This Italian Sausage white bean soup recipe is comforting and hearty. This soup has hot Italian sausage, white cannellini beans, spinach, tender vegetables, and a flavorful broth. This easy sausage and white bean soup will be your new favorite hearty soup recipe.
Soup vegetables
The base of every great soup, is a mirepox. Mirepox is a French term for a combination of aromatic vegetables, which are typically: celery, onion, and carrots. Most great soups have this combination, plus garlic, such as my chicken noodle soup. In addition, I also use fresh spinach for added nutrients and flavor.
Italian sausage
I use hot Italian sausage as the main protein and main flavoring of the soup. You can either buy Italian sausage loose if it’s available. You can buy it in sausage form and remove the casing by cutting a slit down the sausage and peeling it off.
Cooking the soup
Cooking the hot Italian Sausage: First, you’ll cook the hot Italian sausage in olive oil. As the sausage cooks, break it up into crumbles and cook fully through. Once the sausage is done cooking, use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage and leave behind the oil. The infused oil will carry onto the vegetables, giving it an extra layer of flavor.
Cooking vegetable base: Next, add in your mirepox of celery, onion, and carrots. Sauté for a few minutes to soften. For this recipe I used a thyme, oregano, and sage. You can use fresh herbs or dried (if using dried, use half the measurement since they are more potent). Add in minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute till fragrant, then add the hot Italian sausage back in.
Better than bouillon: If you’ve made my soups before, you know how much I love better than bouillon paste. The paste blends more seamlessly than the cubes and enriches the flavor of the broth so much.
Pasta: You can use a pasta shape of your choice, I prefer shells or orecchiette because the beans and sausage fill the insides for a delicious pasta bite.
Cannellini beans
What are cannellini beans? Cannellini beans are white kindey beans! They are tender with a slight nutter and earthy flavor. Although they look similar, cannelinni beans are different and more meaty than Great Northern and Navy beans.
Soup tips:
- Fresh herbs aren’t always available, if using dried, halve the amount since dried herbs are more potent.
- Use low sodium chicken broth, since the bouillon paste is concentrated and has salt in it.
- Cook your pasta in the soup, for it to take on more flavor. Stir the pasta when you add it, so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the spinach and beans last, since they only need to be warmed through. Spinach will blanch and be just wilted and bright green once ready.
Soup garnish: To serve the hot Italian sausage and white bean soup, I love grating fresh parmesan over the top. This is optional, but highly recommended!
Storing/leftovers
Eating soup leftover is one of my favorites, because it is even more flavorful the next day! Store in an airtight container for up to 4-5 days or you can freeze to enjoy for a few months.
Looking for more soup recipes?
- Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup
- Chicken and Dumpling Soup
- Vegan Mushroom Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup
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Hot Italian Sausage White Bean Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound loose hot Italian sausage or 3 links casing removed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped (½ cup)
- 1 ½ cups carrots sliced
- 1 ½ cups celery sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon chicken base or 2 cubes
- 3 quarts low sodium chicken broth
- 8 ounces small shell pasta or pasta of choice
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon fresh sage chopped, or ½ tsp dried sage
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano chopped, or ½ tsp dried oregano
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
- 1 can white cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- Garnish: freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a soup pot, heat 3 tbsp olive oil over medium high heat. Add the hot Italian sausage and brown, breaking it up as you cook it. Once cooked through, use a slotted spoon to remove and set aside, leaving the juices in the pot.
- Lower the heat to medium and add the onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté about 4 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften, but not brown. Add 2 tbsp butter, garlic, and all the seasonings (pepper, thyme, sage, oregano) and cook for 1 minute until the garlic is fragrant. Add Italian sausage back into the pot.
- Add in the bouillon paste and mix to coat the vegetables, followed by the 3 qt’s of chicken broth. Allow the broth to come to a gently boil.
- Once the broth is warm, pour in the pasta and stir for 1 minute, so the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Lower the heat to low for 10 minutes to allow the pasta to cook.
- Once done, add the fresh spinach and cannellini beans, and stir to combine. Allow the spinach leaves to wilt in and beans to heat up about 5 more minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve in a bowl and garnish with fresh grated parmesan (optional)
Notes
- Fresh herbs aren’t always available, if using dried, halve the amount since dried herbs are more potent.
- Use low sodium chicken broth, since the bouillon paste is concentrated and has salt in it.
- Cook your pasta in the soup, for it to take on more flavor. Stir the pasta when you add it, so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the spinach and beans last, since they only need to be warmed through. Spinach will blanch and be just wilted and bright green once ready.
- Eating soup leftover is one of my favorites, because it is even more flavorful the next day! Store in an airtight container for up to 4-5 days or you can freeze to enjoy for a few months.
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