Creamy Cozy Kale White Bean Soup (EASY & Vegan).

Creamy.

Cozy.

HEALTHY.

I mean, I get it–we’re all ready to move onto spring, but this kale white bean soup is so good, so delicious, and so easy, that whether or not we’re technically exiting soup season doesn’t really matter, it’s great and a delicious recipe year-round. I love hearty soups and this cozy soup is now one of my favorite soup recipes. It’s got loads of flavor, is so healthy (check out the oil-free option!), and is a great option for meal-prep (just make a whole bunch!). I made it last week and this creamy white bean soup was the definition of comfort food–I love it when a soup serves as a wholesome meal in and of itself!

So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links for products I use and love. If you make a purchase after clicking one of those links, I may earn a small affiliate commission, perhaps enough to buy some extra gochujang or gochugaru 🙂

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What Is kale white bean soup?

Like all the best foods, kale white bean soup finds its origin in peasant cooking, particularly in Mediterranean cuisine. In Italy–specifically in the Tuscan region (hence the oft-popular “Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup”)–the prevalence of lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale or Tuscan kale) and cannellini beans paved the way for zuppa di cavolo nero e fagioli bianchi, which literally translates into “soup of black cabbage and white beans.”

This creamy soup is now going to be a new staple of your recipe library. Crammed with tender kale, creamy white beans, gold potatoes, this creamy kale white bean soup will satisfy picky eaters and meat eaters alike–even though this recipe is one of my favorite plant-based soups. Yes, this kale white bean soup recipe is entirely vegan, which means it’s cholesterol free. But it’s still packed with protein, antioxidants, fiber, and flavor, making this kale soup recipe an absolute go-to for a healthy weeknight meal.

Why You’ll Love This Kale White Bean Soup.

How much do I love the kale white bean soup? Let me count the ways!! You are going to love this kale white bean soup because it is:

• DELICIOUS
• HEALTHY
• EASY
• BEAUTIFUL
• CREAMY
• VERSATILE

I mean, I could go on, but then this blog post on white bean kale soup would be too long?

I think probably my favorite thing about this kale white bean soup is how it tastes better the next day. In fact, traditionally speaking, the soup is typically boiled a second time in order to really extract all the incredible flavors. The other thing I love about this kale white bean soup is how easy it is to tailor for your specific tastes or to use up what you got on hand. A good soup recipe is truly one that you come back to over and over again, and those often require flexibility! So, get some crusty bread and let’s get to makin’ this amazing white bean soup recipe!

Key Ingredients and Notes on Substitutions for Kale White Bean Soup.

As I mentioned, this kale white bean soup is a versatile soup, which means you use what you have. After all, it comes directly out of the annals of “peasant food.” Let’s take a look at each of the ingredients to discuss them in turn:

Kale.

I feel like I say this in all my recipes, but if the ingredient is in the name, generally speaking, you can’t swap it out. Hence, kale is a mandatory component of this kale white bean soup. That said, there are different kinds of kale. Traditionally, as we talked about above, kale white bean soup is made using lacinato or Tuscan kale. However, if your fridge is overflowing with curly kale, go for it! I’m not the kale police and, truth be told, when I made this myself, I used curly kale too! What about frozen kale? Yup, you can absolutely use frozen kale the same way you would use fresh kale.

What about if you have no kale? Well, like I said, you can’t really call it kale white bean soup if it doesn’t contain any kale. BUT, I will say…. This soup will taste absolutely outstanding if you sub in Swiss chard, adult spinach leaves (I wouldn’t use baby spinach–too delicate), collard greens.

White Beans.

As is the case with kale, you can’t make a kale white bean soup without white beans. Traditionally, in Tuscany, they used cannellini beans–because that’s what they had. In my neck of the woods, though, cannellini beans are hard to find or really expensive. So, I went with white navy beans, instead. While the variety of white bean you use might have some impact on the texture of your soup, it will be minimal, so feel free to incorporate whatever type of white bean you can get for this kale white bean soup, including, but not limited to:

• great northern beans
• white kidney beans
• butter beans

What about garbanzo beans? Ok, to be honest, garbanzo beans are more of a yellow bean than a white bean and also, it’s not going to help with creating the creamy broth that makes this soup so addictive. The white beans listed above break down far more easily than the hearty chickpea. BUT, if that’s all ya got, that’s all ya got! It’ll still be delicious!

Finally, a word on canned beans versus home cooked beans–you do you. If you want to use your own homemade beans for this, it’ll no doubt taste even better. But if you want to use up all those cans of beans you have in your house, believe me–this kale white bean soup will still taste INCREDIBLE.

Vegetables.

In addition to kale, this kale white bean recipe includes a lot of vegetables to help build out a complex and robust flavor:

• Yukon gold potato
• Onion
• Carrot
• Celery
• Garlic

Substitution Ideas: While onion, carrot, and celery are the triumvirate foundation to so many excellent soups, feel free to swap in leek for celery, fennel for extra licorice flavor, sweet potato for carrots (though your cooking time will increase), zucchini for carrot.

Vegetable Stock.

This kale white bean soup recipe calls for vegetable stock. You can find an excellent recipe for Korean style vegetable stock in my tteokguk recipe or in my cookbook. But of course, store-bought vegetable broth is also great.

Substitution Ideas: If you don’t have vegetable broth, no problem! You can always use plain water (I did this a lot when I first started making this recipe).

Vegan Sausage.

Strictly speaking, sausage wasn’t always a necessary component of the traditional kale white bean soup. In fact, kale white bean soup had its renaissance here in the United States in the 80s and 90s, when vegetarianism was having its heyday. That said, there’s no doubt that adding sausage to this kale white bean soup not only furnishes richness and flavor, but a nice dose of protein.

Obviously, this is a vegan kale white bean soup so we won’t be adding any actual meat. But, don’t worry–this soup will fool all your meat-eating friends and family members thanks to all the vegan meat alternatives out there. My favorite? Field Roast’s Italian Sausage. There are, of course, a lot of options now, so feel free to use what you prefer.

If your preference is to use no meat alternatives at all, I got you: substitute with a meaty mushroom, like shiitake or portobello or even porcini (if you can find some!). If you like tempeh, you can even use that for this kale white bean soup recipe! I’ve even made this soup with extra firm tofu (I just add it towards the end like I do in my doenjang jjigae recipe). Versatile!

Vegan Parmesan.

Vegan parmesan has truly come such a long way since I went vegan. For this kale white bean soup recipe, I recommend Violife’s Parmesan cheese because you can grate it right into your pot of soup. You can also use Follow Your Heart which makes a pre-grated parmesan cheese. Why is parmesan necessary to this recipe? It adds that sharp, salty flavor that will really elevate this kale white bean soup. But, if you don’t have vegan parm or don’t want to use vegan parm, you can simply double up on the amount of doenjang (which brings us to our next ingredient!).

Doenjang.

Ok, for sure, the nonnas in Tuscany were not adding doenjang to their kale white bean soups. But that’s not going to stop me and it shouldn’t stop you!! I love adding doenjang to my soups because it adds body, depth of flavor, and creaminess. If you don’t have doenjang, use a nice white or yellow miso. If you don’t have either, you can skip this flavor enhancer and simply double up on your vegan parm.

Vegan Ravioli.

Ok, so the truth is, I wanted to make one of those viral soups that everyone’s making with tortellini but my grocery store was all out of vegan tortellini so I went with vegan ravioli instead. But honestly, if you can get your hands on vegan tortellini, use that! Or if you can’t get your hands on either tortellini or ravioli, use vegan dumplings or vegan potstickers!!

One trick I like to use for this kale white bean soup recipe is to cut up the ravioli into small pieces. This way, some of the filling will seep out more readily and flavor your delicious broth!

Vegan Yogurt.

Ok, ok, you shoulda seen this coming. I’ve been using vegan yogurt in everything lately. It’s such an easy way to thicken, creamify, and healthify your recipes! Whether it’s sauces or desserts, vegan yogurt is AMAZING and I love it for this kale white bean recipe. Why not use something with far fewer calories and far more health benefits than heavy cream? Amiright??? If you don’t have access to vegan yogurt, vegan sour cream will also work quite well for this recipe!

Chili Oil.

I’m also pretty sure that the little Italian grannies were not drizzling chili oil over their kale white bean soups, but I’ve been using chili oil on everything lately. It’s so good!! And it adds the perfect “kick” to this soup! Of course, you can go the traditional route and add some chili flakes together with the veggies in your soup, but then you miss out on that gorgeous scarlet thread in your soup…!

Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Kale white bean soup.

Step 1.

Add extra virgin olive oil to a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the vegan sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned (about 2 minutes). Remove from pot and set aside. (To keep this recipe oil free, use the oven or airfryer to cook the vegan sausage in advance.)

Step 2.

Add butter to your pot. When it has completely melted (about 30 seconds), add onions, garlic, salt, and pepper. Sauté until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Add carrots, celery, potato, and stir until well-combined. (To keep this recipe oil free, replace butter with vegetable broth.)

Step 3.

Add doenjang to your vegetables. Stir until your veggies are evenly coated. Then, dust with flour and stir once more so that everything is evenly coated with both doenjang and flour.

Step 4.

Add vegetable broth and bring the contents of the pot to a healthy boil. Then, lower the heat to medium-low and allow the pot to continue cooking at a gentle boil for about 7 minutes, when potatoes are about halfway cooked. Then, add the ravioli, beans, cooked sausage, yogurt, parmesan, and chopped kale. Continue cooking until potatoes and pasta are fully cooked, around 5 to 7 minutes. Garnish with fresh black pepper, chili oil, and more grated parmesan.

Frequently Asked Questions.

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