Mediterranean White Bean Soup is a hearty soup filled with fresh herbs, navy beans, kale or spinach and topped with olives and creamy feta cheese. Add a sprinkling of crushed red pepper for extra spice. This soup is filling, packed with protein and healthy!
MEDITERRANEAN WHITE BEAN SOUP
Happy New Year guys!
I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed your New Years celebrations.
We had a great few weeks filled with family, friends and a lot of really delicious food.
I feel like I am kind of in a food coma coming out of all the eating.
I can’t complain but as we start 2019 I have to admit I am keeping things very healthy and light in my house.
This Mediterranean White Bean Soup is a recipe I have been meaning to share with you guys for some time now.
It is the perfect soup to start your year off.
It is filled with fresh herbs, healthy greens of your choice, navy beans and topped with olives and feta cheese.
When I eat this soup I feel satisfied but it is still light enough that I can have two bowls and feel good about it.
If you like bean soups you also need to check out my Easy Vegetable Bean Soup, Easy White bean Soup with Kale, Tuscan Bean Soup, White Bean Soup with Ham or this Instant Pot Bean Soup.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED FOR THIS SOUP
GARLIC & ONION
VEGETABLE BROTH OR VEGETABLE STOCK
NAVY BEANS OR WHITE BEANS
BAY LEAF
ROSEMARY
KALE OR SPINACH
FRESH HERBS: BASIL, ROSEMARY, PARSLEY
LEMON JUICE AND LEMON ZEST
FETA CHEESE
OLIVES
HOW TO MAKE THIS MEDITERRANEAN WHITE BEAN SOUP
SAUTE THE VEGETABLES: Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Add the fresh garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the yellow onion and continue to sauté until soft and fragrant.
ADD THE BROTH, BEANS & SPICES: Add the vegetable broth, navy beans or white cannellini beans, bay leaf, rosemary, red pepper flakes and simmer for 10 minutes.
ADD THE GREENS: Add the chopped spinach or kale and continue to simmer for 10 minutes, or until the greens are soft and wilted.
GARNISH: Add in the fresh basil, fresh parsley, lemon juice and lemon zest and give it a good stir.
You can either add the kalamata olives or green olives and feta cheese to the big pot of soup at the end of cooking or leave them in bowls on the table and allow everyone to garnish their bowls as they like.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE TO THIS MEDITERRANEAN SOUP?
BEANS: I used navy beans in this soup but any bean will work great in this soup. Some other types of beans you can use are great northern beans, pinto beans, navy beans, black beans, red beans or kidney beans.
BROTH: If you don’t have vegetable broth on hand you can use chicken broth or chicken stock. Try this homemade chicken broth recipe.
THICKEN: If you want to thicken the soup try using a small amount of tomato paste.
CHEESE: I used feta cheese to garnish this soup but goat cheese or Parmesan cheese would work.
VEGETABLES: There are a lot of vegetables that work nicely in this soup like zucchini, fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, green beans or peas. If you have frozen vegetables in your freeze those work well too.
SPICES & HERBS: Spices and herbs can add a lot of flavor to this soup like smoked paprika, cumin, za’atar and sumac. All of these pair nicely with the lemon, thyme and turmeric.
PARMESAN RIND: I love adding a parmesan rind into the soup as it simmers to flavor it and make it creamier.
GREENS: Leafy greens work great in this soup to add nutrients. Try copped fresh baby spinach, swiss chard or arugula all work nicely in this soup too.
WINE: I like to add a splash of white wine sometimes for extra flavor. I would add that in with the broth.
CREAMY: If you want a creamy soup you can puree half of the soup with an immersion blender.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH THIS SOUP
Homemade bread is always a nice addition. My favorites are this Best Sourdough Bread Recipe or this Homemade Wheat Bread.
Salad is always a great pairing for this dish. I love serving this Lemon Arugula Salad with Pine Nuts, a greek salad, this Spinach Salad with Bacon or this Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing.
Vegetable side dishes are also a nice addition to a pasta meal. I especially love this Roasted Broccoli, Green Beans with Brown Butter and Toasted Almondsor this Sautéed Spinach.
OTHER SOUP RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
SPICY CHICKEN SOUP
CHICKEN LEMON ORZO SOUP
VEGETABLE SOUP WITH CABBAGE
WHITE BEAN SOUP
WHITE BEAN SOUP WITH HAM
MOROCCAN RED LENTIL SOUP
TUSCAN BEAN SOUP
Mediterranean White Bean Soup
Mediterranean White Bean Soup is a hearty soup filled with fresh herbs, navy beans, kale or spinach and topped with olives and creamy feta cheese. Add a sprinkling of crushed red pepper for extra spice. This soup is filling, packed with protein and healthy!
Ingredients
For the soup
- 2 tbsps. olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 32 ounces vegetable broth {or chicken broth}
- 1 - 15 ounce navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsps. finely chopped rosemary
- 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 2 cups kale or spinach, chopped
- 2 tbsps. fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tbsps. fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
- 1 cup Castelvetrano olives, pitted, cut in half {or olive of your choice}
- 4- 6 ounces feta, crumbled
Garnishes
- Fresh herbs: basil, parsley and rosemary
- Feta cheese
- Olives, chopped
- Crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Heat the 2 Tablespoons olive oil in a large pot. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the onion and continue to sauté until soft and fragrant.
- Add the vegetable broth, navy beans, bay leaf, rosemary, crushed red pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the spinach or kale and continue to simmer for 10 minutes, or until the greens are soft and wilted.
- Add in the fresh basil, parsley, lemon juice and zest and give it a good stir.
- You can either add the olives and feta cheese to the big pot of soup at the end of cooking or leave them in bowls on the table and allow everyone to garnish their bowls as they like.
Notes
This soup has a strong lemon flavor. If you aren't a huge fan of lemon I suggest using half of a lemon and omitting the lemon zest.
Try white beans instead of navy beans.
I love the fresh herbs in this recipe but you can always sub in dried if you don't have fresh on hand.
If you are looking for a cheese other than feta to try, parmesan works nicely.
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