One‑pot creamy tomato, white bean & spinach soup
Comforting one‑pot tomato, white bean and spinach soup — creamy, quick and ready in under 50 minutes. Rustic, filling and ideal for a weeknight supper.
This is the kind of one‑pot soup that makes the whole kitchen smell like comfort. It’s creamy from blitzed beans, bright from tomatoes and leafy with wilted spinach — all cooked in a single pan so washing up is minimal. Make it when you want something filling but unfussy; it’s lovely with crusty bread or a simple cheese toastie. The recipe is forgiving — blitz more or less for your preferred texture.
Ingredients
- 30 ml olive oil
- 1 brown onion — finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic — crushed
- 2 carrot — medium, diced
- 2 sticks celery — diced
- 1 red pepper — seeded and diced
- sea salt — to taste; start with 1 tsp
- black pepper — freshly ground, to taste
- 5 ml dried oregano
- 5 ml smoked paprika — optional, adds warmth
- 800 g tinned chopped tomatoes — two standard tins
- 1 l vegetable stock — hot
- 400 g tinned cannellini beans — drained and rinsed
- 5 ml sugar — to balance acidity
- 120 g baby spinach — roughly chopped if large leaves
- 60 ml double cream — can reduce to 30 ml for lighter soup
- 15 g fresh basil — torn, reserve some leaves for serving
Equipment
- large heavy-based casserole (4–5 litres)
- stick blender
Instructions
Prepare the veg: finely chop the brown onion, dice the carrot, celery and red pepper, and crush the garlic.
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan or casserole over a medium heat. Add the brown onion, carrot, celery and red pepper with a pinch of sea salt and sweat gently until the veg is soft and the onion is translucent, 8–10 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, dried oregano and smoked paprika and cook for 1 minute until fragrant — do not let the garlic burn.
Add the tinned chopped tomatoes, vegetable stock, the tinned cannellini beans and the sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cook uncovered for 15 minutes to allow flavours to marry.
For a creamy yet chunky texture, use a stick blender to blitz roughly half the soup directly in the pot (or transfer half to a blender and puree). Work in short bursts and hold the blender down into the soup to avoid splatter.
Stir in the baby spinach and simmer for 2–3 minutes until just wilted.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the double cream and most of the fresh basil, then season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Return to a very low heat for 1 minute to warm through — do not boil vigorously after adding the cream.
Ladle the soup into bowls, scatter the remaining torn fresh basil over each portion and drizzle with a little olive oil if you like. Serve hot.
Tips
- If you prefer a completely smooth soup, blitz the whole pot with a stick blender, but do so in short bursts to avoid splatter.
- Rinse and drain the canned beans well to reduce sodium and a tin of smaller beans (haricot) may give a silkier texture.
- Make ahead: soup will keep in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat gently on the hob, adding a splash of stock or water if it’s too thick.
- To make this vegan, substitute the double cream with 60 ml coconut cream or 60 ml unsweetened soya cream; flavour will be slightly different.
- If your tomatoes taste very acidic, add an extra pinch of sugar or a small knob of butter for balance.
Substitutions
double cream → 60 ml coconut cream or 60 ml unsweetened soya cream
Noticeably differenttinned cannellini beans → 400 g tinned butter beans
Stays closesmoked paprika → 1 tsp sweet paprika
Stays closefresh basil → 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Noticeably different
Nutrition
Per serving · estimated
- 273
- Calories
- 6 g
- Protein
- 24 g
- Carbs
- 17 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 7 g
- Sugar
- 600 mg
- Sodium
FAQ
Can I use dried beans instead of tinned?
Yes — soak and cook dried cannellini beans first. Because that adds time, this recipe uses tinned for convenience. If using dried, add them with the stock once cooked.
How can I make the soup thicker or thinner?
For thicker soup, blitz more of the beans or reduce the liquid by simmering longer. For thinner soup, add extra hot stock or water a little at a time.
Can I freeze this soup?
Yes — freeze in portion-sized tubs for up to 3 months. Leave out the cream when freezing and stir in fresh cream when reheating for best texture.
My soup is too acidic — what should I do?
Stir in ½–1 tsp sugar or a small knob of butter to balance the acidity, then taste and adjust seasoning.
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