Creamy lemon cannellini bean soup is made in one pot with parmesan, ricotta, and gremolata tossed in for an extra creamy texture and intense flavor. Filling, healthy, and delicious!
What’s to love about this recipe?
First, this recipe comes together quickly in one pot using canned cannellini beans.
A quick simmer and toss in the blender (carefully) brings this soup and flavors together. I used an immersion blender–less to wash!
Gremolata is a condiment with three ingredients–fresh flat leaf parsley, lemon peel, and garlic and is a key ingredient in the flavor of this soup.
Gremolata is great with pasta, beef, chicken, and even in yogurt or sour cream as a dip or condiment.
Helpful Tips for Lemon Cannellini Bean Soup with Gremolata
Making the Gremolata
Gremolata consists of three ingredients and it is important to use whole lemons, garlic cloves, and flat leaf parsley. Fresh is key!
Wash the parsley ahead of time and let it dry completely on a paper towel. Wet herbs are not easy to finely chop.
Using a garlic press works best in this recipe. Or, finely mince the garlic with a knife or micro plane.
For the lemon peel, be sure to wash the lemons first. A micro plane or zester are great tools. The zest of a lemon is the yellow part. What you don’t want is the white part underneath the zest which tends to be bitter.
Tips for preparing the cannellini bean soup
Canned beans work great–quick and easy.
An immersion blender or standing blender turn the soup into the beloved creamy texture you will crave.
If you like texture, set aside 1/2 cup of the beans to add back after blending. I like to chop them into smaller pieces but leaving them whole is fine too.
Tempering ricotta-How to incorporate ricotta cheese into soup
Start by removing the ricotta from the refrigerator and allowing it to come to room temperature for best results. If you are short on time, let the bowl of ricotta sit in another bowl of very warm water while you are preparing the recipe.
Tempering means to slowly introduce two ingredients together. By gradually introducing the warm soup to the room temperature ricotta, you can ensure that the cheese is easily incorporated into the soup, resulting in a velvety, lump free soup.
Slowly add the hot soup, by spoonful, into the hot ricotta. Continue to stir in the hot soup, gradually increasing the amount of soup added to the ricotta. Add the tempered ricotta and soup mixture into the pot of soup.
The weird discovery about beans
Have you seen foamy beans in your pot? Beans contain starches and proteins and something called saponins. The saponins are what cause the bubbles to appear.
The foam is completely normal and safe to eat.
Rinsing the beans prior to cooking will wash away some of the starch and protein.
Honestly, I just skimmed it off and found that the soup “settled” and the residual foam disappeared.
Creamy Lemon Cannellini Bean Soup with Gremolata
Creamy, lemony, and super flavorful with the surprise additions of ricotta, parmesan, and gremolata take this soup to the next flavor level.
4-6
servings15
minutes30
minutes45
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
- Gremolata
1 cup (loosely packed) flat leaf parsley leaves (washed and completely dried)
2 l emons, washed and dried
1 l arge garlic clove, peeled
- Soup
2 small shallots, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, pressed or finely minced
3 cans (15.5 oz.) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups of chicken stock
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1-2 Tablespoons of prepared gremolata
1/4 cup fresh ricotta cheese (room temperature and in a separate bowl (see tips in post)
1/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese, more for topping
salt and pepper to taste
- Garnish
Top each bowl with fresh gremolata
Drizzle with olive oil and additional parmesan
Directions
- Prepare gremolata
- On a medium sized cutting board, finely chop the parsley leaves.
- Grate the garlic and two lemons on top of the finely chopped parsley. Chop them together so they are combined. Now you have gremolata.
- Add gremolata to a small bowl and set aside.
- Prepare soup
- Heat a mediums size soup pot with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, about 2 minutes.
- Add finely chopped shallots and a pinch of salt. Stir for about 3-4 minutes until light brown.
- Add finely chopped or minced garlic to the shallots and stir for 30 seconds. Add more olive oil if needed.
- Add the cannellini beans and stir to gently heat the beans.
- Add chicken stock, lemon juice, and dried thyme. Heat to a simmer for about 5-7 minutes.
- Carefully add soup mixture to a blender and puree. Or, use an immersion blender directly in the pot. If you like texture, set aside 1/2 cup of the beans to add back after blending. I like to chop them into smaller pieces but leaving them whole is fine too.
- Put pot with soup on the stove over medium low heat and add additional salt and pepper if needed. Please taste your food along the way!
- Add in 1-2 Tablespoons of gremolata and simmer for about 8-10 more minutes. Add additional broth if you like a thinner soup.
- Temper the ricotta before adding to the soup (see tips in post) by slowing adding in 1 tablespoon of the hot soup to the ricotta while stirring. Continue doing this until you have incorporated about 1/4 cup of the soup into the ricotta.
- Add the ricotta/soup mixture to the pot and stir until thoroughly combined.
- Stir in 1/4 cup of fresh parmesan.
- Top with additional gremolata and fresh olive oil. Enjoy!
Notes
- Tempering ricotta with the hot soup is important for a creamy soup that is not lumpy.
- Leftover gremolata is great on top of meat, fish, or stirred into pasta. Or used in yogurt, sour cream for dipping
- Store leftover soup in the refrigerator. This reheats wonderfully in the microwave.
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