Spinach and White Bean Soup
A healthy and hearty, comforting soup – chock full of fresh spinach, white beans and orzo pasta – made in less than 30 min!
It’s been quite warm here in Southern California – so warm that I’m still walking around in my flip flops. And a t-shirt. But that still didn’t stop me from devouring this entire pot of soup.
It’s just such an amazingly cozy soup, loaded with wilted baby spinach, white beans, and my favorite orzo pasta. And to top it off, I threw in some freshly squeezed lemon juice for that refreshing hit of goodness.
Now this is completely meatless but some andouille sausage or even crumbled Italian sausage would go beautifully in this soup. Either way, rain or shine, you’ll want a piping hot bowl of this soup all year long!
Spinach and White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in thyme and basil until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in vegetable stock, bay leaves and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. Stir in orzo; reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender, about 10-12 minutes.
- Stir in spinach and cannellini beans until the spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
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Amazing! jam packed with flavor!! I unfortunately neglected to add the lemon juice though and am super sad about it. Next time I think i would like to try using Garbanzo beans, like someone else commented with… I will also reduce the amount of orzo by probably half. it expands too much for my liking and this broth is so yummy that i want to keep as much as possible! I think i might also add mushrooms too and see how that goes. I used Chicken broth as thats what i had on hand. besides forgetting the lemon i followed the recipe as written and even though i plan to alter it a bit, it was absolutely delicious! My extremely picky toddler even gobbled up his entire bowl.. after making me fish out his “seaweed” (spinach) can’t wait to try your other recipes!
I made this soup tonight and absolutely loved it! The orzo made it filling and satisfying, and the lemon added wonderful flavor. Thanks for the recipe! I would definitely recommend.
This soup was fantastic! I made it last night with some minor adjustments based on what I had in the pantry and what was on sale.
I replaced the spinach with kale, added spicy ground turkey sausage, and used water + bullion paste instead of stock because that’s what I had on had.
I loved the addition of the lemon and parsley, it gives the soup such a wonderful “light” feeling- perfect for these summer nights! Can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch.
Thanks for a great recipe!
Just made this soup and it’s super delicious! I did make far too much of it though to eat all of it before it goes bad-is this a suitable soup to freeze? 🙂
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
This is a go to soup that is easy and quick to make. I find the flavor is quite good and I love the addition of lemon juice. Thank-you for such a great recipe.
This was absolutely fabulous !!
I have been on a soup kick for the past couple of months. I will definitely be making this today, after work. I have escarole in my frig, so I’m going to use that instead for spinach.
I just made this and it was amazing!!! I didn’t have a bay leaf or an onion, but it still tasted amazing!
This website is awesome. I just started eating healthy recently and I’m always looking for quick – healthy – meals to cook and two minutes into this website and I’m already bookmarking two recipes I wanna try this week. The nutrition information is awesome too. Thanks a lot for this great work!
Perfect as is. I added 1 TBLS lemon juice and some shredded chicken. SO delicious and healthy!
I’ve made this soup twice now, once with lemon juice and once without. I have to say, the juice of one whole lemon was a bit overwhelming for my taste, but was fabulous without it! I’ll def be making this soup more often, sans lemon 🙂 . Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Sooooo good. Needed a quick dinner for tonight. Husband had purchased spinach with visions of making a tomato florentine soup, but then the week happened. Yesterday, he accidentally opened a can of cannellini. Oops! (He was a little off his game.) He DID make a huge and delicious bowl of fatoush, though. So I hit The Google today to find a soup recipe w/ spinach and cannellini (preferably not tomato-based) and this one was at the top of the list. The lemon juice made me think it would be great along w/ his fatoush, and I was right. So, so, SO good. I went all-in with the veggie broth (ditching the water) and actually did a total of six cups and probably closer to three cups of spinach. And, of course, a little extra garlic. Came together super-quick, super easy. Seven year old son loved it, too. It’s going into the rotation and I’m also going to send some the way of my newly vegetarianized teen niece. Wicked awesome!
I can’t wait to give this recipe a try. Double the green and halve the protein? So many ways to work with the ingredients.
Amazing soup. Made it today. didn’t have Basil so I substituted Oregano and it was great. Love the taste of the lemon. I added even more.
Its delicious!
I didn’t have any Orzo so I made this with a handful of red & white quinoa and a pinch of cayenne. It still turned out great, thanks for the recipe!
This soup is amazing! I made it twice in the last week! It is so easy and the combination of flavors is absolutely right on target with my taste. I love the lemon and the perfect balance of flavors. I defend your addition of a cup of water too! You are very gifted and can’t wait to try some of your other recipes too. xxoo
Thanks for this. I cooked it tonight for dinner & it was so yummy. I’ve always had a soft spot for hearty soups & stews. The smell of onions, garlic, & herbs cooking together just seems right. I love that you threw in spinach & lemon juice too – powerhouses.
I made this for dinner last night and it was a hit with the whole family! Even my picky kids (3, 3 and 5)! So delicious
I just made this soup on a 75-degree day and it hits the spot without feeling too heavy! Great recipe; I’ll definitely use this as a base and put different variations on the soup in the future.
Added sauteed carrots to cook with the soup and then some fresh chopped tomatoes on top. We really enjoyed this soup. Thanks!