped broccoli, stock and beans. Bring everything to a simmer, reduce the heat and cook until the broccoli is fork tender.
Stir in the lemon juice and zest, then taste and adjust for seasoning.
Puree the soup using a handheld, or stand blender, and transfer to serving bowls.
Garnish with heaping spoonfuls of ricotta and sprinkle with pine nuts and dill.
BOOM. Soup’s on!
Recipe Notes, Tips & Tricks for Broccoli & White Bean Soup:
- Make sure you rinse your leek THOROUGHLY. Leeks have a lot of dirt, or grit, trapped in their stalk, so make sure you rinse them well. I like to cut mine in half, lengthwise and then rinse them gently under cold water. The dark green tops of leeks are really tough and not suitable for this soup, so you will be discarding them. However, the dark green tops are great for using in homemade stocks! (Put the dark green tops in a Ziploc and store them in the freezer)
- The recipe below calls for white wine, I used a dry chardonnay, but you can use any white wine you would like.
- If you have an immersion blender, it makes for easier clean-up for this recipe. However, you can transfer the soup, in batches, to a stand blender and puree. You will want to return the pureed soup to the pot and place it over medium heat to warm.
- Toasted pine nuts in this recipe is optional, but if you have the time, toasting pine nuts really brings out their flavor. To toast pine nuts, simply place them in a dry skillet over medium-low heat and cook, stirring frequently, until golden in color and fragrant.
Cozy enough for the cold-weather, and light enough for spring, this Creamy Broccoli & White Bean Soup is perfect for your table, regardless of the temperature outside.
Until Thursday friends, cheers – to soups that hit the spot.
XOXO
Cheyanne
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Creamy Broccoli & White Bean Soup Recipe👇
Creamy Broccoli & White Bean Soup with Lemon & Ricotta
Ingredients
- 2 TBS Olive Oil (or unsalted butter)
- 1 Leek , white and light green parts only – thoroughly rinsed, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 2 cloves Garlic – minced
- ¼ Cup White Wine
- 1 large head Broccoli (1 pound) – florets and stems, roughly chopped
- 3 ¼ Cups Vegetable Stock
- 1 (15 ounce) can of Cannellini Beans – rinsed and drained
- 1 Lemon – zest of ½ and juice of the entire lemon (about 2 tablespoon juice and ½ tsp zest)
- Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Optional Garnishes:
- ½ Cup Ricotta
- 1 TBS Pine Nuts , toasted
- 1 TBS Fresh Dill , roughly chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium soup pot until shimmering over medium heat. Add the leek, season generously with salt and pepper, and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds - 1 minute. Add the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until most of the wine is evaporated, about 2 minutes.
- Add the broccoli, stock and beans and increase heat to bring mixture to a simmer. Immediately reduce heat to maintain a simmer, and cook for 12-15 minutes, or until broccoli is fork tender. Stir in the lemon juice and zest. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, or transfer the soup to a blender (in batches) and puree until smooth. If you used a blender to puree the soup, return the soup to the pot, over medium heat and cook until warm.
- To serve: Ladle soup into bowls and top each with a spoonful of ricotta, pine nuts and fresh dill. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Made this today. Comforting but light, scrummy. I used dried white beans so soaked overnight and cooked for 20 minutes before adding to the other ingredients. Didn’t have ricotta in so topped with a sprinkling of cheddar and toasted pine nuts. Definitely a favourite.
We got totally CLOBBERED with the blizzard, and I sure could have used a bowl of this deliciousness! And by the way, is there anything better than soups that taste like cream but with no cream? A KITCHEN MIRACLE. Stay warm, my friend – spring WILL come. xo
Girlfriend, I have zero idea what the chuck is up with this weather. That snow was a surprise and we’ve had to cover our blooming roses with sheets almost every night! I wish I had some of this amazing soup for these cold days and nights!
This soup looks absolutely delicious! Love cooking with leeks. Can’t wait to try it!
Oh man, I LOVE lemon in a soup. You know that Greek chicken and egg lemon soup? It’s one of my favorites but your lighter and healthier vegetarian soup is going to be my new favorite. I need to make it for dinner tonight because we have about a foot of snow and this would be so warm and comforting. Keep warm my friend 😉
Broccoli + white bean + lemon = Soup? Woah! This soup looks so dreamy creamy and comfy, Cheyanne. It’s snowing here and I am so craving this deliciousness. I want that green beauty in my life. Will try it soon. 🙂
Hi Cheyanne! This soup sounds heavenly! I love that you’ve used white beans. I’ll be that makes it extra creamy and extra healthy! My family loves broccoli soup and I need to make this one for them!
Thanks! 🙂
Yum yum yum!!!! This looks sooo beautiful! Broccoli soup is my favourite, and I love your addition of white beans! Such a great idea. I can’t wait to try your delicious recipe! <3
Ugh seriously the weather is nuts!! All this back and forth is driving me mad! But this soup?? Definitely making me happy! I loveeee soup and this sounds sooo good!! We just got back from our trip to Arizona and caught some kind of bug … so all I am craving is soup! Pass me a big bowl!
How I wish I had a steaming bowl of this creamy and delicious bowl of broccoli soup in front of me – RIGHT NOW. Because we are getting two FEET of snow today. Yep, you read that right. TWO FEET! So we are hunkered down inside and I’m wishing I had this soup in my soup bowl. I don’t like to think about that cast iron commode you mentioned. It might be ok if it were located next to my pellet stove, depiste the lack of privacy. But if it were in the outhouse? I have visions of “A Christmas Story” and the flag pole incident. Just sayin’! Cheers to a wonderful week my sweet friend! XO
Yay!!! More Green Food! Keep it coming to Cheyanne. I’m always a big fan of broccoli soup, and I’ve been obsessed with white bean lately, don’t ask me why but I’ve been roasting them and I can’t get them down my gullet fast enough. So a Creamy Broccoli & White Bean Soup with Lemon and Ricotta is blowing my little mind. I decided to take an impromptu trip to Baltimore to visit some friends, it’s 30 degrees, and now I’m snowed in, my flight was canceled yesterday, and I’m praying I’m going to able to leave tomorrow. This weather is crazy, especially since it’s 70+ degrees in California right now. I just want to be home in some warm weather. I might make this soup when I get home, shoot I should make this soup while I’m snowed in right now. Hurry up spring!
I’m loving the color of this soup and how you’ve used white beans to make it creamy, Chey! Delicious ingredients – with a bit of ricotta and pine nuts – perfection! I bet the snowww was SO pretty! Rob and I actually drove to the mountains this weekend to play in the snow. It’ll stop falling soon, so we thought we’d enjoy it while it’s still around. And while it’s warming up here in the lowlands, our spring bulbs are pushing through the ground! They’re so pretty! Before you know it, we’ll all be complaining about the heat! LOL!
such a pretty soup and looks so comforting!
I know Chey! We’ve got 8-12 inches heading our way tomorrow! Like what the?? I love this soup! Perfect comfort food for the cold weather! I love the addition of the white beans, lemon and ricotta! Can’t wait to try!
Amen to Spring! I’m so over winter and need a big bowl of the delicious soup! Broccoli soup is always a favorite and I love the lemon and ricotta! Take care!
i see lemon + ricotta and automatically think of pancakes (probably bc they keep popping up in the blog world!), but this sounds like a tasty way to use that combo (: and i feel like soup doesn’t always keep me full if i try to have it as a meal, so i like the addition of beans!