One Pot Cannellini Bean Soup (Kid-Friendly)
This one pot cannellini bean soup is one of those cozy, no-stress meals we keep coming back to—simple to make, but full of comforting flavor that really hits the spot on a cold fall or winter night. Even better, it comes together in 28 minutes or less thanks to canned beans and frozen veggies. Picky eaters also tend to love this recipe because many of the veggies are blended right into the soup, and they can make it their own with fun toppings, favorite sides, or by helping blend and prep along the way.
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We are all about comfort food, especially belly-warming soups! If you love Italian soups as much as we do, be sure to check out our Italian Wedding Soup and Italian Sausage Soup with Orzo for more inspiration! Or, if you’re looking for another bean-based soup, try our Taco Soup with Ranch!
Why We Love this Cannellini Bean Soup
- Easy to make. Ingredients are simple, inexpensive and accessible and there are no complicated steps. Like all of our recipes, our
cannellini bean soup recipe can be made in 28 minutes or less! - One pot is all you need (plus a Vitamix/blender).
- Vegetarian & gluten free!
- Super customizable! Make it vegan, make it meaty, or just use different veggies.
- Family-friendly! My kids loved this white bean soup recipe, and I ate it all week without getting tired of it! I think I developed an addiction!
🛒 Ingredients
You can find all of these ingredients easily at the store, for fairly cheap. And you might already have some in your pantry.
Notes on Ingredients (full ingredient list available in recipe card):
Beans: We used canned white cannellini beans, but any bean is fine (white kidney, Great Northern or navy beans).
Veggies: Go with what you like! This white bean soup recipe is very flexible. Frozen, canned…it doesn’t matter. Just make sure, if you add in a harder veggie, that you allow enough time to soften.
Vinegar: An amazing tip I learned from The Food Lab, J. Kenji López-Alt, is to add something acidic to the soup at the very end of cooking (p.204). This was the missing link for me! Sherry vinegar, red wine vinegar and lemon juice all work.
Vegetable base: I’m totally not getting paid by the company, but I can’t help but always suggest my fave Better than Bouillon brand for broth/stock. It’s condensed so it goes a long way, takes up very little space in the fridge, and is better for the environment (less bulky, recyclable). Pro-tip: buy the low-sodium version if available.
👩🍳 How to Make this Cannellini Bean Soup
Step 1: Cook onion and garlic.
Step 2: Add broth, veggies and seasonings and bring to boil.
Step 3: Add beans and simmer.
Step 4: Puree 3 scoops of soup and pour into pot.
Step 5: Stir in spinach and vinegar and top with cheese!
🥄 Kids Step: These awesome kids’ knives are great for cutting the onion. If your kids wear swim goggles, the onion won’t make their eyes tear up. Also, trust your kid to use the blender. Even if it’s just pushing the buttons, they will feel very involved and accomplished.
Looking for more age-appropriate kitchen tasks? See our full guide here.
✔️Expert Tips and Tricks
- Use the puree method to thicken your soup, as described in The Food Lab, by J. Kenji López-Alt. You just take a couple scoops of the soup out of the pot, puree it in a Vitamix or blender, and then stir it back into the soup (p.203).
- Some ingredient swaps: spinach can be replaced with kale, almost any white bean will work, and sherry vinegar can be swapped with lemon juice or red wine vinegar.
- Stir the
cannellini bean soup as it simmers. If you slightly smash the beans as you stir, the beans will breakdown faster and help thicken the soup. - Put a lid on your pot to speed up the boiling process. Simmer the
cannellini bean soup as long as you like, to get the veggie softness and soup consistency just how you like it.
🍞Side Suggestions
If you want to round out the meal, here are some delicious sides to consider:
- Garlic bread! Pepperidge Farm Garlic Bread is my forever favorite. Just make sure you pre-heat your oven as you start to cook.
- Simple buttered toast, Texas toast, Pillsbury Crescents, or Pillsbury Grands
- Oyster crackers on top of the soup
- Side salad
- Any easily steamed veggie (broccoli, green beans, etc.)
- Potato sides, like our simple Microwave Baked Potatoes
❓FAQ
If you see a can of “white kidney beans,” that’s the same as cannellini beans. If you can’t find either, Great Northern beans or navy beans will work just fine.
We like the puree method, which I discovered from my always go-to book, The Food Lab, by J. Kenji López-Alt. You just take a couple scoops of the soup out of the pot, puree it in a Vitamix or blender, and then stir it back into the soup (p.203). Other thickening techniques: (1) Run an immersion blender briefly in the soup. (2) Mash some of the beans against the side of the pot. (3) Add potatoes. (4) Add cream or a non-dairy milk towards the end of cooking.
🧊 Storage
Store-Store this one pot
Reheat– If frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
🧂Customize this White Bean Soup
Make it vegan and dairy free! Eliminate the cheese and add in a couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast.
Make it meaty! The vegetable base can be switched out with chicken or beef base, and you can easily add in sausage or bacon.
Change the veggies! Almost any veggie will work in this
Tips for Picky Eaters
- Kids pick the veggies! Most veggies will work in this
cannellini bean soup, so long as they don’t take an epic amount of time to cook. Softer veggies work best. - Ice cubes to the rescue! My kids are always overly dramatic about food being too hot. Lol. If your kids are the same, let them drop 1-2 ice cubes in the soup and stir them around.
- Side dish is key! The garlic bread really eased my kids into eating the soup. I highly recommend a bread-y side.
Craft For This Recipe
DIY Pencil Holders
Need a craft to keep kids busy while you cook? We’ve got you! While you’re making our White Bean Soup, kids can transform empty bean cans into these adorable DIY Pencil Holders! Add some colorful yarn, and you’ll have the jazziest desktop in the office!
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🥣 One Pot Cannellini Bean Soup (Kid-Friendly)
Equipment
- Vitamix or blender
Ingredients
- 1-2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 16 ounce chopped tomatoes, canned ((or 2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped))
- 16 ounce bag of frozen veggie mix ((i.e. carrots, corn, peas, green beans, lima beans))
- 1 Teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon black pepper
- 45 ounce cannellini beans, canned with the liquid ((3 x 15oz cans))
- 3 handfuls spinach
- 1 Teaspoon sherry vinegar
- 1+ cup shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in large pot on low-medium. Once heated, add onion and garlic. Cook for 3 mins, stirring frequently.
- Add broth, tomatoes, frozen veggies, and seasonings. Bring to boil.
- Once boiling, turn heat to low, add beans, and simmer for 3 mins.
- Scoop 3 cups of the soup from the pot and put in blender/Vitamix. Blend until pureed (like 15 seconds), return the puree to the soup and stir.
- Add in spinach and sherry vinegar. Cook until spinach has shrunk down (less than 1 minute). Remove from heat. Serve in bowls, with shredded parmesan on top.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
