Italian Cabbage and Bean Soup is a homely, delicious and budget-friendly soup that’s stood the test of time. This is one of those comforting soups where you can just throw all the ingredients together into the soup pot such as whatever vegetables, beans, or greens you’ve got in the kitchen, and let it cook. It's simple, filling, and packed with flavour, and best of all, budget-friendly.
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💛 Why You’ll Love This Cabbage and Bean Soup
- 🍲 A proper homely soup: simple, wholesome, and full of flavour
🥬 Budget-friendly ingredients: cabbage, beans, and potatoes
🌱 Naturally vegan and perfect for plant-based, meat-free, and dairy-free diets
👩🍳 You can use whatever veg, greens, or pulses you have to hand
🥖 Lovely served with crusty bread or stirred through with torn-up leftover bread for a hearty meal
❄️ Great for batch cooking as keeps well in the fridge or freezer for easy lunches and quick dinners
Origin of Zuppa Di Cavolo [Cabbage and Bean Soup]
Zuppa means soup in Italian and cavolo means cabbage, so it’s really just a simple name for a humble dish that’s been around for centuries. Like many traditional Italian soups, this one has its beginnings in farmhouse and peasant cooking which focused on meals made from whatever was to hand, often meat-free by necessity. There are loads of variations of this soup depending on the region and what the cook had available.
Tuscany has a traditional version known as a ribollita, which includes cabbage, beans, and old bread. In Italy, ‘cabbage’ might mean cavolo nero or Tuscan kale, whereas here in the UK we’re more likely to use a green Savoy, white cabbage, or even red cabbage.
But whichever kind of cabbage or kale you use, cabbage is a great ingredient as its cheap, easy to grow, and packed with goodness. Even the Roman writer Cato the Elder went on about how brilliant cabbage was for your health! A bowl of this cabbage and bean soup is proper comfort food, simple, satisfying, and just what you need when you’re feeling a bit under the weather or just want something wholesome and warming.
How to prepare
This Cabbage and Bean soup is packed with wholesome everyday ingredients which can be easily subbed for what you have to hand, seasonal vegetables, and perhaps any reduced-price vegetables you can find in the supermarket. Serve with ripped up crusty bread chunks [stale bread is perfect] for a satisfying, comforting and warming meal.
Step 1: Saute the onions, leeks, celery and garlic in oil, vegan margarine or ½ cup of vegetable stock for 4-5 minutes.
Step 2: Add the carrots, bell pepper, and courgette and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Step 3: Add in the potatoes and give it all a good stir.
Step 4: Next add in the drained canned beans, and pour in the tomato passata [or canned chopped tomatoes].
Step 5: Add a sprig of rosemary or your choice of fresh or dried herbs. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 6: Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
Step 7: Next stir through the kale and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
Step 8: To finish add in the peas, along with the red wine vinegar, and simmer for a few minutes.
Optional serving suggestion: Garnish with fresh parsley and basil. Serve with pieces of crusty bread or place torn bread pieces into each serving bowl and ladle the thick hearty soup over.
Recipe notes and FAQS
Storage, freezing, and reheating
Store leftover soup within a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Or store within a freezer for 2-3 months. Defrost before reheating either on the stove-top or within a microwave.
To reheat soup on the stove-top, place into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add extra water or veggie stock to the soup if it has become very thick. Once boiling lower the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the soup is piping hot throughout.
Alternatively place the soup into a microwave safe dish and reheat until piping hot. Stop the microwave and give the soup a stir at least once during reheating.
Yes, as with any good recipe do feel free to tailor the ingredients to your own preferences and for whatever produce is available.
A few suggestions:
* cabbage or kale can be replaced with any green leafy variety including Tuscan kale, Calvo Nero, savoy cabbage, white cabbage, spring greens, collard greens, turnip greens, Swiss chard, spinach, etc. Although do keep in mind the cooking differences for different greens, such as spinach will only require a few minutes cooking or even just a few seconds of wilting in the soup before serving.
* replace the courgette with an extra green bell pepper or an extra celery rib
* use sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes
* any variety of cooked bean can be used, so just use what is easily available
* canned diced tomatoes can replace the tomato passata, or blend up whole fresh tomatoes
* a few teaspoons of garlic powder or granules can be subbed for the fresh garlic
* instead of fresh onions use a few teaspoons of dried onion for a great depth of flavour
* add any fresh herbs you like to the cooking pot such as thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, bay, dill, fennel, etc
Yes, cabbage and bean soup is perfect for gluten-free diets with a few changes. Ensure that your vegetable stock is free from gluten ingredients, and if bread is used then choose a gluten-free variety. Also, some vinegars are not suitable for a gluten-free diet but the wine vinegars are generally considered safe for gluten-free diets. However, its best to check the ingredients and label just to be sure as recipes do change.
More budget-friendly soup recipes
We absolutely love hearty rustic peasant-style soups! So we usually have a pot on the go most days to enjoy for a budget-friendly lunch or even for dinner along with a tasty sandwich. We've listed a few of the soups we like best below but really we love all the soups on offer here on our blog so do have a look at all our soup recipes to find your new favourite.
Some of our current favourites is this Traditional Scottish Hotchpotch Soup which is really a delicious jumble of vegetables And this Orcadian Oatmeal Soup which may have Viking connections! And this homely Traditional Welsh Cawl Soup and our kids favourite this hearty wholesome Peawack Soup from Liverpool!
If you love hearty Italian peasant-style soups then do try our 3 Bean Minestrone Soup recipe which is the perfect recipe to have to hand for those times when you just don't know what to cook!
***please note: for US measurements click the 'US customary button' within the recipe and the measurements will switch to tablespoons, cups, and ounces.***
📖 Recipe
Italian Cabbage and Bean Soup
Equipment
- large soup pot [stove-top Dutch oven or similar pot]
Ingredients
Saute veggies:
- 2 tablespoons oil (such as olive or rapeseed oil or ½-¾ cup vegetable stock if preparing an oil-free soup)
Soup:
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 6 garlic cloves (fine diced or minced)
- 1 medium leek (thin sliced)
- 2 sticks celery (diced)
- 1 bell pepper (sliced into small-medium chunks)
- 1 medium courgette [zucchini] (chopped into small-medium chunks)
- 2 medium carrots (sliced into small-medium chunks)
- 300 grams potatoes (chopped into small-medium chunks)
- 400 mililitres tomato passata (or 1 ½-2 x 400g (14 oz) cans of diced tomatoes)
- 1.5 litres vegetable stock, hot
- 1 can borlotti beans (400g (14oz) can drained, about 1 ½ cups cooked beans, can also use pinto beans, kidney beans, etc)
- 1 can cannellini beans (400g (14oz) can drained, about 1 ½ cups cooked beans, or replace with butterbeans, haricot beans, etc)
- 1 sprig rosemary (or thyme, or 1-3 teaspoons of dried rosemary or thyme or dried mixed herbs)
- 250 grams kale or cabbage (chopped ,and thick stalks removed)
Add for last 5 minute of cooking:
- 140 grams peas (fresh or frozen)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
To serve, optional:
- 6 slices crusty bread (torn into rough chunks)
- 4 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs (such as basil, parsley, dill, etc)
Instructions
- Heat the oil or ½ cup of vegetable stock in the soup pot.2 tablespoons oil
- Add the onions, leeks, celery, and garlic. Over a medium heat saute for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.1 large onion, 1 medium leek, 2 sticks celery, 6 garlic cloves
- Add the bell pepper, courgette, and carrot. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stir frequently.1 bell pepper, 1 medium courgette [zucchini], 2 medium carrots
- Add in the potatoes and give it a good mix.300 grams potatoes
- Stir through the beans, tomato passata, and vegetable stock. Add the rosemary and season with a few pinches of salt and pepper.400 mililitres tomato passata, 1 can borlotti beans, 1 can cannellini beans, 1.5 litres vegetable stock, hot, 1 sprig rosemary
- Bring to the boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
- Next, mix through the kale or cabbage and cook for 4-10 minutes, depending on the size of kale or cabbage pieces and how soft you prefer your kale or cabbage.250 grams kale or cabbage
- Add the peas and red wine vinegar and cook for a few minutes longer.140 grams peas, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, and remove the rosemary sprig. The soup will be nice and thick but if preferred thin it out with an extra cup or two of hot vegetable stock.
Optional serving suggestion:
- Place pieces of crusty bread into the bowls and ladle the soup over the bread. Or serve the bread on the side for dunking into the soup.6 slices crusty bread
- Garnish with fresh herbs. A sprinkle of nutritional yeast flakes is also tasty and a little drizzle of olive oil can be added if liked.4 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
- Nutritional data does not include the optional bread accompaniment or the herb garnish.
- Store leftover soup within the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Or freeze for 2-3 months.
- Thaw completely before reheating on the stove-top or within a microwave.
- Reheat until piping hot throughout.
- For gluten-free Italian bean and cabbage soup choose a gluten-free vegetable stock and ensure that the red wine vinegar is free from gluten.
- Any variety of cabbage or kale is fine for this recipe including Tuscan kale, red kale, Calvo Nero, white cabbage, green cabbage, Savoy cabbage, Spring greens [young or early cabbage], etc. Red cabbage can also be used and will create an interesting and tasty soup.
Nutrition
Comments
We would love to know how you got on with the cabbage and bean soup recipe so do leave us a comment below. All feedback is very much appreciated as it helps us to know which recipes you are currently enjoying. Thanks so much. Jacq x
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