Pesto White Bean Soup
This pesto white bean soup is made with just five ingredients, but it’s packed with flavor! It’s perfect for a satisfying plant-based meal that takes minimal effort to prepare!
I love finding shortcuts to flavorful meals and the trick to this soup is pesto! I’ve made white bean soup with salsa and I was so happy with how it added tons of flavor to the broth. It made me think… why not try it with pesto? It worked beautifully. Creamy white beans simmering in flavorful pesto creates a hearty meal with minimal effort! I also tossed in a little kale at the end of cooking to add some greens to this meal. I liked adding a little crushed red pepper on top for a bit of heat, but it’s optional.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Because this recipe only has a handful of ingredients, it’s really important to use high-quality ingredients. The flavor of the broth and the pesto are critical in this recipe. For the broth, I like to use a “chicken style” vegetable broth, like the kind from Edwards & Sons or Ocean’s Halo. Both have a lot more flavor than standard vegetable broth.
I used canned cannellini beans which are soft, creamy white beans, but you can substitute with great northern beans or white navy beans. You can use dried beans, but they will need to be soaked overnight and cooked until soft before adding them to the soup.
I added kale at the end of cooking to add some fresh greens to this recipe. You can leave it out if you don’t have any or add a few handfuls of spinach instead.
My Favorite Store-Bought Pesto
The real trick to this tasty soup is using prepared pesto. Of course, you can make these things from scratch if you like, but I prefer to use store-bought to keep things simple! My favorite store-bought pesto is Buitoni’s Pesto, which has a great flavor that tastes homemade. America’s Test Kitchen recommended it and I’m glad I tried it! Of course, you can make your own pesto if you like.
If you’re looking for a good vegan pesto, I really like Gotham Green’s pesto. Trader Joe’s also makes a great vegan pesto, sold in their refrigerated section. In general, I’ve had better luck with the flavors of refrigerated pesto rather than jarred pesto. If you have leftover pesto, try this pesto rice for a flavorful side dish!
So good and easy! We are so full. Might put a little more pesto next time but love, love, love!!!
What a delicious and simple soup! I am always looking for more quick and easy soups to enjoy in the fall and absolutely love the short shopping list for this one. SO GOOD!
Such an easy and delicious soup to make, perfect to prepare for this cold season.
Thank you!
I love bean soup — my favorite winter dish. This looks amazing, cant wait to try it out, thanks!
Yummy! We had some homemade pesto leftover to use up and this soup was a delicious way to use it! So easy and so full of flavour, let alone very inexpensive to make!
Such a simple recipe but so filling and full of flavour. The pesto works so well.
Delicious! This is just about all my favourite things in one bowl so I made the full batch just for me to enjoy. That is my lunches sorted for the week. Love it!
Yum! Hearty, healthy and perfect for the changing weather. Can’t wait to try this out, I love pesto!
Looks delicious Liz!