This sausage and white bean soup is cozy, hearty comfort food that tastes like you got the recipe from an Italian nonna, even if you absolutely did not. Loaded with Italian sausage, creamy white beans, and a rich, simmered-all-day vibe, it's the kind of one-pot dinner that makes a Tuesday feel luxuriously cozy. Weeknight easy, freezer-friendly, and deeply unimpressed by your slow cooker's feelings.
Table of Contents
- 🥰 Is this sausage and white bean soup recipe for you?
- 📖 Recipe
- 🧾 Ingredients for creamy Italian sausage and white bean soup
- 🔪 How to make easy sausage and white bean soup
- 😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
- 👩🏻🍳 You probably have questions (and yes, I've already thought of them)
- 🍽 More hearty soup recipes
- 🏡 Consider yourself warmed
- 💬 Comments
🥰 Is this sausage and white bean soup recipe for you?
- you want a cozy, creamy one-pot dinner that feels slow-simmered but shows up on a weeknight
- Italian sausage and white beans rank high on your personal comfort-food hierarchy
- you appreciate a hearty soup that actually eats like a meal, not a sad prelude to snacks
- freezer-friendly recipes make you feel smug and prepared (as they should)
- you like soup with real texture-beans, sausage, vegetables, and a broth that hugs back
- crusty bread for dunking is non-negotiable and frankly encouraged
Want this sausage and white bean soup to turn out rich, creamy, and deeply comforting every single time? Grab the free printable kitchen cheat sheet with my best tips, smart swaps, FAQs, and personal notes-so your soup tastes intentional, not accidental.
📖 Recipe
Sausage and White Bean Soup
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage, hot or sweet-choose your destiny
- 2 cups onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced like you mean it
- ½ cup carrots, diced
- ½ cup celery stalks, diced
- 2 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 15 ounces white beans, drained & rinsed (cannellini or great northern)
- 15 ounces white beans, not drained, this is your creamy secret
- 1 cup spinach, chopped
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Salt + black pepper
- A squeeze of lemon
- Red pepper flakes for attitude
Instructions
- Brown the sausage in a soup pot. Scoop it out and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan because flavor has entered the chat.
- Toss in the onion, carrots, and celery. Let them soften with the sausage drippings, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and let it go fragrant.
- Sprinkle in the smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, and maybe a few red pepper flakes.
- Pour in the broth, the drained beans, and the can of undrained beans. That bean liquid? Pure silk. Add the bay leaf.
- Return the sausage to the pot. Let it simmer 20-25 minutes until everything's friendly and thick.
- Stir in the spinach and cook another 5 minutes until it wilts but don't let it turn into pond slime.
- Turn off the heat and swirl in the heavy cream. Add a squeeze of lemon to wake it all up.
- Taste. Adjust salt and pepper.
Notes
- Brown the sausage properly before adding anything else. Color equals flavor, and pale sausage is just missed opportunity.
- Don't drain both cans of beans. One drained, one not is the whole reason the broth turns creamy without extra work.
- Add the spinach at the very end and then stop touching it. Wilted is good. Swampy is not.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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🧾 Ingredients for creamy Italian sausage and white bean soup
Nothing fussy, nothing fancy, just solid ingredients working together to make something rich, cozy, and wildly reliable.
- Italian sausage: sweet or hot, depending on whether you want comfort or chaos.
- White beans: creamy, sturdy, and doing most of the emotional labor.
- Chicken stock: the backbone of the whole operation, not just a watery suggestion.
- Cream: because we're here for richness, not restraint.
- Celery: quiet support, absolutely essential.
- Carrot: a little sweetness so nobody gets cranky.
- Spinach: tossed in at the end so we can all feel morally superior.
- Garlic: minced like you mean it.
- Bay leaves: simmered with intention, removed before serving like a polite guest.
- Smoked paprika: subtle smoke, no campfire theatrics.
- Italian seasoning: holding everything together behind the scenes.
- Salt & pepper: adjusted until it tastes like something worth repeating.
- Lemon: one bright squeeze to wake the whole pot up.
🔪 How to make easy sausage and white bean soup
This sausage and white bean soup comes together in one pot without any dramatic techniques or unnecessary fuss. Just brown, simmer, and finish it off until the broth turns rich and cozy and the kitchen smells like you planned this all day instead of winging it last minute with stress sweat and a wooden spoon.
- Brown the sausage in a big pot, then add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until everything smells like your imaginary Italian nonna's house.
- Stir in the beans, then pour in the chicken stock and bring it to a simmer-this is the moment it stops being "ingredients" and starts being "dinner."
- Add the spinach and let it wilt down-yes it looks like too much at first, no you don't need to panic like it's a math test. It shrinks faster than your new wool sweater that accidently got tossed in the dryer.
- Pour in the heavy cream and stir until it turns silky and rich, then taste and hit it with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon like you mean it.
😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
- The sausage and bean soup tastes flat or boring
You didn't salt enough or you skipped the lemon. Fix it with a generous pinch of salt, a few cracks of black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. Acid is the volume knob-turn it up. - It's thicker than you wanted
Congratulations, you made stew. Add a splash of chicken stock and stir until it loosens up like your boss after 3 rum punches at the office Christmas party. - It's thinner than you expected
Let it simmer uncovered for a few minutes, or mash a handful of the beans against the side of the pot. Instant body. No extra ingredients. Culinary magic. - The sausage feels greasy
You rushed the browning. Next time, let it really brown before adding anything else. Right now? Skim a little fat off the top and carry on with your life. - The spinach looks sad and swampy
It went in too early. Spinach is a last-minute guest-add it at the end, let it wilt, then stop touching it. - It tastes good but not great
Add one more tiny splash of cream, a pat of butter, or another squeeze of lemon. Stop when you go "ohhh." That's the moment.
👩🏻🍳 You probably have questions (and yes, I've already thought of them)
If you're wondering about make-ahead magic, freezer behavior, sausage drama, or whether this soup survives being reheated at midnight, you're in the right place. These are the questions that actually come up when you're cooking, answered without judgment and with your dignity intact.
Yes-and it actually gets better. Make it up to two days ahead, let it cool, and store it in the fridge. Reheat gently and add a splash of stock or cream if it thickens.
It does, with one small caveat. Freeze it before adding the cream for the best texture, then stir the cream in when reheating. If you forget and freeze it creamy, it'll still be fine-just slightly less silky.
Yes. Skip the cream and rely on the beans to do the thickening, or use half-and-half if you want something lighter. It'll still be cozy, just less indulgent. But - just because you can doesn't mean you should. You'll lose a lot of flavor.
🍽 More hearty soup recipes
If this sausage and white bean soup hit the spot and now you're fully in your soup era, you're going to want a few more heavy hitters on standby. My stuffed cabbage soup gives you all the cozy, savory goodness of classic stuffed cabbage without the rolling, swearing, or life choices that come with it. And when you're craving something old-school and deeply reassuring, ham and bean soup shows up like a cardigan from someone who loves you-simple, hearty, and wildly dependable.
When you want something with a little more backbone, beef and barley soup brings big, stick-to-your-ribs energy and doesn't apologize for it. And for nights when you want cozy without meat, black bean soup is rich, satisfying, and proof that pantry staples can absolutely pull their weight. Basically, if soup is your coping mechanism (no judgment, same), you've got lots of options.
🏡 Consider yourself warmed
When it's frigid outside but nobody's handing out snow days anymore, you need a pot of something hearty and dependable-enter this Italian sausage and cannellini bean soup. It heats you from the inside out, requires minimal enthusiasm, and pairs beautifully with soft garlic breadsticks and a sudden improvement in your mood.
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