Craving a soup that's both hearty and wholesome? This healthy Tuscan white bean soup is the answer. It's a rustic dish packed with cannellini beans, lean Italian sausage, and fresh kale, all simmered in a savory, low-sodium broth for a perfectly comforting meal.
For more comforting recipes, explore our Heart Healthy Soup Collection.
This Tuscan White Bean Soup is thoughtfully crafted to be both delicious and nourishing. It balances lean protein from chicken sausage and cannellini beans with a high-fiber base of vegetables like kale, carrots, and celery. By using low-sodium broth and no-salt-added tomatoes, it delivers rich, savory flavor without excess sodium, making it a truly heart-smart meal.
Yes, this version is designed to be very healthy. It's high in fiber and lean protein, low in sodium, and packed with nutrient-rich vegetables, making it an excellent choice for a heart-healthy diet.
While both are Italian vegetable soups, Tuscan bean soup (like this one) typically focuses on cannellini beans and kale for a more rustic, hearty texture. Minestrone often features a wider variety of seasonal vegetables, beans, and pasta.
Absolutely. To make it vegetarian, simply omit the sausage and use a hearty vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. You could add extra beans or mushrooms for more substance.
Recipe yields 10 servings
Heat ½ tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Place the sausages into the hot pan and cook, undisturbed, for 2 minutes. Rotate sausages and continue to cook 2 minutes per side until evenly browned. Remove from heat, transfer the sausages to a cutting board and cool for 5 minutes. Slice the sausages into ¼-inch thick slices; set aside.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Reserve 2 cups of pasta water and drain the pasta. Lightly drizzle the pasta with olive oil and toss to coat; set aside.
In the same pot, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrot and celery and cook until tender, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the cannellini beans, chicken broth, reserved pasta water, tomatoes, Italian seasoning and sausages and bring to a boil.
Stir in the kale and pasta and simmer for 5 minutes longer. If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.
Spinach is an excellent substitute. Stir it in at the very end of cooking until just wilted.
To make this recipe vegetarian, omit the sausage and use vegetable broth.
Any small pasta shape like ditalini or small shells works well in place of cellentani.