Sarra Ina Garten’s Tuscan white bean soup is a thick, hearty soup made with dried cannellini beans, pancetta, leeks, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, fresh rosemary, and chicken stock. The beans soak overnight and then simmer for a full hour and a half, so plan ahead. It makes 3 quarts, serves 6, and takes about 2 hours of active time.
This recipe comes from Go-To Dinners, where Ina says “soup for dinner has to be really hearty, with lots of flavor and texture.” She starts with sautéed pancetta, leeks, and aromatics, then adds dried cannellini beans and up to 10 cups of chicken stock. What makes her version worth the overnight soak is the texture: “soaking dried beans ahead may take some planning, but the result is a much richer, silkier soup” than anything you get from a can.
The beans must be fully tender before you season with salt, not the other way around. Adding salt too early tightens the skins on the beans and they never soften properly, no matter how long you simmer them. Ina adds the full tablespoon of kosher salt at the start because the long cooking time and large volume of stock can handle it, but if your beans are still firm at the 90-minute mark, the salt went in before they had enough time to absorb water.
Ina Garten Tuscan White Bean Soup Recipe
Course: Soups6
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalIna has been making white bean soup since her first cookbook in 1999, and this version from Go-To Dinners is the most complete: pancetta, leeks, carrots, celery, and rosemary build layers the original never had. It stores in the fridge for up to a week and freezes beautifully for months.
Ingredients
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1 lb (450g) dried white cannellini beans
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1/4 cup (60ml) good olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
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4 oz (115g) pancetta, 1/4-inch diced
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2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
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2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
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2 cups 1/2-inch diced carrots, scrubbed (3 to 5 carrots)
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2 cups 1/2-inch diced celery (4 ribs)
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2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)
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2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
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8 to 10 cups (1.9 to 2.4L) chicken stock, preferably homemade
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2 bay leaves
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1 tablespoon kosher salt
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1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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Freshly grated Italian Parmesan cheese, for serving
Directions
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Soak the beans: Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Drain, rinse under cold running water, and drain again.
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Build the base: Heat the olive oil in a medium pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the pancetta and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until browned. Add the leeks, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and rosemary and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender.
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Simmer the soup: Add the drained beans, chicken stock, bay leaves, salt, and pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer partially covered for 1 hour and 30 minutes, until the beans are very tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking.
- Rest and serve: Discard the bay leaves, cover the pot, and let the soup sit off the heat for 15 minutes. This resting time lets the beans absorb more broth and thickens the soup naturally. Reheat if needed, ladle into large shallow bowls, sprinkle with Parmesan, drizzle with olive oil, and serve hot.
FAQs
Why soak the beans overnight instead of using canned?
Dried beans that soak overnight and simmer slowly have a completely different texture from canned. They turn creamy and silky on the inside while holding their shape, and they release starch into the broth as they cook, which thickens the soup naturally without any flour or cream.
Canned beans are already fully cooked, so they can’t absorb the flavors of the pancetta, rosemary, and chicken stock the way dried beans do during 90 minutes of simmering. You also lose the natural thickening effect. If you’re in a real rush, two 15 oz cans of cannellini beans drained and rinsed will work, but reduce the simmer time to 30 minutes and know the texture won’t be the same.
How is this different from Ina’s Rosemary White Bean Soup?
The Rosemary White Bean Soup in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook is the original version from 1999, and it’s much simpler: just onions, garlic, a branch of rosemary, beans, and chicken stock, pureed through a food mill into a smooth soup.
This Tuscan version from Go-To Dinners adds pancetta, leeks, carrots, and celery, and the soup stays chunky instead of getting pureed. The 23-year gap between the two recipes shows how Ina evolved the dish from a simple pureed bean soup into a full dinner with more texture and depth.
Can you make Tuscan white bean soup ahead?
This is one of Ina’s best make-ahead soups. She tags it “Make Ahead / Freeze Ahead” in the cookbook, and the flavor genuinely improves after a day in the fridge because the beans continue to absorb the rosemary and pancetta-flavored broth overnight.
It keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week and freezes well for several months. The one thing to watch is thickness: the beans soak up liquid as the soup sits, so it will be much thicker when you reheat it. Add water or chicken stock a splash at a time while reheating until it reaches the consistency you want.
Why does the soup rest for 15 minutes off the heat?
Those 15 minutes with the lid on let the beans finish absorbing broth while the temperature evens out. Beans that go straight from a hard simmer into a bowl can split and turn mushy on the outside while the center stays slightly grainy.
Resting off the heat also thickens the soup. The starches released by the beans during cooking continue to set up as the soup cools slightly, giving you a richer body without adding any thickener. It’s a small step that makes a noticeable difference in the final texture.
What should you serve with Tuscan white bean soup?
Crusty Italian bread is the natural match, and it’s all you really need since the soup already has protein from the pancetta and substance from the beans. A hunk of ciabatta or a thick slice of sourdough works perfectly for sopping up the broth.
For a lighter side, Ina pairs bean soups with simple green salads throughout her cookbooks. An arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette and shaved Parmesan would cut through the richness. In Go-To Dinners, she also suggests adding leftover sausage to the soup to make it even more of a one-pot meal.
