Creamy vegan Tuscan Tomato and Bean Soup is made with fresh garden tomatoes, canned white beans, garlic and rosemary. It is healthy, hearty and delicious!
I genuinely look forward to an overabundance of ripe tomatoes in my garden at the end of summer. Nothing can match a freshly picked sliced tomato sprinkled with salt and pepper served with crusty bread or a bright tomato cucumber salad that I can never get enough of. When the tomato crop gets out of control though, I make soup.
This soup is one of my favorites because it’s super flavorful and creamy even though the recipe uses no cream or milk. Blended canned white beans give this vegan soup its wonderful thick and creamy texture, and a nice protein and fiber boost, making it a truly complete and filling meal.
Try this soup with my Biscuits Without Milk for dipping.
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Ingredient notes
- Tomatoes: fresh ripe tomatoes is what I used in this recipe but you can also use canned or frozen tomatoes when tomatoes are not in season.
- Canned white beans: use good quality canned beans. My preferred kind is cannellini but you can swap them for great Northern or navy beans.
- Onion: yellow or white onion will both work.
- Carrots and celery: an essential flavor base for any good soup, in my opinion. Cooking veggies in olive oil before adding broth is what adds an amazing layer of umami flavor to this soup.
- Garlic: if you like garlicky flavor, feel free to use more than 2 cloves. There is no such thing as too much garlic!
- Dried rosemary: you can also use fresh rosemary, if you prefer.
- Vegetable broth: use homemade or store bought vegetable broth.
- Salt and pepper: for seasoning.
- Croutons: this is optional but if you like fun toppings on creamy soups, croutons work exceptionally well on top of this soup.
How to make vegan tomato bean soup
STEP 1: Chop up the veggies. A cutting board and a good knife is all you need but if you prefer, you can chop carrots, celery, onions and garlic in a mini food processor.
STEP 2: Dice the tomatoes. You don’t need to take the skin off as the soup will be blended at the end.
STEP 3: Sauté carrots, celery and onions in olive oil until softened. This is where the flavor comes from! Then add garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and cook a minute more, until fragrant.
STEP 4: Add tomatoes. Cook together stirring, then add the broth, cover and cook for about 20-30 minutes until tomatoes start falling apart and carrots are soft.
STEP 5: Stir in the beans and blend. Canned beans are already soft so it doesn’t matter that they go in the soup cold. This step actually helps cool the soup down before blending. My favorite way to puree soups is by using an immersion blender because it creates the least mess. If you don’t have one, or if you like your soups super silky smooth, you can also use a standup blender (see my note below on pureeing soups using this method).
Serving tips
When it comes to creamy, pureed soups, I like to serve them with interesting toppings for a variety of textures and flavors. This soup is wonderful with some garlic croutons, reserved whole cannellini beans, rosemary and a drop of olive oil. Other toppings that would go well include:
- nutritional yeast
- grated parmesan cheese (for a non-vegan version)
- pepitas
- pine nuts
- gremolata (minced fresh garlic, rosemary and grated lemon peel)
- a drizzle of your favorite hot sauce
- fresh herbs: parsley, basil, chives, dill
Meal prep and storage tips
If you are meal prepping, let the soup cool and pour into one large airtight container or smaller individual glass or plastic containers. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
How to freeze soup
The best way to freeze soup is to let it cool completely, then pour into gallon or quart sized ziplock bags, seal well, label and place in the freezer flat. This method is space saving and makes it super easy to thaw the soup. Just thaw in the fridge overnight, or, if you’re short on time, place the sealed bag in a bowl with hot tap water and it should be thawed within an hour.
You can also freeze soup in plastic or glass containers and store in the freezer for up to three months. Another option is this nifty silicone freezing tray that allows for freezing soup in small quantities and taking out only the amount you need.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, absolutely! When tomatoes are not in season, use 2 28-oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes.
No. Peeling tomatoes is time-consuming and I don’t notice much of a difference between skin-on and skin-off tomatoes in blended soups.
If you want to puree this creamy vegan tomato bean soup using a standup blender, such as Vitamix, make sure your soup is cool. This is important because blending hot liquids in standup blenders is dangerous and not recommended. The easiest way to cool a soup is to place the pot in a sink filled with icy cold water and leave it there for some time. Once cooled, blend the soup in batches until smooth and transfer each batch back to the pot.
In short, there isn’t that much difference between these 3 kinds of beans. They are all small white beans and will all work equally well in this recipe, especially that the beans are blended with the soup.
Cannellini beans: also known as “white kidney beans” because of their kidney shape, they are creamy, “meaty”, nutty and earthy. Cannellini beans are an Italian variety of white beans and are typically used in classic Minestrone soup.
Great Northern beans: smaller than cannellini beans, they are mild, nutty and a bit firmer in texture. Great Northern beans hold their shape when cooked and can be found in classic French dishes.
Navy beans: also called pea beans, they are oval-shaped, smallest of the three and creamy when cooked. They are used in classic Boston baked beans and were used as a food staple by the U.S. Navy in early 20th century, hence their name.
More vegetarian ideas
- Carrot, Ginger, Butternut Squash Soup
- Spicy Lentil Potato Soup
- Creamy Vegan Mushroom Zucchini Pasta
- Tofu Fried Cauliflower Rice
- Vegan Egg Roll in a Bowl (with Tofu)
If you've tried this Creamy Vegan Tomato soup, I would love for you to leave me a comment below and share this recipe with your friends or anyone who loves soups!
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Recipe
Vegan Creamy Tomato Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 3 pounds fresh tomatoes
- 2 15 oz cans cannellini great Northern or navy beans, drained
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 medium onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- garlic croutons & chopped fresh basil optional garnish
Instructions
- Chop carrots, celery, onions and garlic and set aside.
- Dice tomatoes leaving the skin on.
- In a large Dutch oven or pot with a thick bottom heat olive oil, add carrots, onions and celery and sauté on low stirring from time to time until softened, about 5-10 minutes. Add garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and cook stirring another minute or so until fragrant.
- Add chopped tomatoes, stir, turn the heat up to medium-low and cook together stirring a couple more minutes.
- Pour in the broth, cover with a lid and cook the soup until the carrots are soft and tomatoes start falling apart, about 20-30 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Stir in one and a half cans of white beans. Reserve the remaining ½ can to be added as garnish at the end. If you prefer all the beans to be blended, add 2 whole cans of beans to the soup at this stage.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. You can also blend the soup in a standup blender by cooling the soup until no longer hot and blending in batches.
- Give the soup a taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Serve hot with reserved white beans, croutons, fresh basil and more rosemary, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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Meet the Author
Hi, I'm Agnieszka. I'm a mom of three and recipe developer, writer and photographer behind Wholly Tasteful. I love creating comforting, delicious, family-friendly recipes that you can feel good about.
Megan Ellam
Exactly what I was after. Delicious simple and comforting. Thanks for such a great recipe.
Andrea White
What a delicious soup! Can't wait to warm up to this!
Kayla DiMaggio
I can't get enough of how delicious this creamy tomato soup was! No one would ever be able to tell that it was vegan! So easy and delicious!
Alexandra
So delicious and comforting - this will be my new favourite lunch.
Amanda Scarlati
This soup was soooo good. Can't wait to make it again, thanks!
Luca
Tomato soup is my partner's favorite! It was indeed very cream and he appreciated it so much!
Natalie
I'm adding this soup to my menu. It loos declious. Creamy and so healthy. Thanks for the recipe.
Marta
I'm cooking it again tonight, we like it a lot!
Agnieszka
Yay, so glad you like it!