This Tuscan White Bean Soup Recipe is packed with texture and flavor! Made in just one pot and ready in 30 minutes or less, this Tuscan soup is a restaurant quality dish you can easily make from the comfort of your own home!
*Updated*
This post was originally published in January 2015. I took new photos, tweaked the recipe slightly and updated the post below to include more information about this One Pot Tuscan Bean Soup. Plus, I added a recipe video to show you how easy this white bean soup is to make!
Hi, friends! What’s shaking?
I dunno what is going on with me recently, but I’m constantly exhausted… mind, body & soul. Maybe there is something in the air, or possibly it’s just all the cold weather, because it is not just me experiencing this fatigue.
Boy keeps complaining he is beat as well. You can probably imagine, as a couple, we are pretty gosh darn boring at the moment.
But, maybe we are just getting old.
Actually, I’m fairly certain that is what’s happening since I just found my first two gray hairs. (<– Ugh. Brutal truth)
Regardless, whenever I’m feeling tired and rundown (and just old), I always crave a big ‘ole bowl of hearty, warming soup. And, the soup I’m sharing today most definitely fits that bill!
In fact, this Tuscan bean soup is so dang delicious, Boy requests it every single winter season without fail.
Tuscan Bean Soup Recipe
While this soup didn’t give me everlasting energy (maybe I need a gobstopper), it definitely warmed my soul and happily filled my belly.
This soup is perfect for all this crazy cold weather.
It’s nice and light, filled with lots of protein, easy to prepare and comes together quickly.
This Tuscan bean soup is silky and velvety in texture from the touch of cream, and if you puree it, from the beans as well.
The diced and rendered bacon delivers salty, savory flavor and the addition of fresh rosemary provides earthy undertones.
The veggies add a depth of flavor and help you keep up with your healthy new year’s resolution, while the parmesan cheese adds that final touch of love and Je-ne-sais-quoi.
What is Tuscan bean soup?
Tuscan bean soup is a rustic bean soup in the style of Tuscany.
Tuscan bean soups are usually made up of cannellini beans, garlic, celery, carrots, onions and seasonings. While there are a ton of optional add-ins, such as kale, Italian sausage or potatoes, this Tuscan bean soup also features salty, crispy bacon for a touch of meaty richness.
What to serve with Tuscan soup?
What to serve with Tuscan soup?Tuscan bean soup is usually served with toasted, crusty Tuscan bread, however you can serve this soup with any type of artisan bread desired.
Looking to turn this soup into a more rounded meal? Here are some delicious serving options for Tuscan bean soup:
- Hearty salad – a kale based salad would be a delicious pairing!
- Grilled or sautéed Italian sausage
- Stuffed peppers or tomatoes
- Plenty of crusty bread – this soup tastes absolutely amazing if served in a bread bowl!
How to serve Tuscan White Bean Soup?
How to serve Tuscan White Bean Soup?There are three ways you can serve this soup, depending on your mood:
- Serve as is, chunky with the beans, bacon and veggies whole and left intact.
- Puree part of the soup to achieve a slightly more silky texture (this is what I did). There are two ways you can do this:
- Immersion blender right into the pot and carefully puree until desired silky: chunky ratio is achieved.
- Remove part of the soup with a ladle or measuring cup and puree with the immersion blender or place removed portion of soup into a standing blender. Stir removed portion back into the pot.
- Puree the entire soup, this will obviously yield the most silky, luscious texture. I did this to my left overs. Seriously good stuff.
Regardless of how you serve this soup – rustic, slightly pureed and chunky, or silky smooth – a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a heavy dusting of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano is highly recommended! 
No matter how you choose to serve this, or how old you feel, I can guarantee you will enjoy this soup and momentarily forget about whatever is ailing you.
Until next time, Cheers and Enjoy!
-xoxo-
Cheyanne
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How to make the best Tuscan White Bean Soup with bacon recipe plus step-by-step video👇
Tuscan White Bean Soup with Bacon
Ingredients
- 10 strips Bacon – diced
- 2 large Shallots – peeled & small dice (about 1 1/2 cup)
- 3 medium Carrot – peeled & small dice (about 3/4 cup)
- 3 medium Celery – small dice (about 3/4 cup)
- 4 small cloves Garlic – peeled & minced*
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes - more or less to taste
- ¾ tsp Kosher Salt
- heaping 1/4 tsp Pepper
- ½ cup White Wine
- 4 Cups Reduced sodium Chicken Stock (can substitute vegetable stock)
- 2 (14.5 oz) cans Cannellini Beans UNDRAINED (can substitute great northern beans)*
- 2 sprigs fresh Rosemary
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 Parmesan Cheese Rind
- ¼ - ½ Cup Heavy Cream (can substitute Half and Half)
- Salt and Pepper , to taste
- 1 TBS fresh Parsley leaves – chopped, or more to taste
- ½ Cup Parmigiano Reggiano , plus more for serving
Instructions
- Place a large stock pot over medium heat and add bacon. Cook until bacon is crisp and cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate, leaving bacon dripping in pan. Set aside.
- You want about 1 tablespoon of drippings in the pot, if you do not have enough fat, add extra virgin olive oil to pan until you have about 1 tablespoon of liquid (just eyeball this).
- Increase heat to medium high. Add shallots, carrot, and celery to pot. Cook, stirring frequently until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper; cook until aromatic, 30 seconds - 1 minute.
- Add white wine to deglaze pan, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until wine is reduced to 2 tablespoon, about 3-4 minutes
- Add the Chicken stock, beans with their liquid, rosemary sprigs, bay leaf and parmesan rind (if using).
- Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
- Use tongs to remove rosemary sprigs, bay leaf and parmesan rind. Add in the bacon, half and half*, chopped parsley leaves and grated parmesan. Taste and adjust for seasoning. *Use ½ Cup for a creamier, richer texture and taste
- Options To Finish:1. Serve As Is.
2. Use and Immersion blender to blend until desired consistency. I gently and carefully blended about ½ of the soup for a slightly creamy yet rustic soup.
3. Remove a couple ladlefuls of beans, puree remaining soup, add back in removed beans.
4. Remove, in batches, to a blender and puree until desired consistency. - To serve: Ladle soup into bread bowls and garnish with grated parmesan cheese.
Video
Notes
- If you have an aversion to garlic, you might want to cut the amount of garlic in half, or adjust the amount to your liking.
- DO NOT drain the beans! The liquid contains starch and helps thicken the soup. However, the liquid does contain sodium, so keep that in mind when adding salt to the soup!
Nutrition
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I look forward to making this, it looks delicious. And all the comments are very positive.
What is the serving size as I did not see that mentioned in the nutrition label. Thx
Hi Mary,
This recipe serves approximately 4 people. To get the precise serving size you would need to divide the prepared soup by 4. Cheers and thank you for stopping by! 🙂
I’ve made this soup over and over, never get tired of it. After blending it smooth I added chopped rotisserie chicken I’m thinking next time I might add a can of corn with the chicken! Love it, love it,love it!
Hi Diane,
I’m so thrilled to hear you love this soup!! Your addition of rotisserie chicken sounds delicious, and I love the idea of adding corn! I will have to try adding both of those next time I make this – thank you for the suggestion!! And, thank you so much for coming back and letting me know how everything went over! Cheers!
This might be the best soup ever. Seriously, this is a really lovely hearty soup. Deceptively simple, it comes out tasting like a five star offering. Rich and creamy, yet comfortingly rustic. It’s perfect as written, but I’m still excited to play around with it. Well done!!
Hi Christie,
I am beyond thrilled you enjoyed the soup!! I love hearing that you are going to play around with the recipe and make it your own! I’d love to hear about any substitutions or additions that turn out delicious! Cheers and thank you so very much for coming back and letting me know how everything went over! 🙂
Our town in California is “stay at home” mode, so I’m using it as an opportunity to try new recipes from my pantry. Lucky I had all these ingredients! This was a wonderful warming soup for our cold weather. It is great with sourdough toast which had a little melted parmesan broiled onto it. This is going in my “heirloom” recipes to keep forever!
This was awesome!! I did make a few modifications: I used acv instead of white whine, added roasted red peppers and jalapenos to it, and potato. I am making it now and will update!
Hi Kelley,
I’m thrilled you enjoyed the soup! Your modifications and additions sound absolutely delicious!! I’m going to have to try those next time I make this!! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know how everything went over! Cheers!
I love this soup! I add in a bit of cayenne pepper (in addition to the crushed red pepper). along with some smoked paprika. The parmesan rind is a must. I’ve made this in a slow cooker (7-8 hours on low) but prefer letting it simmer on the stove for several hours.
This recipe is very adaptable too – add corn, quinoa, riced cauliflower or italian sausage…it’s delicious! If you are out of white wine you can also sub a light style beer. I like to top it with homemade croutons or dip in a crispy baguette with butter. Thank you for the great recipe!!
Hi!
I’m absolutely thrilled you loved this soup!! Your additions and adaptations sound delicious – I can’t wait to try some of them myself! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know how everything went over and for sharing your suggestions! Cheers!
This looks delicious! Thanks for sharing.
One of my favorite soups now. I have made this several times already. Love love love. I pureed half of soup then mixed it in with the rest.
I followed the recipe except I didn’t use the cheese rind since I didn’t have one. Something is off about the combination of spices. Even my husband thought so.
Hi Sunshine,
I’m sorry to hear you and your husband thought something was off about the combination of spices. Did you use a good quality white wine (one you would actually drink yourself or serve to guests) and a reliable brand of white beans? Using quality ingredients can make a huge difference in the end result of the dish. Also, the parmesan cheese rind serves to both soften and infuse flavor into the soup… it isn’t really the same soup if you leave it out. Cheers and thank you for your feedback!
What is the serving size for this soup?
Hi Celes,
This soup comfortably serves 4 (and the nutritional information is an approximation assuming 4 servings). To get the exact serving size you would need to divide the total amount (cups) of the prepared soup by 4.
Cheers and thank you so much for stopping by!
How much weight is the bacon?
Ten strips of thick cut bacon is 1 lb. is this recipe for 1lb of bacon?
Hi Susan,
You can certainly use whatever variety of bacon you would like. However, I did not use thick cut bacon. I used center cut bacon (regular-sliced) and 10 slices weighed a little more than 1/2 a pound.
Cheers!
Soup was good but too much red pepper very spicy would cut back to just a pinch. Added more cream and cheese to take the heat down a bit also a TBS of ACV to tone it down, it has good flavor profile and served with crusty bread and home churned butter it hits the spot on this cold rainy day!
Hi, I’m new to your site. Can this be made in a slow cooker?
Hi Rekea,
That’s a great idea and I’m sure this recipe could be adapted and modified for the slow cooker. However, I have only made this according to the instructions in the recipe. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
Cheers and Happy New Year!
excellent. I loosely follow recipes. this one was one to come back to!
This has nothing to do with your recipe, which I will try…however, I was also exhausted all the time….my vitamin D was very low. Have yours checked, quite possibly that’s your problem. I wish you well!
So good. So so good. I used bulk Italian sausage instead of bacon and added kale, puréed 1/2 the liquid and veggies–sooooo good. I confess I did drain the beans because that liquid grosses me out. The soup is still thick enough for my liking 🙂
So good, my teenagers love them a lot – none left！
Hi Marira,
I’m thrilled your family enjoyed this soup! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know how it went over! Cheers!
No way your calorie count is correct. Beans and bacon alone get you to 1200 for the recipient… plus cream, cheese….. yummy though!
Hi Vassos,
Thank you for catching that! I use a nutrition calculator and you are correct, there was a glitch! However, the calorie count isn’t nearly as high as you thought. I fixed the information on the recipe card. Cheers!
This recipe is amazing, thank you!
Hi Annelise,
I’m thrilled you loved this soup!!! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know how it went over! Cheers!
Made this last night. It was perfect for a NH winter evening. Paired it with a Caprese salad and warm Ciabatta. Felt like we were back in Tuscany! I had a few links of Italian sausage I needed to use so I subbed that, browned and crumbled, for the bacon, otherwise followed the recipe. I love greens, so next time I might add some garlic sauteed Tuscan kale. We’ve added this to our “keepers” list. Thanks for the idea!
Hi Fred,
I’m thrilled you loved this soup! Your substitution of sausage links and your pairings sound absolutely delicious!!! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know how it went over! Cheers!
I feel you on being tired…I feel the same way! I’m convinced it’s the cold weather and not age….because I have given up on counting my gray hairs LOL. Anyways, this soup looks like a great way to combat that cold. SO many awesome flavors!
This soup is one that I could dive right in and warm up instantly! What a hearty and healthy soup for these colder days!
This would hit the spot here today Chey! I’m freezing my buns off! So cozy and so incredibly hearty. Just the way I like my soups! Love the video!
It’s been freezing here lately–literally–and all I want to eat is soup. This sounds so cozy and warming! But I’m sorry about those gray hairs. It’s so not fun! Have a great week, Chey!
This looks absolutely amazing. Can’t wait to make it. Oh and I can assure you, most of us “old folk” are not Walking Dead watchers.
Thank you, Kellie! I hope you do try this soup and love it as much as we did!
My mother is a walking dead fan, but in no way is she an “old folk” 😉
Cheers to a beautiful day!
Hello Cheyanne,
I made your soup this weekend for a party and it lasted all of 3.2 seconds. Lots of OMG this is fantastic! and MORE!, pleases. Definitely keeping this one. No bread bowls about us so I served it in a bowl with a bit of grilled baguette drizzled with olive oil and a glass (OK, bottles) of Barbera…we were in heaven. Thank you!
One note: I had drained the beans per the ingredient list and habit then saw that I was to add the beans with their juice. To make up for the lost thickening I just added some white wine mixed with corn starch.
Tim, I’m overjoyed you loved the soup and so did your guests! Nothing makes my day more than hearing that! Your make shift thickening agent is a perfect example of thinking on your toes, and I would have done the same exact thing! Great minds 😉 Wine is an excellent pairing with this soup… it should be required (if you are 21 and up). Thank you so much for the kind words and stopping by to let me know how the soup turned out. Cheers!!
Hi Chayanne
This recipe looks so delicious! Love bean soups. This has such yummy ingredients! I love your blog. I’m so glad I found you on Instagram today.
On another note: Take it from someone who knows– old age is COOL! At least, I’ve never heard anyone come back and say how great the alternative is. 🙂 And, chuckle, chuckle. For me, t just takes a spiritual “attitude check” from time to time. 🙂
Angela (aka AngieBsCakes)
Angela, thank you so much for stopping by! I’m glad we found each other on Instagram too.. always nice to have a new fellow foodie friend! You know the good thing I have found about old age? Naps are now cool and not looked down upon 😉 cheers, to getting better with age!