Italian White Bean Soup with Tuscan Kale and Sausage

A healthy, delicious recipe for Italian White Bean Soup, also known as Tuscan Kale White Bean Soup, made with Cannellini beans, lacinato kale, vegetables, and Italian sausage.

Three white bowls filled with tuscan kale soup with silver spoons in the middle.

What I love about this Italian Bean Soup Recipe is that it's hearty and healthy, packed with leafy greens, sautéed vegetables, white beans, and spicy Italian sausage. The sausage is technically optional, but similar to Zuppa Toscana Soup, adding extra protein and flavor. For extra depth, we add to the stock a parmesan rind, a classic Italian staple, and the juice of one lemon, which helps brighten the soup and balance the flavors. To quote my best friend, "This soup tastes like something you'd get in an authentic Italian restaurant," which was exactly our goal.

For more homemade soup recipes, check out my Zuppa Toscana Soup and Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili. This soup would be great to serve with crusty bread such as Irish Soda Bread, garlic bread, or sourdough bread.

Why you will love this Italian white bean soup

Healthy - This nourishing Tuscan white bean soup is packed with lots of flavors, full of protein, and loads of vegetables.
One pot meal - Easier clean up and you can store the soup in the same pot when refrigerating.
Easy to make - With just a few simple steps, this hearty soup is straightforward and takes less than an hour to make!

Ingredients

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: The olive oil helps saute' the vegetables and brown the sausage.
Spicy Italian Sauage: Cooked sausage gives the soup a delicious flavor and great texture. You could also use sweet italian sausage, bacon, pancetta, chicken, or turkey sausage as a substitute.
Yellow Onion, Celery, and Carrots: Finely dice the vegetables and saute' in the olive oil until tender for optimal flavor.
Minced Garlic, Thyme, and Oregano: Blooming the aromatic garlic and spices for 2-3 minutes until fragrant is key to help bring out their flavors. You could also use an equal amount of Italian seasoning to replace the dried oregano and dried thyme.
Salt and Black Pepper: A little salt and pepper helps enhance the flavors.
Fire-Roasted Diced Tomatoes: Although fire is in the name, I do not find these tomatoes to be very spicy. They blend well with the chicken broth and provide a flavor similar to a minestrone.
White Cannellini Beans: The hearty white beans give so much creaminess to the soup. You can also use great northern beans or navy beans if you can not find cannellini beans.
Chicken Broth: This flavorful broth pairs so well with Italian herbs. You can also substitute vegetable broth.
Parmesan Cheese Rind and Lemon Juice: In a classic Italian soup, you'll often find lemon juice, maybe a pinch of nutmeg, and a Parmigiano Reggiano rind of two. The parmesan cheese rind gives depth to this soup while the lemon helps brighten up and balance the parmesan's salt,y rich flavor
Tuscan Kale: Also known as lacinato kale,it gives this soup texture and color. Remove the tough woody stems and cut or tear the curly kale into slices.

Instructions

Four photos showing the process of making Tuscan kale soup. First brown the sausage, then sauté the vegetables, bloom the spices, and add everything remaining to the pot.

Finished Tuscan soup with adding the kale to the pot and then simmering until the kale has wilted.

Brown the sausage. Heat a large Dutch oven or large pot with a lid, over medium-high heat. Once hot, add ½ tablespoon of olive oil to the bottom of the pot and the Italian sausage. Cook the sausage until it is no longer pink, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it browns. (I do not drain the grease, but you can transfer the ground sausage to a small bowl and drain any excess grease if needed while reserving some for the vegetables, then return the sausage to the pot. )
Saute the vegetables. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pot with the finely diced onion, carrots, and celery. Add a pinch of salt to the pot. Continue to cook for 6-8 minutes until the onion becomes translucent.
Bloom the spices. Add the minced garlic, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes or until the spices are fragrant.
Add remaining ingredients. Add the fire-roasted diced tomatoes, cannellini beans, chicken broth, and parmesan rind to the pot.
Boil and then simmer. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and let the soup simmer for 25 minutes while stirring occasionally.
Add the kale and lemon juice. Toss in the kale and lemon juice, and stir until combined. Let the Tuscan soup simmer for 5 minutes until the kale has wilted.

Variations

Vegetarian or Vegan Version: Leave out the sausage and parmesan rind and swap the chicken stock for vegetable stock.
Add Cream: If you want to make a creamy soup, scale back 1 cup of broth and add 1 cup of heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk. You can also blend an extra can of creamy cannellini beans in a food processor and then add it to the stock. The gives a rich creamy texture without adding dairy.
Blend the beans: A great way to add creaminess to the soup without adding dairy is to use an immersion blender or regular blender to blend the white beans before adding them to the pot. The creamy white beans give richness to the soup.
Fresh Herbs: To keep things simple, this recipe uses readily available dried spices, but a lot of Italian soups use a fresh bay leaf, fresh rosemary, or fresh thyme.
Use Fresh Spinach: Fresh baby spinach can replace the kale.

Storage

To Store: Store any leftover Tuscan bean soup in an airtight container. You can also store the leftover soup in the same pot it was made in. Refrigerate for 4-5 days.

To Reheat: For best results, reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.