Hearty Lentil and White Bean Soup
So hearty, healthy and easy with just 213 calories per serving! You can also make this on any given weeknight, and the leftovers reheat very well! With the Parmesan rinds, this soup is bursting with just so much flavor!
It’s been soups night after night here in our house.
Probably because we went from 90 degree Thailand weather to 50-60 degree LA weather.
Plus, it’s been dreary with rain here and there.
So Butters has been sporting his yellow rain coat, and I haven’t left the house for days in my pink no-shame sweatpants.
I’ve been doing very important things here at home, catching up on This Is Us and How to Get Away with Murder, while making this lentil and white bean soup all week.
I don’t know if it’s the crisp bacon bits that make the soup, or the Parmesan rinds that lends all the flavors.
Maybe it’s both.
Plus. There’s lentils and white beans in here to keep you healthy and full for days.
So I’ll just stay home and get back to my soup, my sweats and my binge-watching shows.
Hearty Lentil and White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon, diced
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 cups chicken stock
- ½ cup brown lentils*
- ¼ cup dry white wine*
- 2 3-inch Parmesan cheese rinds
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 15.5 ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Heat a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Drain excess fat, reserving 2 tablespoons in the stockpot; transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add onion and carrot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic, thyme and bay leaves until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken stock, lentils, wine and Parmesan rinds; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until lentils are almost tender, about 12-15 minutes.
- Stir in cannellini beans and tomatoes until lentils are completely tender, about 10-15 minutes more.
- Serve immediately with bacon, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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This was tasty, super easy and my husband loves lentils, but…the lentils never seemed to get tender. Can they be soaked before putting into the pot?
Can this be made in the crockpot?
Absolutely delicious!!!
Would this freeze well?
I desperately need nutrition info especially sodium content of your recipes! I suffer from Ménière’s disease…thank you!
Hi Karen! We recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain nutritional information to suit your needs. ❤️
I made this soup last week and this week! I absolutely love it!!! It has so much flavour.
This may be a silly question, but can I freeze it?
Just made this soup with lentils, and red kidney beans and threw in a handful of rice. Threw some fresh basil and fennel seeds. It came delicious!!
I made this with 4c strained ham broth (from a ham I cooked a couple days ago that I took the fat off on when it solidified) and 1.5c water in my slow cooker. I didn’t have parmesan rinds so added some grated parmesan when serving. I used French lentils and my own frozen tomatoes. Didn’t use bacon and added some spinach at the very end. Didn’t need to add any salt. It is delicious.
Hi! Question–do you remove the rinds when you’re finished or do they melt into the soup? Thanks!
Good soup! The cheese rinds make it – cooked according to recipe except watching salt so used half water and half chicken broth. Also, to make it heartier, I used 8 ounces of lentils and then I cooked red lentil pasta and added it to the bowl before adding soup and used the pasta water as not enough “juice” due to increase of lentil amount – next time I might add turkey kielbasy to it – cracked black pepper added some zip too – yummy!
Add shredded cabbage for more vegetables, to make this like Lydia B.
Absolutely delicious!!!
Would this freeze well?
So delicious! This was my first time using a parmesan cheese rind. I halved the recipe so I only cut one 3″ chunk. I was a little unsure of how wide to cut the rind – I cut probably about 1/2″ to 3/4″ wide and 3″ long. There was some rind intact after it had finished simmering so I just tossed that. The only thing I did different was omitted the canned tomatoes and gave the broth a couple of squirts of tubed tomato paste. I didn’t use wine, just added a little extra chicken broth. A halved recipe provided 3 bowls of soup. I should have made a full recipe because I want to eat it again tomorrow! One more time…absolutely fantastic!
My favorite soup, no matter what season we are in!! My kids love it, my husband loves it (and he is not a soup person), son in law and grandkids love this soup!!
I love this soup! I eat it when it’s 99 degrees outside with the a/c, portable fan and ceiling fan. Love, love, love this recipe
I made this with a few small additions and substitutes due to my shelter-in-place situation. I substituted half a teaspoon of dried basil for the bay leaves, and I added about a tablespoon of Better Than Bouillon to enhance my stock. I also added a quarter teaspoon of ground cardamom. Delicious and quick! The whole family enjoyed it.
This soup is AMAZING!! DYNAMITE!! Oh it is sooooo good!! I did need to add extra liquid because I didn’t serve it right away but holy smokes!! This soup is incredible!! Didn’t change a thing!! Thank you!!!
Love this soup! It is delicious and easy to make.
I haven’t made this yet, but I’m sure it will be great.
My question is what should I use instead of bacon as we are vegetarian?
Thanks
Just use a little bit of oil to cook your veggies in. The bacon fat is just flavorful oil in this recipe.
Without a doubt the tastiest soup I have ever made. A wonderful mix of textures and flavours, and the herbs make all the difference. We are using this as part of a diet.
Already smells and tastes fantastic as I’ve got this simmering on the stove as we speak!