White Bean and Sausage Soup

A hearty and healthy rustic White Bean and Sausage Soup recipe that’s delicious and incredibly easy to make, featuring fresh spinach, vegetables, sausage, pasta, and white beans. It’s a family pleasing and budget friendly meal.

This simple but flavorful, brothy, homemade Italian sausage soup has been a favorite around my house for years; it’s quick and easy to make comfort food that’s ready to eat in about an hour.

Made from everyday ingredients and pantry staples, this soup doesn’t use a ton of ingredients. It’s also dairy-free, so it fits into many lifestyles. It can be made vegan, vegetarian, or meat-eater.

I first made and shared this recipe in 2014. I’ve updated the photos and the recipe, as well as the information provided, all for a better user experience. And this soup is so good, I just know you’ll love it as much as I do!

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Please let me know if you have any questions about this recipe. I read all the comments myself and I try to help as soon as I can. I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I’ve tried to answer some of your questions already in the post. But if I’ve missed anything, please feel free to leave a comment and ask.

Can this be vegetarian or vegan?

This soup can please any type of eater in the house. Vegan, vegetarian, meat eater, dairy free, even gluten free.

One of the things I’ve always loved about this soup is the ability to switch it up. By adding the sausage at the end of cooking it allows you to add it to the serving bowl directly if you want.

See, I don’t eat meat but my husband does. Now, he’s very kind and eats most everything I cook for him. But occasionally he likes to have a steak or Carne Asada tacos or something else meaty that I won’t eat.

This White Bean and Sausage Soup is one way I’ve found to get around this meat vs. no meat situation. We cook the sausages separately. I heat my Tofurky veggie links (which are vegan) in a skillet or in the microwave, while he grills a sausage. Use any kind of sausage you like, pork, turkey, chicken, or your favorite!

Then we throw our cooked and heated sausages into the bowl and top with the cooked soup. It makes him happy, and keeps my dish meat-free with a vegetarian sausage soup.

So, if you have picky eaters or dietary needs in your house, this is a great way to go. You can make pork sausages for some, veggie links for some, or chicken sausages for others without having to make any separate meals.

Vegetarian recipes for meat eaters

If you’re looking for more vegetarian meals for meat eaters, be sure to try these great recipes! French Onion Bruschetta are a great light meal that any meat eater will love! Broccoli Wild Rice Casserole with meatballs is another of my favorites! Red Pepper and Fresh Mozzarella Lasagna is another dish I make all the time that’s great for company too!

How to make

This quick to make Italian Sausage White Bean Soup is a light herb and tomato broth-based soup. Here’s how to make it, with some time save pro tips splashed in.

Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for full ingredient amounts and instructions.

start with the onion

Cook the chopped onion in hot oil until it’s nice and caramelized browned. Adding the salt to the onion while it’s cooking helps to draw out the moisture and start the browning process.

If the onion is starting to burn on the bottom of the pan, just mix in some water, just a little bit, like 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup’s worth. Scrap the bottom of the pan to get the browned bits off. Basically, you’re deglazing the pan.

Time save tip: look for frozen chopped onions at the grocery store; they can be added to soups and stews in seconds.

add in the next veggies

Add carrots, red pepper, and dried thyme to the caramelized onion, and continue to cook for 5-7 more minutes.

Time saver tip: Use those bagged shredded carrots from the produce section at the grocery store to save time on peeling and chopping.

Add tomatoes, beans, fresh pepper, broth, and rosemary springs to pan. Bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer, and cook 5 minutes.

broth

Not only do the beans add flavor to the soup, they add more protein.

And as always: use your favorite broth here. I love homemade vegetable broth but if you don’t have that around, {affiliate link} Better than Bouillon vegetable base is my top pick for store-bought. If you have a favorite chicken broth, by all means, use what already tastes great to you, just know that the soup will not be vegetarian.

finish it off with pasta and leafy greens

Add broken spaghetti pieces, and cook for about 10 minutes until pasta is al dente (cooking time may vary based on pasta shape).

In my updated pictures you’ll see that I used fideo cut spaghetti in the soup. Another time saving tip so you don’t have to break the spaghetti up yourself.

I like the fun addition of the broken spaghetti pieces, but you could also use any small pasta like ditalini, orzo, or even stars.

Remove and discard rosemary stems.

Add cooked sausages, and fresh spinach leaves. Stir until spinach wilts. Garnish with additional rosemary if desired.

Serving suggestions

Serve a basket of warm homemade bread for dunking. I suggest this delicious No Knead Bread.

Change it up

I love this one pot meal soup because it’s so flexible and so easily changed up; it makes it the perfect soup for picky eaters!

Here are some suggestions you can try to this budget friendly recipe.

Don’t have cannellini beans? Use another kind of bean. Which makes this a great soup to make from your pantry items! Kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, navy bean will all be great!

For more flavor use fire roasted diced tomatoes.

Want some heat? Add hot Italian sausage or some red pepper flakes.

Don’t want to use spinach? Try kale or Swiss Chard. Or simply leave it out (my original recipe didn’t include the leafy greens).

To keep the sodium content low on this bean and sausage soup, use low-sodium cannellini beans and low-sodium broth.

Add a diced potato or two to this soup if you wish for a really hearty soup.

Any small pasta like macaroni, shells, ditalini, or stars will be great. And those Fideo are a nice time saver.

Toss on a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese just before serving.

You can use your favorite fresh herbs in the soup. Or top it with some fresh basil just before serving.

Try adding a splash of cream (about ½ cup to 1 cup or so) to if you want to make a creamy white bean soup.

How long will the soup last?

It should keep refrigerated in a tightly covered container for up to one week.

The pasta will continue to absorb the liquid, and the soup will thicken. So, you may need to add more broth to the leftover soup as you reheat it.

I’ve also made the soup the night before, and reheated it the next day adding the pasta in during reheating.

Can I freeze this?

This soup freezes well, with a couple of simple changes.

I recommend leaving the pasta and the spinach out if you’re going to freeze it.

Allow the soup to cool completely, and transfer it to containers with airtight lids, leaving space at the top as it will expand as it freezes.

Reheat on the stove. Add the pasta, and cook. Then add spinach in at the end.

You could also reheat it in the microwave, and cook the pasta separately and add it to the individual bowls just before serving.

White bean recipes

Love white beans? Try my Mexican White Bean Soup, Red pepper and white bean stew, and White bean gratin casserole.

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White Bean and Sausage Soup Recipe