Tuscan White Bean Soup with Escarole Recipe (2024)

I love this recipe! My only changes were to use all chicken stock (no water), tear rather than chop the escarole, and add it in only for five minutes. Like most soups, this is delicious the next day too. And I love those chewy soft bits of par rind, so I don’t taken out.

It wasn't awful, but it wasn't worth making again. First off, forget that 15 minutes of prep. I used lacinato kale and the kale alone took 20 minutes to wash, devein, and chop. It would be shorter with escarole, but even then, there is no way this takes 15 minutes to throw together. All told, using only 1 lb. of kale, the whole thing took about an hour to prep, including cleaning as I went, which is something CL never figures into their time estimates. The soup itself was alright, but a bit bland. Most CL soups are bland, but this actually looked promising. Oh well, I guess CL can make even a promising soup end up severely lacking in flavor. In my case I even used a homemade veggie broth taken from seriouseats that is very flavorful and, IMO, kle is both tastier and more flavorful than escarole. The soup definitely needs more salt - maybe it would be better with the miso instead of the parmesan rind. At the very least I'd double the thyme sprigs and up the rosemary. Also, I looked at three DC area grocery stores for no-salt Great Northern beans and neither Whole Foods, Giant, or Safeway carried them.

We buy Rennet-free parmesan, not super easy to find but it's out there! :)

This recipe was an option for me on the Cooking Light Diet. It was very good, quick, and easy to prepare. I used escarole but it was hard to find in my area and I had to visit a few stores before I found it and it was pricy.....$2.99 for the head. When I make this next time I will probably sub spinach or chard for the escarole. The leftovers were even more delicious!

Just made this for dinner and it tasted amazing! i only made a few small changes and used spinach instead of escarole, and didnt use ground red pepper. The whole family loved it and i would definitely make it again.

Was excited to try until I saw it has both Parmesan and Parmigiano Reggiano in it which are both not vegetarian (Rennet) and I found this through a top vegetarian recipes list -_-

Athough a bit high in sodium content, this was really good, especially on a chilly day, and was pretty easy to prepare as well. I made half a recipe, but only ended up with about 2/3 of the 4 cups half a recipe should have yielded despite having added additional broth. I used no-salt-added cannellini beans instead of the great northern as I had them on hand, and as I discovered I was out of crushed red pepper, I subbed cayenne in its place. I will definitely make this again, but will use homemade vegetable broth to lower the sodium content.

I made this almost exactly as printed. The only difference is I used white balsamic vinegar instead of white wine vinegar. It is excellent as is.

This was a perfect meal for a cool autumn's night- filling but not heavy, healthy, delicious and easy to prepare. I used rainbow chard in place of the escarole and increased the broth, but otherwise made the soup as directed. I missed having the bright taste of fresh herbs (had none on hand), but the dried herbs were fine. The vinegar added a nice bit of tang. I thought I was using the rind of a parmesan wedge, but it turns out that it was just the hard edge. It became a bit of a gloppy blob, but after I broke it up, it added some nice flavor. Nice time, I will try a real rind. We really enjoyed this and will definitely make it again.

A wonderful soup! Satisfying and delicious with a little bit of zing. I actually found cheese rinds for sale by the bag at my local Whole Foods Market so I now keep them on hand in the freezer.

The Good: Warm, hearty, healthy. The Bad: end result, lots of work and dishes. We made this on chilly and rainy April night with high hopes that it would be a cuddle-on-the-couch good-for-what-ails-you sort of meal. It didn't turn out that way, but it might be our (read: "my") fault. First, I think we used too much of the "bitter" end of the escarole. Second, I chopped the escarole too fine. The result was less of a brothy bean soup and more of a bitter puree. Too thick. My husband felt that we used too much onion and garlic. But, it was warm and hearty and it was a good low-salt veggie meal. We will try this recipe again...

I doubled the recipe and added 2 lbs. chopped chicken thighs. I used chicken broth instead of vegetable and kale instead of escarole. I also chopped up some celery I had in the fridge and added that. I used dried rosemary and thyme instead of fresh. This soup went over well with my guests. I served it alongside some French bread. I will make this soup again the next time I have parm. rind on hand!

There's a lot of room for versatility in this recipe, which I like. It's very easy to make and nicely flavored. I used chicken broth and substituted spinach thrown in at the very last minute in place of the escarole. I left out the vinegar too. The only complaint in my house was that it had a strong onion soup flavor. Next time I make this I'll use the escarole because it will hold up better than spinach and I will only use 1C of onion instead of 2. Whatver changes you decide to make, DO NOT LEAVE OUT THE PARMIGIANO RIND, it is a key ingredient.

Easy & intensely flavorful. Followed directions but made non-vegetarian using chicken broth and one link turkey sausage, diced. Used the recommended sub, less-expensive curly kale instead of escarole. Very good, could easily increase portions by adding more broth.

Very good and very easy to make. Made as written except used spinach instead of escarole. Can also easily 1/2 the recipe which is nice, as so many soup recipes make very large quantities. Will make again.

Quite tasty. I have never cooked with the cheese rind before but it lends a nice flavor to the soup and I would certainly be disposed to repeating this recipe. It was good to the last bowlful.

I modified (a lot) by combining this recipe another in the same issue (Spinach & Lentil Soup). I did not have canned beans but had dried lentils for the other recipe. I substituted using 1 cup of dried lentils, 4 cups of veggie broth & 2 cups of water (instead of canned beans & the suggested amt of water & broth). Followed the directions through adding garlic. Then added my increased amt of veggie broth, water & 1 cup lentils. Simmered for 40 minutes, added some chopped celery & then followed the rest of the recipe. I chopped up some flat leaf parsley to toss in with the escarole. It was amazing!!! For my kiddos, I tossed some real bacon bits on top of their servings, they ate it all & asked for seconds. We'll make this again!

Flavorful soup. Used grated carrots as I had to hurry it along and then used hand held blender to purée soup before adding beans but after carrots cooked ( Kids did not want chunky soup). Added frozen spinach and fresh basil instead. Forgot to add vinegar. Salty soup due to broth and Parmesan...can leave out the salt. The chilli flakes added a little zing. Will make again.

Made with Swiss Chard and added chicken. Excellent

This was a very easy and tasty soup! I used red chard for the greens (which actually turned the soup red, almost like tomato soup!) and all of the flavors were really nice. Served it with a nice whole wheat baguette and it was a great dinner.

WOW! This was fantastic! I made a couple of changes due to what I had on hand: used chicken broth instead of veggie; added about 2 c. of water and 2 chicken bullion cubes, a pinch more red pepper, a package of all natural mild italian chicken sausages (sliced), and used spinach instead of escarole. I put everything into the pot except the spinach and vinegar and let that simmer, then added the last two ingredients and let it all simmer together for about 30 mins. I had to call my friends and let them know how much I out did myself - this was absolutely one of the most delicious soups I have ever eaten, let alone made! YUM!

Tasty, with simple ingredients and the perfect amount of heat--served it with toasted sourdough bread and a glass of red. Modifications out of necessity that worked out great: chix broth instead of veg broth; sherry vinegar instead of white wine vinegar. For the escarole, I only had 6 cups so I added finely chopped fresh broccoli to make up the rest of the greenery. I was mildly concerned that the broccoli would overpower the other flavors but was pleasantly surprised that it melded nicely with everything else. I added the escarole 5 minutes after the carrots, instead of at the same time. The escarole I purchased was very lettuce-like and I felt like simmering it for 15 mins would have made it almost disappear. I turned off the heat when the carrots were tender, which was about 11 minutes into the final 15, so the escarole actually ended up simmering for 6 minutes, which was perfect. If I had used chard or kale I definitely would have added it with the carrots. Enjoy, it's great!

Excellent recipe!! Very tasty, healthy, and easy to make. Loved it!!