This fennel white bean soup is my love letter to fennel – think creamy butter beans and Yukon gold potatoes, paired with sautéed fennel and onion, in a garlicky, aromatic broth that’s addictingly good! And like all good soups, this one keeps getting better the longer it sits, making it the perfect soup to meal-prep for the week ahead.

I love serving this fennel white bean soup with minced chives and toasted (heavily buttered) sourdough bread. Occasionally, I’ll throw in homemade sweet fennel beef sausage (recipe in my latest Substack here) to bulk up this soup even more.

Fennel White Bean Soup Ingredients

  • Fennel: Random note, love saving the fennel stalks for my dog (Argos).
  • Cipollini onions: They’re essentially a sweet Italian pearl onion – if you can get your hands on Cipollini onions, use them. Otherwise, a regular sweet onion or pearl onions will both work well.
  • Garlic: You’ll need an entire bulb.
  • Butter beans or any white beans: Almost any white bean will work well in this soup, such as cannellini beans, great northern beans, butter beans, or even heirloom varieties. I’m partial to butter beans (surprise, surprise). I highly recommend the Strianese butter beans – for canned beans, they’re cooked exceptionally well and salted perfectly!
  • Yukon gold potatoes
  • Dino kale, aka lacinato kale/cavolo nero
  • Aleppo pepper: The Aleppo pepper I use is from Burlap & Barrel – technically, it’s called silk chili, because authentic Syrian Aleppo pepper is unfortunately not available.
  • Dried Italian herbs: As long as the blend you use contains oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil, and sage, you’re golden!
  • Fennel seeds: Love blitzing the seeds in my spice grinder – it amplifies the flavor and aroma so much!
  • Creamy non-dairy milk: I used my house-blend milk (wasn’t kidding when I said I use it for everything). If you’re not dairy-free, use a scant 1/4 cup of heavy cream.
  • Chives, for garnish
  • Water or stock: I always test my soup recipes with water, simply because I don’t want them to rely on stock alone to save the flavor. That said, if you have it, use stock!
  • Olive oil
  • Kosher salt: I always use Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

How to Make this Fennel White Bean Soup

Rub the garlic with olive oil, wrap it in foil, and roast it in the oven at 450°F for 30 minutes.

Start off by prepping the onion, fennel, and potatoes. Since I used a small onion, I thinly sliced it across. For the fennel, slice the bulb in half, remove the core, and then slice thinly; alternatively, you can use a mandoline for this. Chop the potatoes into small cubes to cut down on the cook time – I typically aim for 1cm cubes, which take about 15-20 minutes to cook through and soften.

Add the olive oil, onion, and fennel to a large pot (I used a 4.5 QT Dutch oven). Sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the fennel and onion are translucent – this takes around 12-15 minutes. Sprinkle in the Aleppo pepper, herbs, and fennel seeds, and saute for 1 minute to bloom. Lastly, add in the beans, potatoes, salt, and stock. Stir to combine everything. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover the pot with a lid, and let the soup simmer until the potatoes are soft (about 15 minutes).

Once the potatoes are soft, ladle 2 cups of the soup into a jar or container (something you can use an immersion blender in), along with the roasted garlic. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and return to the pot of soup, along with the cream and chopped kale. Stir together and adjust for salt as needed. Let the soup simmer a little longer until the kale has wilted.

Serve individual bowls with finely minced chives and crusty, heavily buttered, sourdough bread. Parmesan would also pair really well with this soup!

Notes

  • Chop the potatoes into small cubes to cut down on the cook time – I typically aim for 1cm cubes, which take about 15-20 minutes to cook through and soften.
  • I love the sweet nutty flavor of roasted garlic – it’s always worth the extra effort. However, if you want to avoid turning on the oven, before sautéing the fennel and onion, smash and roughly chop the garlic, sauté in olive oil for 2 minutes or until golden, and set aside in the jar/container you’ll blend the soup.

Can’t wait for you to make this soup! Don’t forget to leave a starred review and rating – love hearing your feedback!

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Brothy Fennel White Bean Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Yasmeen Ali
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: Dinner
  • Cuisine: American, Italian
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Description

This brothy fennel white bean soup is packed with both fennel and fennel seeds, along with creamy butter beans, aromatics, and chives, for an hearty soup that’s perfect for winter.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 bulb garlic, tops sliced off 
  • 1/4 cup evoo
  • 2 cipollini onion, thinly sliced (100g sliced)
  • 2 large fennel bulbs, thinly sliced (300g sliced)
  • 1 tbsp Aleppo pepper
  • 1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds, ground*
  • 2 (14 oz) cans butter beans or white beans of choice
  • 3 small Yukon gold potatoes chopped into small cubes (220g chopped)
  • 3 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more as needed
  • 4 cups water or stock
  • 1/4 cup cream (use a creamy non-dairy cream)
  • 2 cups finely sliced dino kale (40g)
  • Garnish w/ finely minced chives

Instructions

  1. Roast the garlic. Rub the garlic with olive oil, wrap it in foil, and roast it in the oven at 450°F for 30 minutes.
  2. Prep the veggies and aromatics. Start off by prepping the onion, fennel, and potatoes. Since I used a small onion, I thinly sliced it across. For the fennel, slice the bulb in half, remove the core, and then slice thinly; alternatively, you can use a mandoline for this. Chop the potatoes into small cubes to cut down on the cook time – I typically aim for 1cm cubes, which take about 15-20 minutes to cook through and soften.
  3. Sauté the fennel and aromatics. Add the olive oil, onion, and fennel to a large pot (I used a 4.5 QT Dutch oven). Sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the fennel and onion are translucent – this takes around 12-15 minutes. Sprinkle in the Aleppo pepper, herbs, and fennel seeds, and saute for 1 minute to bloom. Lastly, add in the beans, potatoes, salt, and stock. Stir to combine everything. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover the pot with a lid, and let the soup simmer until the potatoes are soft (about 15 minutes).
  4. Blend some of the soup and simmer. Once the potatoes are soft, ladle 2 cups of the soup into a jar or container (something you can use an immersion blender in), along with the roasted garlic. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and return to the pot of soup, along with the cream and chopped kale. Stir together and adjust for salt as needed. Let the soup simmer a little longer until the kale has wilted.
  5. Serve. Serve individual bowls with finely minced chives and crusty, heavily buttered, sourdough bread. Parmesan would also pair really well with this soup!

Notes

*I use my spice grinder to blitz the seeds into a powder – they have so much more flavor and aroma. 1 tsp of fennel seeds yields about 1 1/2 -2 tsp of ground fennel.

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