Cannellini Bean and Sausage Soup

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Nothing is more comforting that a rich, thick soup on a cool Fall evening. My Cannellini Bean and Sausage Soup hits all the right spots and is comfort at its best. The soup is pretty close to a stew, or as Rachel Ray would say, a stoup! It is packed with turkey sausage, white beans, tons of veggies and lots of fresh herbs too. Yes, I eat it with a spoon but often tempted to grab a fork since the veggies are kept chunky for a nice bite of food. Feel free to chop them smaller or dice the veggies, but I like the heartiness of this soup and keep it rustic. You could finish the soup with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and serve with some crusty bread for a complete meal. This has been my dinner three times this week and it has just gotten better the longer it sits in the fridge.

To get started on the recipe, lets talk beans!

How to cook dry beans

There is a traditional way of cooking beans that is a bit time consuming and a fast way to prepare and cook dry beans. I’ll share both approaches here.

First, to cook dry means the traditional way (slow way), you can place your dry beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Place in the fridge or leave on the kitchen counter for 8 hours or overnight. Then, drain the beans and add them to your recipe and cook per the recipe’s instructions.

This is the more traditional approach to prepping your beans before cooking them but if you forget to do this (which seems to be my MO), and go to make soup or chili and realize you forgot to prep your dry beans, then my fast cooking method is the way to go. Sure, you can use canned beans…I use them all the time like in my easy healthy turkey chili. But knowing how to cook dry beans is an incredibly economical way to provide protein for the family and to save a lot of money. Once you see how easy this ease, you’ll be using dried beans all the time.

How to cook dry beans fast

OK, you forgot to soak your beans, or just didn’t want to (LOL), there is a way to use dry beans and speed up the process. Place the beans in a pot and cover with at least two inches of water. Add a tablespoon of salt to the mix. Bring the pot of water and beans to a boil. Let boil for a full minute.

Turn off the heat and let the beans sit for one hour. Drain the beans in a colander and rinse with cool water. Your beans are now par-cooked and ready to be added to any recipe to finish cooking.

To finish cooking, the beans should sit in any recipe for at least another 40 minutes to cook completely. This will typically be the case in chili, stews and soups. If you just wanted to completely cook the beans and add fully cooked beans to salads, etc., just add the rinsed beans back to the pot, cover with water again, add salt and any flavorings like garlic, herbs and seasoning and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let cook for approximately 40 minutes until the beans are cooked through. Taste them. If they are still hard or you want them softer, cook them another 5-10 minutes. Drain and let cool.

Put in a covered container and use as needed.

For my recipe today, I used the fast method. I put two cups of the dry Cannellini beans in a pot and covered with water. (You could use Great White Northern Beans or Navy Beans in this recipe as substitutions. White bean sausage soup works with all these bean options.) I added a tablespoon of salt and brought it to a boil. I let boil for one minute, turned off the heat and let the beans sit in the hot water for one hour.

I then drained and rinsed the beans and put them to the side. You’ll add them to the soup mix later.

How to make cannellini bean and sausage soup

This is a pretty straightforward recipe and I find gathering all my ingredients together first, keeps me organized. I get all my veggies together, and prep them. Slice your potatoes in half, peel and slice the carrots into rounds (if they are really big carrots, cut those rounds into half-moons), slice the celery and wipe your mushrooms clean with a damp paper towel. Either slice the mushrooms or cut into quarters – your choice.

I cut the stems and dark, hard green leaves off of the leeks. Then, I split the leek in half lengthwise and rinse thoroughly under running cold water. Dirt and sand will accumulate in the bottom of the leeks, so you want to be sure you rinse that out. Squeeze out excess water and slice into thin half-moons.

Chop up your herbs and let your frozen peas thaw. Wash your baby kale. Yes, you can use full-grown kale (LOL), but I find baby kale more tender and I don’t have to bother stemming it or chopping it up. You are now ready to start cooking.

In a large dutch oven or soup pot, add one tablespoon of butter. I use a light butter (Land ‘O Lakes canola butter) but you can use regular unsalted butter too. Once it is melted, add the turkey sausage. I use a full package of Jenny O Sweet Italian Sausage links. I just squeeze out the sausage into the pot and discard the skins. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon or spatula. You want the meat to brown in the butter. NOTE: you could easily substitute regular pork sausage, or HOT Italian turkey or pork sausage here or a combination of sausages. I wanted to keep this as light as possible, so choose turkey sausage. I also didn’t want a lot of heat so I went with Sweet sausage. You could turn this into a chicken white bean soup and use chicken sausage. This is your soup, you decide.

Once the sausage is browned, add the bay leaves, rosemary sprigs and chopped sage and thyme. Stir into the sausage. I used dried thyme because that is what I had on hand but feel free to substitute fresh thyme if you have it. You could also use dried rosemary and sage as substitutions. This soup is very flexible and you can substitute herbs as you like.

Add the two remaining tablespoons of butter and the potatoes, carrots, celery, pearl onions, and leeks. Mix everything together getting the butter mixed into the veggies and meat.

Add in the stock and the drained, partially cooked beans. Stir again. Add a really large pinch of salt and about 20 grinds of black pepper and stir.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for about 40 minutes to let the beans cook completely. Taste a bean. If it is still hard or you want them a little softer, cook another 5-10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and thawed peas to the mix and stir to combine. Add the skim milk and stir to combine. Cook for about 10 minutes to bring it to temperature. NOTE: I’ve used skim milk to keep the dish light but feel free to use 1%, 2% or full fat milk. All work just fine in the recipe and will make it creamy. If you are worried about skim milk not being creamy enough, when we add the slurry in the next step, it will thicken up and get creamier. But as always, this is your choice. Once combined, taste and adjust seasoning again. Add more salt and pepper as needed and taste again. Add the kale and stir into the mix.

Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, add your Wondra Flour. NOTE: I’ve been using Wondra flour for years. It is finely milled and almost like talcum powder in texture. It doesn’t clump the way all-purpose flour can so I use it when making gravy and when I’m thickening sauces or soup like this one. I also use it when battering protein and veggies since it gives a light, even coating. Give it a try and let me know if you see the difference like I do. Otherwise, all-purpose flour will work fine in this recipe, just be sure to incorporate the mixture well to get rid of lumps.

In that dish with the flour, add about 1/4 – 1/3 cup of the hot stock from the soup pot. Whisk it together to create a slurry. If you don’t have a whisk, use a fork. Just be sure there are no lumps.

Add to the soup and stir to combine. Let the soup come up to a bubble. As it starts to bubble, the slurry will start to thicken the soup. Let simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Taste one last time and adjust seasoning if needed. You are now ready to serve it up.

Ladle the soup into soup bowls and enjoy. Did you make the recipe and enjoy it? If so, leave a rating and comment below. Let me know how you made this your own. Looking for other soup recipes? Check them out and be sure to try some of my other favorites:

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup with Brittle

Avgolemono Soup with Gremolata

Spring Peas, Shrimp and Lobster Soup

Beef, Vegetable and Barley Soup

Spinach & Cheese Tortellini Soup