Creamy White Bean Soup with Kale

Saute the vegetables. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven (affiliate link) over medium-high heat. Once hot, sauté the onion, celery, and carrots until soft.

Next, add the garlic and red pepper flakes (you can leave these out if you don’t want the kick).

Deglaze the pot. Pour the vegetable broth into the pot and scrape up any stuck browned bits on the bottom.

Stir in the salt, pepper, bouquet garni, potatoes, cannellini beans, and artichokes.

Simmer the soup. Bring the soup up to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover with a lid, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the gremolata. Finely chop the parsley and basil. Grate the garlic over the herbs, then zest the lemon on top. Stir the garlic and lemon into the herbs. Chop the herbs once more until they’re finely minced. Finish with a sprinkle of sea salt.

Blend the soup. Once the potatoes are tender, turn off the heat and remove the bouquet garni.

Use an immersion blender directly in the pot to blend half of the soup (or transfer half of the soup to a stand blender and blend until smooth, and stir the blended soup back into the pot).

Add the chopped kale to the soup and simmer until tender. Adjust the seasonings.

Serve. Ladle the white bean kale soup into individual bowls. Sprinkle a generous amount of the gremolata on top and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!

Watch the lemon pith. The white pith underneath the lemon peel is quite bitter. Be sure to not zest too deeply, or you’ll end up with pith in your gremolata. A microplane is the best tool for getting the zest but not the pith.

No kitchen twine for the herb bouquet?

Partially blend the soup. Make sure to not blend the entire batch. Blending half of the soup before adding the kale creamifies the soup yet retains a good amount of texture.

Deglaze with wine instead. If you have an open bottle of dry white wine (think Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, etc.), feel free to deglaze the pot with 1/4 to 1/3 cup for an extra depth of flavor.

Add toppings! Feel free to garnish this soup with croutons, a sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese, or homemade cashew parmesan. We love serving it with slabs of seeded whole grain bread for a balanced, wholesome meal.

Use these flavor techniques elsewhere. Tuck a bouquet garni into your next pot of beans, or try it with my fall favorite Pumpkin Lasagna Soup. Gremolata is a lovely topping for crostini, pizza, and pasta, like my Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad.

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion, celery, and carrots, along with a pinch or two of salt. Cook until the vegetables are softened and starting to just turn brown, 6-9 minutes.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook another 1-2 minutes until very fragrant.

Pour in the vegetable broth and deglaze the pot, stirring up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the 1 teaspoon kosher salt, black pepper to taste, bouquet garni, potatoes, cannellini beans, and artichokes (if using). Stir well.

Bring the soup to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover the pot, and simmer the soup for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

While the soup is simmering, make the Gremolata.

Finely chop the parsley and basil. Using a microplane, grate the garlic directly over the parsley and basil. Then zest the lemons on top of this mixture, taking care to not zest the white pith underneath the skin.

Mix the garlic and lemon zest into the herbs and chop the herbs until they’re finely minced. Sprinkle with a bit of the coarse or flaky sea salt.

Transfer half of the soup to a stand blender and blend until thick and smooth. Then return this pureed soup back to the pot and stir to incorporate.

One-pot option: Remove bouquet garni and use an immersion blender throughout half of the soup, but be sure to not blend it all – you want to retain some texture.

Add the kale to the soup and simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the kale is tender but still bright green. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt as needed. When the soup is done, remove the bouquet garni.

Serve the soup in bowls and sprinkle a generous amount of the Gremolata over each bowl and a drizzle of the extra virgin olive oil.

If storing leftovers, add the gremolata to a jar, drizzle some olive oil in there, and refrigerate. Spoon this over leftover soup.

(1) Just add the herb sprigs into the pot and use tongs to remove them after cooking; or (2) MacGyver it: tie the herbs using a leftover scallion or the string from a tea bag; or(3) Chop the herbs (not the bay leaves) and sauté them when you add the garlic.