White Bean Chicken Soup
White Bean Chicken Soup is the PERFECT weeknight meal, made with boneless skinless chicken breast simmered with white beans, carrots, celery, fresh spinach, and garlic until hearty and savory, ready in 45 minutes!
White Bean Chicken Soup is a really easy weeknight dinner that uses simple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, like cannellini beans, broth, chicken, and veggies. It’s perfect for busy days because it’s hearty, filling, and ready in less than 45 minutes!
If you loved this recipe, you may also love my Cabbage Chicken Soup, and my Sausage and Potato Soup!
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Comfort Food – This soup is the perfect warm and cozy weeknight dinner, perfect for chilly nights when you want something nourishing.
Wholesome Ingredients – This recipe uses a variety of wholesome ingredients, making it perfect for when you want something easy to make that’s still nutritious!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Chicken. I like to use boneless skinless chicken breast for this recipe because it shreds easily and adds lean protein. You can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs.
White Beans. I’m making this a quick recipe so we’re using canned beans because they’re already cooked. I always drain and rinse them before adding them to recipes.
This soup works best with cannellini beans, and when pureed they add a really nice creamy texture.
Carrots & Celery. The carrots are added for sweetness, and the celery adds a nice savory note. They balance each other out, while creating an amazing aroma in the kitchen.
Onion. I like to use Vidalia onion, but white or yellow onion will also work.
Garlic. The absolute best flavor you’re going to get for this soup will be with fresh garlic cloves. But if you don’t have that, you can use garlic powder.
Spinach. This adds a nice color and is a great way to get some veggies in the soup. You can also use other leafy greens like kale or cabbage.
Lemon Juice. This balances out some of the savory notes and adds a bright fresh flavor to the soup.
Broth. I like to use chicken broth, chicken stock, or vegetable broth for this soup (chicken stock will have the best flavor). I use the low sodium version, so I can add salt as-needed later.
Seasoning. We’re keeping this really easy with some Italian seasoning, fresh parsley, kosher salt, and black pepper (as-needed).
For a deeper flavor, you can add some herb sprigs like rosemary or dried thyme instead of Italian seasoning, along with a bay leaf for flavor. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
Kitchen Tools
For this creamy chicken white bean soup recipe you’ll need a medium sized dutch oven or soup pot and a blender.
How to Make Chicken and White Bean Soup
Over medium-high heat, add olive oil, carrots, onion, and celery to a dutch oven, stirring often. Once they’re mostly cooked down, about 5 minutes, move the veggies to the side of the pot and add the garlic.
Cook an additional 2-3 minutes, then add the Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and stir everything together.
Add half of the beans to a blender with 1 cup of chicken broth. Puree until smooth, then add the pureed beans to the dutch oven with the rest of the broth, beans, and chicken breast. Try to cover the chicken breast with the broth as much as possible.
Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily with a fork. Stir occasionally to make sure everything cooked evenly and nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Transfer the chicken to a separate plate and shred with two forks. Add the shredded chicken back into the pot. Stir in the spinach, lemon juice, and fresh parsley and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, until the spinach is wilted.
Recipe Variations
- For a creamier version, try adding some full fat coconut milk (the canned kind), heavy cream, or half and half. Add this after shredding the chicken, or it might curdle from cooking too long.
- If you want to make this chicken & white bean soup faster, you can add shredded rotisserie chicken right at the end instead of boiling chicken breast.
- For a more Tuscan version, add a can of diced tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil. Top with parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.
- For a deeper flavor, add two bay leaves to the broth before simmering, along with a parmesan cheese rind. Remove both and discard once the soup is ready to serve. You can also use seared chicken breast for more flavor.
- Make this spicy with some red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, or a dash of hot sauce. You can also add a jalapeño with the onion during the recipe.
- Make a southwest version with a dash of cumin, paprika, and lime juice instead of lemon juice.
- Try adding other vegetables like mushrooms, kale, Swiss chard, shredded cabbage or Brussels sprouts, green beans, peas, or potatoes.
Recipe Tip! Sautéing the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic together in the beginning helps build flavor in the soup, instead of just boiling everything. The caramelized bits will add a really nice depth of flavor to the finished dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Great northern beans and navy beans will hold their structure better and will technically work well in a soup, but cannellini beans are my go-to choice because of their creamy texture and buttery flavor. Especially when pureed, and cannellini beans will give the soup a thick creamy texture that’s just better than the other types of white beans.
Recipe Tip! I recommend rinsing the beans before adding them to the soup. Removing the liquid it was packed in helps with the flavor, and also removes some of the sodium.
More Easy Soup Recipes
Storage
Refrigerate leftover white bean chicken soup for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
Freeze leftover soup for 2-3 months. This soup is freezer-friendly, so it’s easy to make a double batch and freeze half for a dinner another night!
Cooking Tips
- This recipe uses canned beans because they’re already fully cooked. Dry beans will not work for this recipe.
- Blend the beans with some of the broth from the recipe to make sure they turn out smooth and creamy.
- The chicken may take longer to cook if the pieces are bigger, just add another 5 minutes at a time until it shred easily with a fork.
- Add the spinach in last, to prevent it from over-cooking.
- If your soup turned out too thin, try whisking 1-2 tablespoons of corn starch with 1/4 cup of cold water and slowly stirring the cornstarch slurry into the soup. Give it a few minutes to thicken while simmering, stirring often.
- I used a small blender to puree the beans, you can also use an immersion blender to thicken the soup. I would do this after removing the chicken, before adding the shredded chicken back in.
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White Bean Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 medium celery ribs, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 3 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 5 cups chicken stock, gluten free, low sodium, reserve 1 cup
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, boneless, skinless
- 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
Equipment
- 1 medium dutch oven or soup pot
- 1 Blender or immersion blender
Instructions
- Over medium-high heat, add olive oil, carrots, onion, and celery to a dutch oven, stirring often. Once they're mostly cooked down, about 5 minutes, move the veggies to the side of the pot and add the garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds, then stir everything together.
- Add the Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Add half of the beans to a blender with 1 cup of chicken broth. Puree until smooth, then add to the dutch oven with the rest of the broth, beans, and chicken breast. Cover the chicken breast in the broth as much as possible to cook.
- Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and shred easily with a fork. Stir occasionally to make sure everything cooking evenly and nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Transfer the chicken to a separate plate and shred with two forks. Add the shredded chicken back into the pot. Stir in the spinach, lemon juice, and fresh parsley and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, until the spinach is wilted.
Notes
- This recipe uses canned beans because they’re already cooked. Dry beans will not work for this recipe.
- The chicken may take longer to cook if the pieces are bigger, just add another 5 minutes at a time until it shred easily with a fork.
- Add the spinach in last, to prevent it from over-cooking.
- I used a small blender to puree the beans, you can also use an immersion blender to thicken the soup. I would do this after removing the chicken, before adding the shredded chicken back in.
Nutrition
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