Creamy Broccolini Soup with White Beans and Dill
This broccolini soup with white beans is made with white beans instead of potatoes and a base of onion, carrot and celery (so no stock cube needed), and like many Baltic and Scandinavian soups, it has lots of fresh dill. It’s thick, smooth and has a lovely green color. Serve it with a slice of sourdough bread or a handful of croutons, and it’s an easy weeknight meal, ready in 30 minutes. Plus, if you leave out the optional cream, it’s a dairy-free, vegan broccoli soup.
Equipment
- 1 Dutch Oven or soup pot
- 1 stick mixer or blender
Ingredients
Soup
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion finely diced
- 1 small carrot finely diced
- 1 small celery stick finely diced
- 4 cups water or homemade stock
- 14 oz can white cannellini or butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 12 oz broccolini (about 2 bunches)
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups baby spinach
- 4 tbsp fresh dill chopped, plus extra to serve
- ½ cup pouring cream optional
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 to 2 tsp lemon juice optional
To serve
- Croutons
- Chives chopped, or parsley or dill for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook gently for 5 to 8 minutes until softened, without letting them brown.
- Add the water or stock and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are completely soft and the carrot squashes easily against the side of the pot.
- Drain and rinse the beans.
- Cut the broccolini stems from the tops and slice the stems into 2 to 3 cm (1 inch) pieces. If using regular broccoli, peel the stalk first if it’s tough. Add the broccolini stems and white beans to the pot and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add the broccolini tops and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes more, until just tender.
- Stir in the spinach and simmer for about 30 seconds, until wilted.
- Blend until smooth with a stick blender or blender. Add a splash of water if the soup is too thick.
- Stir in the dill and the lemon juice (if using). Season with salt and pepper. Keep a little dill aside for garnish if you like.
- Stir in cream if using.
- Serve topped with croutons and chopped chives, parsley or dill.
Notes
Substitutions:
- Dill – You can use 1 teaspoon dried dill for every tablespoon of fresh dill. You add it with the water, not at the end. Dried herbs need a bit of time to soften and release their flavor.
- Broccolini – Broccoli is a little less sweet but fine to use (just use the same weight). Peel the thick stalk before chopping, or you may get little stringy bits in your soup.
- Garlic – You can add some along with the onion. It gives the soup a nice flavor.
- Beans – Any kind of mild white beans, like cannellini beans, butter beans, white beans, but not chickpeas. You can also substitute two medium potatoes peeled and diced.
- Dairy-free and vegan – Leave out the optional cream or use vegan cream.
- Kefir – I like a splash of kefir in my soup right before serving. It gives the soup this light tangy flavor, but my husband prefers it plain or with a bit of cream.
- Croutons – homemade are best. They are quick to make. Or you can also toast some bread, chop it up and scatter it on top.
- Fresh chives, dill or parsley – A sprinkling of fresh herbs for the garnish.
- Make sure your carrot, celery and onion are properly cooked and soft before adding the broccolini, otherwise you may get hard bits in your soup…
- But don’t overcook the broccolini. You only need a few minutes. The taste is much fresher if you don’t overcook it.
- Blend the soup properly. Take the time to blend it a few extra minutes so it’s extra smooth and creamy from the beans.
- Add the lemon right before serving. Lemon can turn a soup a more dull olive color with time.
- Add the croutons at the end. Better yet, serve them at the table. Croutons can get soggy quickly.
- Fridge: keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
- Freezer: freeze without adding any cream. Freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight container.
- Make ahead: You can make the whole soup ahead of time, but it’s best to add the lemon, cream and fresh herb garnish at the end, right before serving.
- Reheating: Reheat slowly and don’t boil. The color may fade a tiny bit, but the flavor will be just as good.
Nutrition
Serving: 1personCalories: 230kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 11gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 64mgPotassium: 609mgFiber: 7gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 5139IUVitamin C: 85mgCalcium: 163mgIron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!