This Italian Kale Soup with White Beans recipe is bursting with bold Mediterranean flavors! Healthy and filling, it’s ready in just 30 minutes.
Need a healthy soup recipe that everyone will love? try that Kale and White Bean Soup! Hearty Tuscan kale, kidney beans and collard greens swim in a flavorful broth flavored with oregano and fennel. It’s like combining all of our favorite soup recipes in one bowl: comforting and full of bold Mediterranean-style flavors. It comes together in just 30 minutes and forms a giant pot that’s great for leftovers. Really, it ticks all of our boxes! Healthy, easy and irresistibly delicious.
Ingredients for this kale soup recipe
This kale soup packs flavor well beyond its quick prep time! Sip a spoonful and you’ll be surprised by the hint of sour taste.
- Kale: You can use Tuscan or Curly, but we prefer Tuscan (see below).
- Onion
- carrot
- olive oil
- Canned tomatoes roasted over fire
- vegetable soup
- Canned or cooked white beans: Cannellini, Great Northern, Marinade, Butter or other
- Spices: fennel seeds, oregano, smoked paprika
Use Tuscan cabbage, but Curly Works
There are a few main types of kale that you can find at the grocery store. We love the Tuscan cabbage in this kale soup because it has the mildest flavor and is Italian in origin, which matches the Mediterranean flavor of this soup. Here are the different types of kale you will see:
- Tuscan cabbage has dark green flat leaves and a mild taste. It is also sometimes called lacinato or dinosaur kale. It is widely used in Italian dishes such as Tuscan kale salad or Tuscan vegetable stew (ribollita).
- Kale is a lighter green and very curly. The taste is bitter and spicy, which is why we usually prefer Tuscan cabbage.
- baby kale is kale that is harvested before it is ripe and sold in crates at grocery stores and farmers markets. Kale has a very mild flavor and is more tender than regular kale, so you don’t have to cook it as long.
Why look for Fire Roasted Tomatoes?
Another taste secret for this kale soup? Roasted Tomatoes. If you’ve been reading for a few years, you know that we often use this variety of tomato in our recipes because it imparts an enormously sweet taste, especially in soups and sauces. Here’s the downlow on Fire Roasted Tomatoes:
- Roasted Tomatoes are a type of canned tomatoes that are roasted over a flame before canning. They are sold by a variety of brands, and you can find them in the canned tomato section of your local grocery store.
- Fire roasted tomatoes taste sweet straight out of the can instead of being bitter like other canned tomatoes. That means you can make them in less time, which is always a plus in our book!
- Can’t find them? Just use the highest quality canned tomatoes you can find. You can also add a pinch of smoked paprika powder and a pinch of sugar to round out the flavor.
What to serve with kale soup
Wanna make a meal out of this? This kale soup is an easy 30 minute meal, perfect as an easy dinner idea or a healthy lunch. Here are some ways to outfit it for a quick meal:
storage information
This kale soup keeps very well! Once prepared, you can store it in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. The taste will get better over time!
healthier soups
We want cozy and comforting soups: anytime, anywhere! Here are some of our favorite healthy soup recipes:
This kale soup recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
The description
This Italian Kale Soup with White Beans recipe is bursting with bold Mediterranean flavors! Healthy and filling, it’s ready in just 30 minutes.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tbsp salted butter (or olive oil)
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
- 2 28 oz Cans Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes*
- 4 cups vegetable soup
- 2 15-ounce cans white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1½ teaspoons dried fennel seeds, crushed with your fingers, divided
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, shared
- 2 Bundles of Tuscan cabbage (or 1 large bunch of kale), chopped
- Grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano for serving, optional
- Cook onion and carrot as above.
- In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and butter (or all of the olive oil) over medium-high heat. Add onion and carrot and sauté 5-7 minutes until soft.
- Add diced tomatoes, vegetable broth and beans. Bring to a boil, then add 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds along with dried oregano, smoked paprika, and kosher salt. Simmer for 12 minutes. (Meanwhile, chop the kale.)
- Add the kale and simmer for another 2-3 minutes until the kale is tender. Add the additional ½ teaspoon of crushed fennel seeds. Try a chilled scoop and add up to ½ teaspoon additional Kosher salt (depending on the salinity of your broth and beans) until flavor comes through.
- Serve immediately with grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano. Store refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Remarks
*If you can’t find fire roasted tomatoes, use the best canned tomatoes you can find. Add another ½ teaspoon smoked paprika powder and 1 teaspoon sugar, honey, or maple syrup to round out the flavor.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Cook
- Kitchen: Soup
- Diet: vegetarian
Keywords: Kale Soup, Kale Soup Recipe, Kale Soup with White Beans
