Chicken & White Bean Soup

A creamy hearty soup loaded with plenty of chicken, white beans and veggies – this recipe for Chicken & White Bean Soup is going to be enjoyed any night of the week. The simplicity of the ingredients is what makes it such and inviting dish. You can’t get much more “home cooking” then theses classic rustic flavors all in a hot soup.

An absolute must for making great creamy soups is having a good Immersion blender. And not just one of those small ones for smoothies. You need a more industrial one that will break down larger chunks of veggies. Alternatively, you can use a pitcher style blender – just use caution in putting the lid on, as the temperature of the cooked soup can cause it to “explode” and make a very hot mess.

One tip I want to pass on about the herbs and spices used in this recipe. To get the full body of the flavors, I suggest adding them (rosemary, thyme, sage, salt and pepper) to a small bowl and crush slightly with the back of a spoon – or use a pestle and mortar if you have one. Then does two things – it opens up the aromatics of the dried herbs. And secondly, it reduces the “woody” bits in your smooth soup, that can be unpleasant.

I just serve this with some warm sourdough for dipping into the soup. It really is a hearty soup with all of the chicken and beans, so it can stand along as a whole meal. One of my sons said he thought that a little bit of bacon or ham might be nice in this soup, so that is a variation that you could try out. I used Great Northern Beans because they are usually easy to find and have a nice mild flavor. You could also go for a Navy Bean, Cannelloni Bean, or any other mild bean.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Chicken & White Bean Soup

A creamy hearty soup loaded with plenty of chicken, white beans and veggies.

Course Dinner, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword carrots, celery, Chicken, kale, rosemary, thyme, white beans, white onion

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Equipment

• 1 Immersion Blender

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp Butter
• 1 White Onion minced
• 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
• 1 cup Carrot fine diced
• 1 cup Celery fine diced
• 2 tsp Rosemary
• 2 tsp Thyme
• 2 tsp Sage
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper
• ¼ cup Flour
• 2 lb Chicken breast or tenders
• 1 qt Chicken Broth
• 1 qt Water
• 3 15oz can Great Northern Beans drained, divided
• 2 cups Heavy Cream
• 2 cups Kale rough chopped

Instructions

• In a large stock pot over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add onions, garlic, carrots and celery. Saute about 5 minutes. Then add thyme, rosemary, sage, salt and pepper. Sauce another 5 minutes then add flour. Cook for 5 minutes more.
• Then add chicken, water, chicken broth and one can of bean. Bring just a bubble, and reduce to heat medium. Continue to cook for 30 minutes.
• Remove chicken from soup and chop/shred to desired size.
• Remove half of soup to a large mixing bowl. Use an immersion blender to blitz till smooth. Add heavy cream and blend together before adding back to the pot. Add remaining beans and let simmer for 10 minutes more. Stir in kale and remove pot from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.