57 Bean Soup Recipes to Warm You Up Tonight
When you cook these bean soup recipes, remember this piece of advice: Consider doubling the batch. Bean soups (and lentil soups) keep well, making them an ideal Sunday project if you’re looking to get ahead for Monday and the week beyond. They freeze well, too, and a stash can save you on those nights when you just need dinner to be easy. Below, you’ll find our favorites to fill your biggest pot: hearty vegetarian options full of creamy legumes, warming braises with lamb, chicken, or pork, the easiest brothy beans, and many more ways to use the canned beans and dried beans that have been waiting for their time in the spotlight.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Laura Rege1/57Instant Pot Braised Lamb With White Beans and Spinach
Like many of our favorite bean soup recipes, this one starts in the Instant Pot. Bone-in lamb shoulder chops enrich the garlicky broth, canned white beans get creamy and flavorful, and it all happens in about 20 minutes. (You'll stir in the spinach just before serving to wilt it—no pressure cooking needed, there.)
Photo by Eva Kolenko2/57Tomato and Cannellini Bean Soup
This wholesome vegetarian soup starts with beans cooked from scratch, then adds in whole peeled tomatoes, garlic, fennel, Sherry vinegar, and Swiss chard. Top with roasted almonds for crunch.
Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Megan Hedgpeth, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich5/57Ham Hock and White Bean Stew
A ham hock is a great shortcut to deep flavor in any pot of beans. This version layers on crispy shallots, tangy honey-mustard sour cream, and bright, crunchy chopped cornichons.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Nathaniel James, Food Styling by Laura Rege8/57Instant Pot Beef and Sweet Potato Chili
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson11/57Vegetarian Three-Bean Chili
This quick meatless chili leans on a few pantry staples, and simmers on the stovetop just 30 minutes. Garnish with sliced pickled jalapeños and tortilla strips if you like. We also like to serve this with cornbread—doctoring up a boxed cornbread mix is fine.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Hampton12/57Shrimp with Herby White Beans and Tomatoes
Here's another quick and easy dinner: quick-cooking shrimp in a garlicky tomato broth. Serve with crusty bread for dunking, of course.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks13/57Slow-Cooker White Chicken Chili
Throw chicken thighs, green chiles, white beans, and a flurry of spices into your slow cooker and come back to the kitchen six to eight hours later for a hearty, flavorful meal.
Photo by JP Bevins, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone14/57Slow-Cooker Green Chicken Chili
With chicken, sweet potatoes, tomatillo salsa, and pinto beans, this chili is something of a cross between chile verde (usually made with pork) and white chicken chili.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Anna Hampton15/57Lemony Chicken Soup With Farro, White Beans, and Kale
Photo and Food Styling by Anna Stockwell18/57Braised Celery With Lentils and Garlic
Celery and lentils take starring roles in this brothy bowl. When you haven't been grocery shopping in awhile, this comforting, pantry-friendly recipe is just the ticket.
Ditte Isager19/57Spicy Beans with Wilted Greens
A Parmesan rind adds richness to this big pot of beans; garlic, anchovy fillets, and chiles de árbol boost the flavor even further. And rather than a one-note addition of greens, this recipe has you combine kale or mustard greens plus spinach and four cups of peppery arugula or watercress. If you've been thinking you'd like to eat more greens, this soup recipe is the way to do it right.
Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Sue Li, Prop Styling by Elizabeth Jaime21/57Spring Minestrone Verde With Pistachio Pesto
24/57Brothy Beans
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell27/57Lentil and Chicken Soup With Sweet Potatoes and Escarole
Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou30/57Chicken-Lentil Soup With Jammy Onions
Photo by Caleb Adams, Food Styling by Anna Billingskog31/57Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup With Bean and Cheese Nachos
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell33/57Spiced Turkey Chili with Spaghetti Squash
Photo by Heami Lee35/57Summer Bean Soup With Tomato Brown Butter
This summer soup is deeply savory, with anchovies, bacon, and a brilliant brown butter–tomato sauce anchoring the whole thing.
Photo by Kathy Hester38/57Jill Nussinow’s Smoky-Sweet Black-Eyed Peas and Greens for the Instant Pot
44/57Chili of Forgiveness
Jennifer Martiné49/57Persian New Year's Soup with Beans, Noodles, and Herbs (Ash-e-reshteh)
This soup, made with chickpeas, fava beans, kidney beans, and lentils, is often served in late March for Nowruz, the Persian new year.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson53/57Escarole with Italian Sausage and White Beans
Photo by Gabriela Herman54/57Harira (Spiced Moroccan Vegetable Soup With Chickpeas, Cilantro, and Lemon)
Romulo Yanes56/57Winter Minestrone
We've said it before and we'll say it again, here: You really need to brown your tomato paste. That—as well as really cooking the soffritto for 45 minutes—are the key to a deeply flavorful minestrone.
