This simple Escarole and White Bean Soup is comforting, nutritious and ready in about 30 minutes. Made with tender and mild escarole greens, cannellini beans, vegetables and herbs, this soup is hearty enough for a weeknight dinner and light enough for lunch with leftovers.
Escarole soup with beans was a staple growing up. Often my Italian grandmother would make a big pot of the comforting, garlicky soup when she came to visit. My recipe is not an authentic escarole and white bean soup like she often made. Instead, this version is vegetarian, includes carrots and herbs. Today I make all sorts of soups for my family, and they typically go over quite well, even with my young daughters.
Why You'll Love this Escarole Soup
- Made with simple, accessible grocery store ingredients
- Easy to customize based on your dietary needs
- Plenty of options for additions
- Perfect for meal prep
- Flavorful, yet mild enough for the whole family to enjoy it
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Ingredients that Matter
This recipe uses a handful of pantry staples along with some fresh ingredients, all available in most grocery stores. Here are the ingredients you'll need to make escarole soup with white beans:
- Escarole. This leafy green is part of the chicory family. While it's considered a bitter green, escarole is quite mild, especially when cooked. Escarole has very broad, dark green leaves that become very tender when cooked. Be sure to wash escarole very well before using as it tends to collect dirt on the inside of the leave by the stem end.
- White Beans. You can certainly make homemade white beans from scratch using dried beans, but if you are short on time I suggest using a couple cans of no salt added cannellini beans. Be sure to drain and rinse the beans before adding to the soup.
- Mirepoix. Authentic escarole and bean soup does not typically have carrots (or celery), but I like to add them for the flavor and to increase the vegetables.
- Spices. I love using simple Italian seasoning along with a big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes to add mild, yet comforting flavor to the soup.
- Olive Oil. Use either extra-virgin olive oil or regular olive oil to sweat the vegetables.
- Garlic. A few cloves of garlic add plenty of garlicky flavor to this soup.
- Vegetable Broth. I like to keep this recipe vegetarian by using reduced sodium vegetable broth. You can certainly use chicken broth, if you prefer.
- Thyme. Fresh thyme provides a comforting, vibrant flavor to the soup.
- Parmesan. If you have a wedge of parmesan cheese, cut off the rind (peel off any waxy exterior) and add it to the soup to provide lots of cheesy flavor to the soup. Serve the soup garnished with more cheese.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make White Bean and Escarole Soup
This soup is incredibly simple. Here is how to make this Italian style white bean soup with escarole:
Start by adding olive oil, onions, carrots and celery to a large pot or Dutch oven and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are slightly tender and the onion becomes translucent, about 6 minutes.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper and stir in garlic and thyme. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the parmesan rind, if using.
Pour in the vegetable broth, beans and chopped escarole. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to maintain a low simmer and cook, covered, until the vegetables and beans are very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove the soup from heat and adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper, as desired. Serve the soup hot, garnished with more cheese and serve with crusty bread.
Hint: Homemade soup tastes best the next day. Be sure to cool the soup to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container then refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Substitutions
This recipe is easy to adjust based on your dietary needs or restrictions. As written, this recipe is gluten-free and vegetarian (so long as you eat parmesan cheese), but here are further ways to adjust this recipe:
- Vegan and Dairy-Free - To make this recipe vegan and dairy-free, simply leave out the parmesan cheese. In its place, you can instead use nutritional yeast. Note that some vegetarians do not eat parmesan cheese because it has animal rennet. Look for vegetarian parmesan cheese in specialty markets.
- More Spice - This recipe is not spicy, but it has a bit of a kick. If you want to add even more spice, try increasing the crushed red pepper flakes to ¼ or ½ teaspoon.
- White Beans - We often consider cannellini beans as the only white beans, but you can certainly use other beans like great northern or navy beans.
- Dried Beans - If you want to use dried beans, start by soaking 1 ½ cups of dried cannellini beans overnight. Drain and rinse then add to a large pot and cover with at least 1 inch of water, bay leaves, garlic cloves and fresh herbs. Simmer the beans until very tender, anywhere from 1-2 hours, or more. You can even use the broth from the beans in the soup.
Vegetable Soup Additions
There are plenty of options when it comes to additional ingredients for this vegetable and bean soup. Consider the following:
- More Herbs - While I love thyme (seriously, it's one of my favorite herbs!), this vegetable soup is great with so many different herbs. Try parley, thyme, sage, rosemary or even tarragon.
- More Vegetables - Try adding other vegetables to this soup, include zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers, fennel or even tomatoes. Of course this is not an authentic Italian white bean and escarole soup, but load up on whatever vegetables you love.
- Pancetta - If you are okay with this soup not being vegetarian, try first rendering some pancetta (or bacon) before adding the mirepoix. This will create a rich, lovely pork flavor in the broth.
- Sausage - Like pancetta, if you are okay making this recipe with meat, try adding some sweet or spicy Italian sausage.
- Lemon - Try serving this soup with some lemon wedges on the side. Fresh lemon juice adds a nice brightness to the comforting vegetarian escarole soup.
Some of our other favorite vegetable soup recipes include our Cauliflower Lentil Soup, Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup, Easy Cherry Tomato Soup and Hearty Red Cabbage Soup.
Storage
You can store leftovers of this escarole soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Be sure to cool the soup to room temperature before refrigerating. You can even freeze this soup for up to 3 months.
Be sure to bring the soup back to a rolling boil to reheat.
What to Serve with Escarole Soup
A big chunk of crusty bread is typically all you need to serve with this soup. Here are some other suggestions:
- Serve with a side salad like our Arugula and Crispy Quinoa Salad, Beat and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese, Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad or our Peach and Goat Cheese Salad.
- Serve with a dinner salad like Za'atar Chicken and Crispy Pita Salad.
- Vegetarian entrees like Red Lentil Patties, Easy Vegetable Lasagna, Lemon Caper Pasta or Rigatoni Al Forno.
- Or serve with chicken mains like our Cast Iron BBQ Chicken Breast, Smothered Skillet Chicken with Artichokes and Red Peppers or Spicy Chicken with Ginger, Citrus and Soy.
FAQ
Escarole soup can cook relatively quickly as the leafy bitter green vegetable is quite tender. Simmer the soup for about 15-20 minutes.
Escarole is in the chicory family. This leafy vegetable is considered a bitter green, but it is in fact quite mild, especially when simmered in a soup.
Be sure to first cook dried beans before adding to the soup. To make homemade beans using dried beans, start by soaking the beans overnight in cool water. Drain, rinse then simmer in lots of water (you can add herbs and dried spices to the water) until the beans are very tender, anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, or more. You can use some of the cooking liquid for the soup, if you'd like.
Parmesan cheese is not considered vegetarian by many as it's often made with animal rennet. You may be able to find a vegetarian parmesan style cheese in specialty markets.
Soups
Try some of our other favorite comforting soup recipes:
Salads
Try serving this soup with a salad:
Recipe
Escarole and White Bean Soup
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 cups 1x
Description
This simple Escarole and White Bean Soup is comforting, nutritious and ready in about 30 minutes. Made with tender and mild escarole greens, cannellini beans, vegetables and herbs, this soup is hearty enough for a weeknight dinner and light enough for lunch with leftovers.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- ½ tsp. table salt, more to taste
- ¼ tsp. black pepper, more to taste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 parmesan rind (optional), plus grated parmesan for serving
- 2 (14.5 oz.) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 6 cups (preferably reduced sodium) vegetable broth (or 4 cups broth and 2 cups water)
- 1 head escarole (about 1 lb.), roughly chopped and rinsed well
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large heavy-bottom pot or Dutch oven over medium. Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to become tender and the onion turns translucent, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add garlic, thyme, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and parmesan rind (if using). Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in beans, broth and escarole and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a low simmer and cook, covered, until the greens and beans are very tender, 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper, if desired. Serve garnished with more cheese, if desired.
Notes
- Serve the soup with crusty bread.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months. Be sure to cool the soup to room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator.
- You can use chicken broth, if you aren't making this soup vegetarian.
- Note that parmesan is technically not vegetarian. You may find a parmesan style cheese without animal rennet in specialty stores. Or, use nutritional yeast, if preferred.
- If you aren't making this recipe vegetarian, try adding pancetta or bacon. Render before adding the mirepoix at the beginning. Or, stir in sweet or spicy Italian sausage.
- You can use other herbs like parsley, sage, rosemary or even tarragon, if preferred.
- Try serving this soup with Arugula and Crispy Quinoa Salad, Beat and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese, Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad or our Peach and Goat Cheese Salad.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Soups
- Method: simmering
- Cuisine: American/Italian
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