Butter bean soup is the perfect vegetarian soup for fall or winter! Creamy butter beans pair with veggies in this brothy soup recipe.
If you make one soup this season, it had better be butter bean soup.
It’s no secret that butter beans are my favorite bean. I’ve used them lots of different ways, but today we’re making our best cold weather effort to put butter beans in soup!
Adding butter beans to vegetable soup is the easiest way to ramp up the protein. I used one can each of large and baby butter beans to give the soup more texture. I just love how creamy they are!
A lot of butter bean soup recipes include ham, but this one is totally vegan and vegetarian and still full of flavor.
How to make butter bean soup
- Cook celery, carrots, onion, and garlic in olive oil until soft
- Add flour and cook 1 minute
- Add vegetable broth, butter beans, diced tomatoes, bay leaf, salt, and pepper
- Bring to a boil and simmer 10-20 minutes
Can I use dried butter beans to make butter bean soup?
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.
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)
More butter bean recipes:
If you make this recipe be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
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?