Potato, White Bean & Kale Vegan Soup
Did you know I was once vegan for 7 months?
It’s true. 7 months with no meat, dairy or eggs.
It started after what was supposed to be a very romantic getaway to Napa with Shawn in December 2011. After eating more than my fair share of cheese with all the wine we tasted, I was not feeling well for days after. I convinced myself that I must have an issue with dairy. This definitely had may have had something to do with having watched Forks Over Knives and Food Inc. documentaries a few days earlier. Either way, I decided to give up all animal products and was vegan from the January until July.
And like the good fiance he was, Shawn went vegan with me. Our entire diet was fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains. Our weekly grocery bill was cut by 2/3 and better yet we even lost a few pounds. We both felt amazing.
But…
I sure did miss pizza with cheese. Real cheese. Vegan cheese never cut it for me. And eggs cooked over easy with sourdough toast and avocado. And more than anything, I really missed deli sandwiches. Eating out was tricky too.
So when we went on a camping trip that July, the idea of chopping veggies and cooking brown rice on our Coleman stove sounded like too much of a pain. Turkey burgers it was!
I slowly started incorporating in all foods again, and now we’re in a happy medium where we still have vegan meals from time to time, along with eating dairy and lean proteins. Everything in moderation is what works best for us now.
This vegan potato, cannellini bean and kale soup is one of my favorite recipes I created during our vegan months. It is so full of flavor, and the white beans give it a meaty texture and chew. You’ll forget there isn’t any meat.
What really makes this soup is the garlic rosemary crostini’s. You slice up a sourdough baguette and top them with a flavorful garlic, rosemary and olive oil mixture then toast them up in the oven. Their crispiness and sourness makes this soup irresistible.
After weekends full of holiday parties, sugary cocktails & cookies galore, I love to reboot with this clean eating soup. After eating it you’ll feel like a whole new person.
Potato, White Bean & Kale Vegan Soup
Ingredients
For the soup
- 1 large yellow onion chopped medium, about 2 cups
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves finely minced, about 1.5 tablespoons
- 2 32 ounce containers of veggie stock
- 2 pounds yukon gold potatoes chopped medium, about 4 cups
- 2 cans cannellini beans (also known as white kidney beans)
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 3 cups kale, ribs removed and torn into 2" pieces
- salt & pepper
For the crostini's
- 1 baguette sourdough bread, sliced into 1/4" slices
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves finely minced, about 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat a large pot over medium heat with 2 teaspoons olive oil. Saute onions for 5-7 minutes until translucent. Add in 1.5 tablespoons minced garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
- Pour in vegetable stock, potatoes, cannellini beans and rosemary. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Make the crositini's by combining 4 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon minced garlic and a pinch of salt. Press and smash the garlic & rosemary into the olive oil with the back of a spoon to release the flavors. Lay sourdough slices on a baking sheet. Evenly divide olive oil mixture on top of each slice. Bake with oven rack at upper third of oven until crostini's are crispy, 20-25 minutes.
- Add the kale to the soup and cook 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, salt & pepper to taste, then allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve warm topped with crostini's.
- Will keep in an air container in the fridge for 7 days.
149 Comments on “Potato, White Bean & Kale Vegan Soup”
Natalie, this soup was wonderful. So easy and delicious.
After being a vegetarian for 34 years, I become a vegan five years ago. Living in the midst of cattle country (ranchers, feedlots, and packing plants) and in a small town (population 900) has made my choice challenging at times, but I have a clear conscience and a healthy body because of that decision.
Those who say they “miss” eating cheese, eggs, and meat have not seen the suffering these poor creatures endure for the self-absorbed pleasure of consumers. If those who injest eggs and dairy products saw the true workings of factory farming, if everyone who ate meat had to witness the treatment of the animals in the feedlots and packing plants, then eating cheese, dairy, and meat would not be such a glib choice.
“Just how destructive does a culinary preference have to be before we decide to eat something else? If contributing to the suffering of billions of animals that live miserable lives and (quite often) die in horrific ways isn’t motivating, what would be? If being the number one contributor to the most serious threat facing the planet (global warming) isn’t enough, what is? And if you are tempted to put off these questions of conscience, to say not now, then when?”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals
I agree with this comment, as well as with the others on industrial agriculture, though I do want to mention that there are small town, local and organic farmers out there who treat animals and the environment well– while I do not support the dairy or egg industry, I love to see our friend Bob’s hens running around wild, pecking at bugs, etc. and we will eat those eggs, which are seasonal because hens naturally lay more during certain times of the year. While I don’t drink dairy right now, I can imagine some people out there who keep cows for milk and treat the animal with respect. In the book White Goats and Black Bees, the couple who wrote the book keep goats and only take the leftover milk after the baby goat is done nursing — I mean, that is a far cry from the attitudes of industrial agriculture. After many years as a vegan, I now occasionally eat local eggs and raw local honey, and I realize that my choices are a fortunate privilege. I can buy something called nutritional yeast, or use a food processor to blend cashews into a delicious and convincing vegan cream or cheese, and lots more, but I feel it is dangerous to begin to think that my conscious is somehow clearer because of my dietary choices. It is true that we must care for the earth and respect all its creatures, including those who haven’t decided to become vegetarian or even vegan yet.
Thanks for the recipe–making it now.
This looks great, we shared this in a blog here: http://wedigfood.com/foodie-blog/10-delicious-vegan-soups-for-fall
We are building a community of vegans and would love for you to hop over and share a recipe.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Made this soup tonight and it was delicious! I just learned about your website today and was excited to read more of the recipes.
Glad you liked the soup! And thanks for letting me know your opinion. Have a great rest of your day : )
Made this tonight! Delicious and def a repeat! Thanks for sharing!
I am so happy to hear that Michele! Thanks for letting me know, you just made my day : )
I was wondering if you had tried or heard of anybody else adding sweet potatoes to the soup? I’ve been trying to find a recipe that matches my local vegan restaraunt and this is the best I’ve found, but none have had sweet potatoes
Hi Madison, I actually have made this with sweet potatoes before. It’s delicious! Just use the same recipe, but substitute peeled sweet potatoes instead. I hope you love it if you try it! Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!
Delicious. I made it with 1/2 the amount of stock but I used the liquid in the bean cans. Cooked it as directed, but then let it cool and packed it up and ate it the next night — it just seemed to me that it needed that time. And it is wonderful! Thank you!
What a great idea Enyaj! I never thought to use the bean liquid! I’m going to try that next time. The leftovers definitely keep well, makes a delicious lunch all week long. So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know, you just made my morning : )
Do you think the soup would taste okay if I used sweet potato instead of regular potato? That’s all I have:(
Actually, I bet that would be delicious Sofia! I kind of want to try that now. It will give it great flavor. Let me know how it turns out!
I know this comment comes far after the post, but I had to speak up. Just this past weekend I watched a number of documentaries on diet (thanks, Netflix), including ‘Forks Over Knives’. I’m four days into my vegan cleanse, and feeling great for doing it.
I’m a total meat lover and I gorge myself on cupcakes any chance I get. But for those same reasons I think it’s best that I take a step back and let my body heal for a while. I won’t lie, I expect to have the odd halibut fillet, scrambled egg, or butter pat on my corn. Even with all that, though, it’s bound to be an improvement on the junk I’ve been pumping into my body through my mouth.
So thanks for the new recipe!
I did the same thing and was vegan for about 7 months after watching that documentary! I felt great, but definitely missed my meats and cheeses. I still incorporate a lot of vegan meals, and it’s cool to know I can go thru life without eating any animal products and be fine. Hope you enjoy your cleanse! This soup is one of my favorites that I came up with when I was vegan.
Laura and Natalie, might I suggest the books, The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, and Eat To Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.
My husband and I (life-long meat eaters) went 90/10 (%) vegan over 14 months ago, and while we do miss cheese, and the occasional egg, we’ve been very happy with the change in our health. Being 90/10 means we don’t have to be obsessive over whether or not there is cream in the sauce when we go to a restaurant. We just make sure that we make the very best choices we can, and we cook vegan at home. We do eat at home most of the time.
Thank you for the Potato soup recipe. I had some extra potatoes and was hunting for a nice way to use them. It’s percolating in the crock pot now and I’ve added some lemon pepper (I find that brightens everything), and may blend some of the soup to make it a little creamy (before I add the kale).
I made this two weeks ago and it was DELICIOUS! The crostini’s really add the perfect touch. I am going to make this again tomorrow per my (not at all vegan) boyfriend’s request. Thank you so much for a delicious, vegan recipe!
Thank you *so* much for letting me know that Lauren! You just made my day! I love this soup, and the crostini definitely makes it. I always make a few extra, and munch on them all day. I’m so glad your non-vegan boyfriend loved it too! I made this for my husband, and didn’t tell him it was completely vegan, and he slurped it down. I bet if I told him it was vegan he would have been a little more skeptical. Men are so funny like that. You have a great rest of you day! Thanks for stopping by my little blog Lauren!
Hello, we tried your recipe and it ended up being really salty and had too much pepper. We liked the idea of the soup but will use half of the seasoning next time!
Hi Susan. Oh dear, sorry it was too salty. You’re the second person I’ve heard this from, so I’m just going to remove my suggested salt and pepper measurements and instead say salt and pepper to taste. Apparently I like things salty, haha! Thanks for the feedback, and hope you give it another try with less salt. Have a good rest of your day!
Made this tonight… SO YUMMY! I doubled the amount of kale :) this is definitely a keeper! It was way too salty for my taste (both the soup & bread); I had even reduced the salt in the soup to 1 T & still too salty. Still delicious!
I so glad you liked the soup Bre! Thanks for letting me know, you just made my night. I heard from another reader that it was a tad salty. I’m wondering if the vegetable broth I use isn’t very salty? I use the Trader Joe’s brand. Or maybe I just really like salt, haha! But thanks for your suggestion. I’m going to adjust the recipe to 2 teaspoons salt, and then suggesting tasting and salting to taste. Have a great night Bre!
I made this soup tonight and my husband and I loved it! Am taking some to work tomorrow for lunch. Crostini is yummy also!
Oh I am so glad you and your husband liked this soup! It reheats wonderfully too, so you’re in for a yummy lunch. Sometimes I’ll make a big pot of this and take it to work and it will be my lunch for the week. Thank you for letting me know Lisa! You just made my morning. Hope you have a good week : )
Hi Natalie! This is kind of a stupid question, but I was wondering if there is vegan bread available.
Thank you!
Hi Sofia! Not a stupid question at all! Believe it or not, most bread is vegan. It’s usually just flour, yeast, sugar, water and olive oil. Read the labels to make sure. If there’s milk, whey (which is milk protein) cheese or butter don’t get than one. But a typical sourdough banquette should be vegan. Thanks for asking! And thanks for visiting my little recipe website! Hope you have a great weekend : )
Thank you so much!
I made this last night and it was amazing!!! I have to feed my boyfriend who is a meat eater. We divided the recipe down the middle and made two batches!! We added extra rosemary and garlic. We added slightly less salt than recommended and it was perfect, although I think our vegetable stock was more on the salty side.
I am so happy to hear that Michaela! You are so nice for telling me that you loved it, you just made my day. Glad your boyfriend liked it too. Guys tend to freak out when there’s no meat in a dish, but my husband happily eats this without even noticing it’s all veggies. I love that you added extra rosemary and garlic, the more flavor the better! Hope you have a great rest of your week : )
I found this recipe on Pinterest and made it tonight. It was amazing! So happy to have stumbled across it.
Thank you so much Natalie! I’m glad you liked it. You’re so sweet to let me know. You just made my day!
This looks perfect for this time of year, such a great combo of flavours.
Natalie! I made this soup for dinner the other night. So good! I added fresh parmesan at the table so it wasn’t vegan anymore, but still really delicious. Love me some kale! Love you, too, and miss you! I hope you are doing well.
I’m so glad to hear that Caryn! I used to make this soup constantly when Shawn and I were vegan. I bet the parmesan would make it even better now! Now when I make it I’ll sometimes add shredded chicken or sausage. Only makes it better. I am obsessed with kale in soups lately too! It stands up much better than spinach. I always take the ribs out though, I just like the tender leafy parts. Love you too! I am so glad you read my little recipe blog : )
Thanks for the recipe! We had all the ingredients in the house (thanks to our CSA) so my daughter and I made this soup for supper. Yum!
Thank you for your sweet comment Monica! I’m *so* glad your family liked it! I love hearing that, you’ve made my day. And how lucky you already had all the ingredients in your CSA box. I’ve been thinking of signing up for one of those. I bet it would be a fun challenge to think of new recipes to use all the ingredients : ) I hope you have a great weekend!
Yum! So healthy and appetizing!
I LOVE EVERYTHING about this soup! It looks super flavorful and hearty. Would warm me right up! Definitely didn’t know you were vegan 7 months ago! That’s impressive!
Thanks Julie! It definitely warms you up. And I love the smell of the garlic rosemary crostini’s as they’re toasting up. Makes my house smell delicious.