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This hearty white bean and kale soup is packed with veggies and filling. It warms you up, is full of flavor, and is low in calories, too.
It's also full of plant-based protein. Check all my
This is the soup season, although this delicious recipe is one of my favorites all year round. It's loaded with vegetables and beans with a rich, flavorsome broth, and I seriously could eat it every day!
Plus, each serving comes with less than 200 calories!
Start with onion, carrots, and celery sautéed in olive oil, and take your time to build this important flavor base. Then add aromatic garlic, oregano, paprika, and the rest of the ingredients.
Cook and let the flavors mingle together, and you'll be rewarded with a pot of steaming white bean kale soup that is warm, filling, and has a bold flavor that stands up on its own.
It's absolutely delicious with , , , or for dipping. We usually top it with some (always ready in my freezer!) or grated parmesan.
It's so good and healthy you won't feel guilty going back for seconds or thirds.
What ingredients you need
- White beans (Cannellini, Great Northern beans)
- (I used this )
- Kale (or spinach, collard greens, or Swiss chard)
- Onion, carrots, celery (
- Green beans (or the same amount of carrots)
- Tomato paste
- & paprika
- Bay leaves
- Broth or water
- Salt & pepper
How to make this bean and kale soup
(Note: the full recipe is at the bottom of the page)
- Sauté diced onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil.
- Stir in garlic, paprika, oregano.
- Add the rest of the ingredients except the kale.
- Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
- Add the kale and cook for a further 3-4 minutes
- Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve!
Recipe Notes
White bean and kale soup variations
This recipe is brilliant for using leftover veggies. You can make your own adjustments if you happen to have some ingredients on hand and need to use them up.
- Leafy greens: You can swap spinach, collard, or Swiss chard for kale.
- Green beans: Instead of green beans, a handful of mushrooms, one medium-sized zucchini, or an extra carrot would also work.
- Legumes: chickpeas and black beans instead of white beans work just fine.
- Canned tomatoes: diced or crushed tomatoes and tomato passata are all good.
- Broth: both low-sodium vegetable broth and even chicken broth work well in the recipe; however, to keep the calories down, you might want to use just hot water.
Recipe Update: originally posted in January 2021, the recipe has been updated.
More recipes featuring beans
Beans have been my staples for years, they provide a multitude of and make me save plenty of money, too. Here are some of my favorite bean recipes:
- , also known as pasta fazools
- , rated 5 stars
- bolognese-style
- , with lemon mustard dressing
- a collection of yummy recipes
- full of herb and lemon flavor
- , so delicious!
More low-calorie soups
Healthy and satisfying soups are also the perfect meal if you watch out your calorie intake. Have a look at the following low-calorie delicious soup recipes:
- , under 200 calories
- , light and flavorsome
- , spicy and rich
- , creamy and tasty
- , one of my reader's favorites
If you make this white bean and kale soup recipe, or if you have any questions, let me know! Leave a comment, send me a message, or rate it.
I would love to hear from you!
White Bean and Kale Soup
This hearty white bean and kale soup is chock full of veggies and filling. It's the kind of soup that warms you up, packed with flavor, health benefits and low calories, too. Quantities yield: 4 medium-sized servings (about 1 ½ cup each) or 6 smaller servings.
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium-sized onion, diced
- 2 (7oz/200 grams) large carrots, diced (chunks or slices are fine)
- 2 (4 oz/120 grams) large celery sticks, diced (chunks or slices are fine)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon oregano (or Italian herb seasoning)
- 1 cup (4oz/110 grams) green beans, trimmed and cut into chunks
- 1 can (14oz) white beans, drained
- 1 can (14oz) canned tomatoes
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 cups (720 ml) water or low-sodium vegetable broth (see notes)
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ bunch (3oz/80 grams) lacinato kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
- fine salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot or saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery and cook the vegetable slowly until they soften, for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
- The add garlic, oregano, paprika and cook for about 45-60 secs or until the garlic is fragrant.
- Stir in beans, canned tomatoes, green beans, tomato paste, bay leaves, broth or water. Bring to the boil, than reduce to medium heat, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
- Then stir in the kale and continue to simmer until the kale is cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the kale is tender but still bright green. If you stir in spinach or swiss chard instead of kale, the cooking time will be about 2 minutes.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning according to your taste (I usually add about ⅓ teaspoon of fine salt).
- Divide into 4 bowls and serve with a drizzle of olive oil, freshly grated black pepper and crusty bread. I like this soup even more the next day. Leftovers keep well, covered and refrigerated, for about 3-4 days. The soup freezes well, too.
- Storage instructions: keep in the fridge, stored in an airtight container, for up to 3-4 days.
- Freezable: divide among airtight containers (leaving 1-inch space at the top), and freeze up to 2 months.
- I either make my own vegetable broth cooking vegetable scraps and herbs or I use hot water and vegan low sodium vegetable broth cubes. However, If you mind the calories I would reccomend you to use hot water.
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