White Bean And Sausage Soup

If you’ve tried Italian Wedding Soup, this recipe will be ringing bells. The difference is Wedding Soup uses small pasta in place of beans and leaves out the cream. Which soup camp are you? Pasta or beans? This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase through our links, we may earn a commission.

Italian sausage soup with white beans

Hearty and comforting, customisable and economical, quick to prep and easy to cook. And flavoursome! This soup is a busy cook’s dream. While you can use any sausage you like, Italian sausage is a nifty flavour building block, it’s sweet tasting with fennel and juicy pork. Pairing with creamy white beans balances both the coarse texture of the sausage and its strong flavour. It’s these two elements working in synergy that makes this soup exceptional. Built on a solid soffritto foundation, that’s celery, onion and carrot, it’s a wholesome soup from the outset. Dried herbs: basil, oregano and thyme all help to conjure Italian hillside flavours for a truly Mediterranean meal. As a substantial soup of sausage and beans and potatoes and vegetables, there’s no need for anything else. Except maybe a slug of cream if you want to add a touch of decadence.

Substitutions and variations

This soup with sausage and beans is a bit like a combination lock. You could make it 999 times and come up with a different recipe each time. The essentials are sausage, beans and greens. And even those can be tinkered with. I’ve used Italian sausage as it’s fragrant with fennel, coarsely ground and mostly meat (little rusk). But peppery Lincolnshire, poultry versions, or just plain old British bangers will do. Flavoured sausages work best in my opinion as they are ready-made flavour bombs that enhance the depth of the soup. With almost endless types of beans to choose from, you could make a different bean and sausage soup every week! I used butter beans, not only because I had a can to hand, but because they are smooth-textured and, well, buttery. Speckled borlotti beans look pretty and taste a bit nutty, cannellini are fluffy and mild. But the options are endless! Which will you use? I like leafy greens in a soup. Kale is robust and tough, so it keeps it texture when added to soup. Cavolo nero is fantastically flavoursome. Spinach can be used, but I find it a bit wilty. And if you can’t get your hands on leaves, throw in some frozen peas. No-one is watching! If you are dairy-free, you can leave out the cream or use your favourite plant-based substitute. Finally, texture. Are you a chunky soup or a smooth soup kind of person? I love the flavour of this herb-rich broth, so I tend to leave out the cream and keep it chunky.

Serving suggestions

A simple, firm-structured bread is all this soup needs as a side kick. A savoury sourdough or rye will hold their shape when plunged. Or go for garlic! Air fryer garlic bread is stuffed with cheese and makes a satisfyingly melty accompaniment to this herb-heavy Italian sausage soup.

Storage and leftovers

A soup in the freezer is worth two in the fridge. OK, so not a real proverb, but still true! It’s an absolute life-saver- it’s cold, dark and wet in the evenings and you don’t want to head to the supermarket after work, but luckily you have freezer soup to fall back on! Providing you leave the cream out of this white bean soup recipe, it will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat gently on the hob. If you wanted to use cream, now’s the time to add it.