Tuscan White Bean Sausage and Kale Soup

This Creamy Tuscan White Bean Soup combines spicy sausage and protein-packed beans with kale and tomatoes for a soup that feels indulgent but isn’t drowning in dairy. Cozy comfort food with a veggie-forward twist!

This soup is fantastic paired with some Garlic Baguette, but I also love it with a plate of Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad or Pear Gorgonzola Salad on the side.

Why You'll Love This Creamy White Bean Soup

• Filling and Delicious: So much goodness in one hearty bowl—this is almost more of a tuscan bean stew than a soup. Best tuscan bean soup ever!
• One Pot Meal:  Everything cooks in just one pot, so this is an easy meal that will not fill up your sink with dirty dishes.
• Healthy and Gluten-Free: With sausage, beans, and vegetables, this soup is packed with protein, fiber, and nutrients. Gluten-free too!

Tuscan Bean Soup Ingredients

• Sausage: I like a spicy Italian pork sausage in this soup, but you can use almost any kind of sausage. Mild works just fine, and if you find you want to add some additional spice, you could always stir in some crushed red pepper flakes. Turkey or chicken sausage works too. You could even substitute pancetta or bacon as well (crumble after cooking, and save some for garnish!). 
• White Beans: You can use any kind of white beans you prefer. I typically use Great Northern beans, but cannellini beans or navy beans are just as good. 
• Potato: Russet potato is really the best type of potato to use in this soup. It’s sturdy enough that the small chunks in the soup keep their shape without turning into mush. 
• Baby Kale: I specify baby kale because you can add it to a soup without needing to cook it first. You can use tuscan kale or curly kale rather than baby kale, but make sure to cut it in very small pieces or else par-cook it and drain it before adding to the soup. Feel free to replace the baby kale with baby spinach or chopped spinach as well. 
• Parmesan Cheese: I love to finish this soup with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top. You could also use Pecorino Romano, or leave it off entirely. Also, throwing a parmesan rind in the soup for flavor is absolutely delicious (just remove before serving.)
• Sun-dried Tomatoes or Canned Petite Diced Tomatoes: Sun-dried tomatoes give an extra depth of flavor to this soup, but canned petite diced tomatoes are delicious too. You can also chop 2 medium fresh tomatoes and add to the soup. 
• Italian Seasoning: Feel free to replace with with dried basil, dried oregano, or a combination. 

How To Make Tuscan White Bean Soup

Take 1 pound of hot Italian sausages out of their casings, and crumble into a large saucepan or dutch oven. Then sauté sausage over medium-high heat, breaking up large chunks with a wooden spoon.

When cooked through and browned (about 5-7 minutes), spoon off any excess rendered fat—keeping 1-2 teaspoons in the pan is fine.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to pan, then stir in 1 peeled and chopped onion and 1 peeled and chopped russet potato. Cook for 7 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently, until vegetables soften.

Add 3 chopped garlic cloves and ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning and cook for an additional minute. Add about a cup of drained and finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (or canned petite diced tomatoes) and 5 cups chicken stock. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

If you think you will need more liquid, add up to a cup more chicken stock.

Then cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently for around 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Add salt and season with pepper (and additional salt), to taste.

Add 1 can of drained white beans, 4 ounces of baby kale, and ½ cup of heavy cream. Bring back to a simmer. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.

If you prefer a creamier soup, use an immersion blender to blend the soup until you get the consistency you want. You can also remove 1–2 cups of soup from the pot, blend in a blender, then return to the saucepan and stir.

Serve hot, with grated parmesan cheese grated on top.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Store Tuscan Bean Soup

Store soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Note that it may separate slightly after it cools. If this happens, don’t worry. It will come back together when you reheat it. Also, as it cools, any leftover fat from the sausage will solidify on the top layer. You can remove this before reheating if you prefer. Reheat in a saucepan on the stovetop or in the microwave on 70% power.

Can You Freeze Tuscan Bean Soup?

Creamy soups do not take well to freezing, as the freezing/defrosting process leads cream to separate. If you know in advance that you’ll want to freeze this soup, I would recommend not including the cream at the end.

The soup is plenty delicious without the cream anyway, and you can always choose to add the cream after you have defrosted and reheated the soup.

Expert Tips for Sausage Bean Soup

This Tuscan white bean soup with kale is very easy to make, with only one pot required. Because there is only one pot, though, it’s important to make sure the sausage is well-cooked and browned, but not burned, before adding the other ingredients.

Perfectly browned sausage will add a depth of flavor to the soup, especially from the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan that will release when liquids are added. But burned sausage will create a bad taste in the rest of the soup. Watch your sausage carefully, and turn down the heat if you sense it is cooking too quickly. 

Make sure that your potato is chopped in small pieces (around ¾-inch in size), so that they will cook in under 20 minutes. If your potato chunks are larger, and are not cooked within that time, you can cook the soup for longer. Just keep in mind you may want to add more broth if too much evaporates out as the potato is cooking. 

I love a white bean soup with kale, or really any green, in it. It’s a healthy ingredient that adds both color and nutrients to the soup. In this recipe, you add the kale just for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.

That gives it time to wilt into the soup, but not begin to disintegrate. Cooking the soup for longer will cause the kale to break down more—still delicious, but you won’t get the difference in textures that just-cooked kale adds to the soup. 

Other Delicious Soup Recipes

I love soup so much that I once thought about opening my own soup restaurant—who wouldn’t love that?? But until I do, I’m posting all my favorite soup recipes here. Creamy Chicken Florentine Soup, French Lentil Soup, and Classic Italian Wedding Soup can't be beat. Or check out some of my other favorites:

And if meaty, comforting soups are your jam, check out this delicious Creamy Taco Soup or this creamy Sausage Gnocchi Soup. For meat and bean lovers, try this Easy Ham and Bean Soup. We also love this Keto Tomato Soup from Explorer Momma!

If you try this Tuscan White Bean Soup with Kale recipe, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below—I read them all, and your feedback is invaluable to me.

And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!

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Tuscan Sausage and Bean Soup

Chef Molly Pisula

This Creamy Tuscan White Bean Soup is so warming and comforting, you’ll want to serve it throughout the cold weather months. Loaded with vegetables and spicy sausage!

4.85 from 91 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Soup Recipes

Cuisine Italian

Servings 6

Calories 596 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 pound Italian pork sausage mild or spicy
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion peeled and chopped
• 1 russet potato peeled and chopped into ½-inch chunks
• 1 7 ½-ounce jar of sundried tomatoes drained and chopped, or ½ can petite diced tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
• ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 5-6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 can low-sodium white beans rinsed and drained
• 4 ounces baby kale
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Grated parmesan cheese to serve

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

• Take sausage out of its casing, and crumble it into a large saucepan or dutch oven.
• Sauté sausage over medium-high heat, breaking up large chunks with a wooden spoon. When cooked through and browned (about 7-10 minutes), spoon off any excess rendered fat—keeping 1-2 teaspoons in the pan is fine.
• Add olive oil to pan, then stir in onions and potatoes.
• Cook for 7 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently, until vegetables soften.
• Add garlic and Italian seasoning and cook for an additional minute.
• Add tomatoes and 5 cups chicken broth, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. For a less chunky soup, add up to another cup of chicken broth.
• Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently for around 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
• Add salt and season with pepper (and additional salt), to taste.
• Add white beans, baby kale, and cream, and bring back to a simmer. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.
• Serve hot, with grated parmesan cheese grated on top.

Notes

Expert Tips: 
If you prefer a creamier soup, use an immersion blender to blend the soup until you get the consistency you want. You can also remove 1–2 cups of soup from the pot, blend in a blender, then return to the saucepan and stir.

Storage Tips: 
Note that the finished soup will keep for 3-5 days in the refrigerator, but it may separate slightly after it cools. If this happens, don’t worry. It will come back together when you reheat it. Also, as it cooks, any leftover fat from the sausage will solidify on the top layer. You can remove this before reheating if you prefer. If you'd like to freeze this soup, don't add the heavy cream at the end. Instead, let soup cool completely, then freeze. After defrosting the soup, reheat on the stovetop in a large saucepan and add the cream 5-10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 596kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 31gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 66mgSodium: 814mgFiber: 9gSugar: 19g

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More About Molly

Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!

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