Tuscan White Bean Soup with Browned Beans + Crumbs

Tuscan White Bean Soup is greater than the sum of its parts! Canned white beans, roasted red peppers and a secret ingredient. Buttery bean and bread crumb topping.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through the link, I may make a commission at no cost to you. See my Affiliate Disclosure Policy for more information.

 

The Granny Soup Saga

My parents traveled a good bit when I was younger, mainly for business and rarely for pleasure as they were both confirmed homebodies. This still kind of kills my travel-loving soul, but every time they headed out the door they would say, “Well, let’s go so we can get back.” Just.sad. Mostly they went to bank conventions on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (ahhh, the Broadwater Beach Hotel and its glamorous pink dining room!) and sometimes took me and my brother along. Usually, though, we stayed home under the care of our paternal grandmother, Granny.

Now if Granny was one thing, she was predictable. We knew that she would tolerate no funny business, that she would watch Another World every afternoon and that dinner on the first night of her stay would be Granny Soup.

There were 4 steps to Granny Soup:

1. Take every container of leftover food out of the fridge.
2. Dump them all together in a pot.
3. Heat.
4. Call it dinner.

As you can imagine, we always hoped our folks would take us with them on their trips…

While the outcome was not so great, I do appreciate the concept of Granny Soup: take what you already have and make something new with it. And actually that’s how Tuscan White Bean Soup was invented!

One day I was dreaming of a roasted red pepper, white bean soup and was thinking that I’d like to add spinach and maybe some cream cheese or sour cream and then, hey wait a minute! That’s what’s in spinach artichoke dip! What would happen if I just added a great dollop of the dip to a bean/pepper puree? That would be one easy, tasty soup! Well, here’s what happened. I think you’re gonna like it. 

Tuscan White Bean Soup ingredients

You’ll need:

White Beans. You’ll need a total of 2 cans of beans for the recipe. Drain and rinse both cans then set aside 1/2 cup of the beans to use in the Browned Beans + Crumbs topping. Use the rest as directed in the soup. I much prefer navy beans over cannellini beans as they’re firmer and nuttier tasting.

Roasted Red Peppers. Buy the ones packed in water, not oil. They can be strips or halves — you’ll be pureeing them so it doesn’t matter. See Recipe Notes for more information.

Spinach Artichoke Dip. Biased, yes, but I think my Fast and Easy Spinach Artichoke Dip recipe is the best. When we had our café I made it by the gallon, and our customers loved it. Make a batch, and use a cup for this soup and the rest for snacking!

Bread Crumbs. Just toast a slice of bread on low heat til it’s dried out. Let cool then crumble into small pieces. Or use ready-made bread crumbs (with seasoning is fine).

Butter. You’ll need just a tablespoon or so to brown the beans and crumbs. Substitute olive oil if you’d rather.

Salt. A teaspoon to flavor the crumbs.

You’ll also need:

Soup Pot.

Ninja Fit Blender or Food Processor. Here’s the one I use

Skillet. Nonstick or cast iron 

how to make Tuscan White Bean Soup

1. Add 1-1/2 cans drained white beans, drained roasted red peppers and pepper liquid to a food processor work bowl and blend til completely smooth.
2. Pour into soup pot. Stir in spinach artichoke dip and water or vegetable stock.
3. Heat on low, stirring frequently, until soup is hot.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add 1/2 cup drained white beans and bread crumbs. Cook for about 5 minutes until the beans and bread crumbs are nicely browned and crispy. Stir in salt.
5. Pour soup into bowls and top with the Browned Beans + Crumbs and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

To Store

Store Tuscan White Bean Soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

 

Recipe Notes

The liquid from the roasted red peppers is a vital part of this recipe as it contains so much flavor! Drain the peppers into a measuring cup, pressing down on the peppers to extract as much as possible. You should have at least 1/2 cup of liquid to add to the soup.

You’ll need a total of 2 cans of beans for the recipe. Drain and rinse both cans then set aside 1/2 cup of the beans to use in the Browned Beans + Crumbs topping. Use the rest as directed in the soup.

The recipe as written has nice little bites of artichoke and spinach for texture. For a thinner, smoother soup, puree all the soup ingredients (including the spinach artichoke dip) before heating. Add an extra 1/2 cup water or stock.

Looking for a tasty and super fast pasta sauce? Just prepare as above, but leave out the 1/2 cup water. Heat and serve over pasta, topped with the Browned Beans + Crumbs and some freshly grated Parmesan. YUM.

This makes 2 large (meal size) servings or 4 small (appetizer size) servings. If you need more, just double the ingredients.