This hearty butter bean soup is a cozy vegetarian recipe that's perfect for fall or winter. Made with creamy butter beans and wholesome vegetables, it's a comforting, brothy soup you'll want to make all season long!
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If you make one soup this season, it has to be butter bean soup.
It's no secret that butter beans are my favorite bean. I've used them lots of different ways-easy canned butter beans, mashed butter beans, butter bean pasta-but today we're putting them to work in a hearty soup recipe that's as satisfying as it is simple.
Adding butter beans to vegetable soup is the easiest way to ramp up the plant-based protein. I use one can of large butter beans and one can of baby butter beans for the best creamy texture.
A lot of butter bean soup recipes include ham, but this version is totally vegan and vegetarian and still packed with rich, savory flavor.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Celery
- Carrots
- Onion
- Garlic
- Flour
- Vegetable broth
- Butter Beans
- Tomatoes
- Bay leaf
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh parsley, optional
- Fresh thyme, optional
- Crushed red pepper flakes, optional
How to make butter bean soup
- Heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.
- Add the flour and cook, stirring, for one minute.
- Add the broth, butter beans, diced tomatoes, and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, 10-20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley, thyme, and crushed red pepper flakes.
Top tips
Use a mix of large and baby butter beans
While you can use just one type of butter bean, I recommend a mix of both large and baby butter beans. This gives the soup a more creamy, hearty, and satisfying texture.
How to store butter bean soup
This will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 6 months. I recommend freezing individual portions to make reheating easier!
Tips for customizing your butter bean soup:
- Add a spoonful of homemade pesto to each bowl when serving
- Swap the butter beans for other white beans such as great northern, cannellini, or garbanzo
- Mix and match your favorite veggies such as leaving out the celery but adding extra carrots
- Add other veggies like cooked diced zucchini or corn
- Top finished soup with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese (not vegan, check for vegetable rennet to keep it vegetarian)
- Serve with crusty bread for dipping
- Swap the vegetable broth for a "no chicken" broth if you're able to find it
FAQ
Yes, you can cook dried butter beans before adding them to this recipe. You'll want to add about 3 cups of cooked beans to the recipe.
Butter beans are a mature version of lima beans. They're large, creamy, and mild in flavor, perfect for soups and stews!
More butter bean recipes:
More soup recipes
- Vegan Carrot Ginger Soup
- Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup
- Vegan Pumpkin Soup
- Easy Vegan Minestrone
- Red Wine Tomato Soup
- Vegetarian Jackfruit Tortilla Soup
- Easy Vegetarian Chili
- Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup
If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
Recipe
Butter Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour, unbleached
- 32 ounces vegetable broth
- 2 15 ounce cans butter beans, rinsed and drained
- 14 ounces diced tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf, dried
- coarse kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh chopped parsley, optional
- fresh chopped thyme, optional
- crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.
- Add the flour and cook, stirring, for one minute.
- Add the broth, butter beans, diced tomatoes, and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, 10-20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley, thyme, and crushed red pepper flakes.
Notes
Tips for customizing your butter bean soup:
- Add a spoonful of homemade pesto to each bowl when serving
- Swap the butter beans for other white beans such as great northern, cannellini, or garbanzo
- Add other veggies like cooked diced zucchini or corn
- Top finished soup with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese (not vegan, check for vegetable rennet to keep it vegetarian)
Terry says
How is this high in protein?
J Bailey says
Good food
Lucia smith says
Thank you Lindsey for sharing the recipe for Butter bean soup. I have recently cooked the soup with a little change in ingredients. I have used ghee instead of olive oil for more flavor and creamy mouthfeel. Besides ghee nutrition, high calories in ghee are a reward for using ghee in soup recipes and for keto followers. I must admit the soup's taste was awesome.
To know more : https://milkio.co.nz/calories-in-ghee/
Lateasha Smith says
I made this tonight and mannnnnnnwas this good😌I didn't have flour so I used corn starch. I didnt have regular salt so I used pink salt and I had to use these oregano and basil canned crushed tomatoes that I tried to rinse but this was so good I forgot to add the parsley I chopped. It was great as is
Nina says
Thanks for the fabulous recipe 👏👏👏 I made this today… the only change I made was to omit the flour. I added a very small golf ball sized potato, chopped and 1 leek (needed using) I removed a ladle of soup and liquidised it in a mini processor to thicken the soup. I went a bit overboard with the chilli flakes (optional extra you suggested) so it had a bit of a kick….
NOTE : I made this in my Heston Slow/fast cooker (I think similar to an instant pot) after I sautéed the veggies I cooked it on the soup setting. I reduced the cook time to 25 minutes…
Nina says
ps I forgot to say in my earlier comment. A suggestion I would love a metric conversion slide button… (UK follower)
J says
Made butterbean soup. Suggest using half amount of Carrots (1), Onion (half) Celery (1 rib). They over power butterbeans. And adding another can of butterbeans probably wouldn't hurt. Would be more flavorful.
Romilia says
This recipe taste delicious! Thanks for sharing it. I made it today.