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Home » easy » Six Vegetable White Bean Pesto Soup

Six Vegetable White Bean Pesto Soup

Published: Mar 1, 2015 · Modified: Mar 25, 2020 by Louisa Clements · This post may contain affiliate links

This post may contain affiliate links

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25 minutes 8 Comments

This simple and healthy vegetable white bean pesto soup is a protein packed, nutrient dense soup filled with carrots, kale, broccoli, green beans and leeks.

Packed with goodness, this healthy six vegetable white bean soup is elevated with the addition of pesto swirled in at the end! | Livinglou.com

This six vegetable white bean pesto soup was created out of necessity. After a few weeks of over-indulgence, not very much sleep and too much stress, my body and mind were just feeling awful and when that happens, simple, hearty and healthy meals are needed. It doesn’t help that I’ve done something to my knee, so I’ve been out of my ballet classes for the past six weeks or so.

I usually dance three times a week, so this hasn’t been the most fun and I’m feeling quite sluggish as a result. Not only is it how I love to keep my body active, but it is so incredible for the mind. I think everyone should try taking dance classes at least once, whether it’s ballet (my favourite, but I’m biased), hip-hop, jazz or even a zumba class.

My knee is slowly starting to feel better so I’ve been doing little workouts here and there, but I’ve decided that for March, I’m going to try and get things back to track by leaning a little more to the healthier side of things around here – don’t worry, nothing crazy, just more of my usual simple and flavour food that is good for your body and mind. Basically, healthy meals without trying too hard. You know what I mean?

I don’t want you to head out to the health food store to pickup specialty ingredients, all you need is right there, naturally in healthy vegetables, beans and legumes.

Also, make sure to vote in the poll I’ve added at the bottom of the post so you can have a say in what kind of recipes you see more of around here!

Packed with goodness, this healthy six vegetable white bean soup is elevated with the addition of pesto swirled in at the end! | Livinglou.com

I can’t remember where I got the idea of stirring pesto into the soup once it’s cooked, but wow it is so good. I’ve already talked about my love of pesto and why you should always have a jar in the fridge, and using it in soup is one of the most perfect ways to use up leftover pesto. Just add a teaspoon or so to the bottom of your bowl and spoon a few ladles of this six vegetable soup over top and stir.

It’s magical and really elevates the flavour of this soup and makes it into something magnificent. Because this soup gets its flavour naturally from the vegetables, the pesto is another natural and healthy way to amp up the flavour. Do you know what pesto is made of? It’s usually a mixture of basil, nuts and olive oil – all ingredients that are good for you.

Packed with goodness, this healthy six vegetable white bean soup is elevated with the addition of pesto swirled in at the end! | Livinglou.com

I know you’re probably thinking that six vegetables is such a random number, but don’t knock it until you try it. The vegetables I went with for this comforting soup are leeks, carrots, potatoes, green beans, broccoli and kale. Which happen to be a few of my favourite vegetables (especially the broccoli and kale). The rest of the soup is made up of vegetable broth and garlic – it is that easy. This soup really doesn’t need any herbs or spices, the hearty vegetables, white beans and pesto do the trick.

Soups, are by nature, quite forgiving recipes especially this vegetable white bean pesto soup. If you don’t have carrots on hand, you could easily substitute with sweet potatoes. Toss in swiss chard instead of kale, and use black beans or kidney beans instead of white navy beans. Just don’t leave out the broccoli! Ok, you could leave it out, but I’m biased because broccoli is one of my favourite vegetables.

Six Vegetable Soup recipe breakdown

Lighten up dinner with this simple and healthy six vegetable white bean soup. The natural flavour of the vegetables is enhanced by swirling in pesto right at the end. Packed with protein from the white beans, this nutrient-dense soup is the perfect comforting dinner for the winter.

Six vegetable white bean soup in a white bowl on blue napkins.

Six Vegetable White Bean Pesto Soup

Author: Louisa Clements
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Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
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Servings: 6 -8 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 leek, sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 cup chopped green beans
  • 1 cup broccoli florets
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 19 oz can white navy beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups packed chopped kale
  • pesto at the end
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil over medium heat, saute leek and garlic for 2 minutes.
  • Add potato and carrot, saute for another 2-3 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
  • Add broth and water, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Add green beans and broccoli florets, cook another 3-5 minutes or until all vegetables are tender.
  • Stir in white beans, kale. Stirring until kale is wilted, about a minute.
  • Serve with roughly 1 tsp of pesto in each bowl, ladle soup over pesto and stir. Serve immediately.
Did you try this recipe?Leave a comment + rating and let me know what you think!
Filed Under: Dinner Recipes, easy, gluten free, lunch, quick recipes, soup, vegetarian

I tried to use up as much of the vegetables as possible so you won’t have lots of leftover half-used veggies in the fridge. You can buy one leek, a small bunch of green beans, one potato and a carrot, but you will have some leftover broccoli and kale from this soup. Here are 5 recipes you could use these in:

Kale and Sausage Baked Pasta

Sauteed Kale with Sweet Potatoes

Quinoa Bowl

Balsamic Roasted Broccoli

Spicy Broccoli

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Comments

  1. Sarah

    August 30, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    I love all the vegetables in this! I just made it and it turned out great. I didn't have pesto so I jazzed it up with some dried basil, oregano, thyme, and tarragon. I also didn't use a potato, but next time I will to make it a little heartier. It's delicious though. Thanks!
    Reply
    • Lou

      September 05, 2016 at 4:53 pm

      Thank you, Sarah! Your version sounds delicious, thanks for letting me know how it turned out.
      Reply
  2. Daniella

    January 15, 2016 at 8:09 pm

    Your soups are great! Keep them coming!
    Reply
    • Lou

      January 18, 2016 at 12:26 pm

      Thanks Daniella, will do! :)
      Reply
  3. Cailee

    March 07, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    Yay for more veggies!! I love it! :) Great recipe! Gotta love soup this time of year!
    Reply
    • Lou

      March 09, 2015 at 1:05 pm

      Thanks Cailee, let me know if you give it a try!
      Reply
  4. Ayngelina

    March 04, 2015 at 10:10 pm

    Love love love bean in soups. I'll have to try this one.
    Reply
    • Lou

      March 06, 2015 at 6:35 pm

      Thanks Ayngelina! Let me know how it goes :)
      Reply

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Hi, I'm Louisa Clements & welcome to Living Lou. I've been creating simple, fresh & flavorful recipes for the modern kitchen for 12 years.
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