This Lemon White Bean Soup with Turkey and Greens is a fast and flavorful soup with a savory lemony broth. It's a great way to use up leftover turkey or chicken. Make this when you want something that's light but cozy, too.
What Kind of Beans are White Beans?
There are lots of beans that fall into the broader category of "white beans" and you can use any of these for this recipe.
- Navy Beans: Small, oval-shaped beans with a mild flavor and soft texture when cooked.
- Cannellini Beans: Larger, kidney-shaped beans, often used in Italian dishes, with a nutty flavor and smooth texture.
- Great Northern Beans: Medium-sized beans, larger than navy beans but smaller than cannellini, with a mild, slightly nutty flavor.
- Baby Lima Beans: Also known as butterbeans, these are small and have a creamy texture when cooked.
- White Kidney Beans: Another name for cannellini beans, specifically when they have a more kidney-like shape
Substitution Options
This is a highly adaptable soup so feel free to make it your own. It's fairly hard to screw this one up, so substitute and add to your heart's content.
Chicken or Turkey: This is a perfect recipe for using up leftover chicken or turkey. A favorite for after Thanksgiving. You can use white meat, dark meat. Rotisserie or grilled. Shred it or chop it. Use what you've got!
Garlic: You'll see I recommend 8 garlic cloves. We do love our garlic in this household and garlic is loaded with good for you nutrients, however, if you're leery of that much garlic, feel free to dial it back.
Italian Seasoning: I always have dried Italian seasoning on hand which is a mix of oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, marjoram and sage. If you don't have this blend, you can sub in an equal amount of basil or oregano instead. You can also try using fresh herbs stead, though you'll want to increase the quantity by double since dried herbs have more concentrated flavor.
Broth: Fee free to use chicken broth or vegetable broth. I also used chicken bone broth once for a richer texture and flavor.
Lemon Juice: I do not recommend substituting bottled lemon juice in place of the fresh lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice has a brighter flavor and just a hint of sweetness to perfectly round out this recipe.
Beans: You can use canned beans or prepare them from dried. When I make this recipe, I add 2 cups of dried beans (which yields 3 cups cooked beans) to my pressure cooker Instant Pot along with 6 cups of water and cook on the manual setting for 27 minutes and then add them as directed in the recipe.
Greens: I've used both spinach as well as tuscan kale in this recipe. You could also use mustard greens, broccoli rabe or collard greens. Though for the more sturdy greens, you might want to simmer the soup a few minutes longer after adding them just to ensure they're nice and tender.
How to Make Soup Creamy without Cream
My favorite hack for bean soups is to blend a bit of the soup so that some of the beans and broth get mashed up into a creamy consistency and then add that back into the main pot of soup. It helps give the soup more body and a thicker broth without adding more ingredients or cream.
For this recipe, before the turkey and greens are added, I ladle 2 cups of the soup including the broth, veggies and beans into a blender and blend until smooth, then add the blended mixture back to the main soup pot. You can also use an immersion blender here instead, but be careful to not overblend. I do 4 or 5 quick pulses. You still want some whole beans to remain while also making for a thicker soup.
Steps for Making Easy Lemon White Bean Soup with Turkey and Greens
Serving and Saving Your Soup
I like to serve Lemon White Bean Soup with Turkey and Greens with extra grated parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes along with some nice crusty bread. The bread you see pictured is my Sourdough Sandwich Loaf!
This is also one of those recipes that's just as good the next day. Just put the leftovers into an airtight container and then microwave for a minute or two to reheat and enjoy.
Lemon White Bean Soup with Turkey and Greens
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: soup
- Method: soup
- Cuisine: American
Description
Lemon White Bean Soup with Turkey and Greens is a fast and flavorful soup with a savory lemony broth, loaded with shredded turkey (or chicken!), white beans, vegetables and tender greens. When you want something that's light but cozy, too.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 2 large carrots finely chopped (approx. ½ cup)
- 2 large celery ribs (approx. ½ cup)
- 6-8 garlic cloves, minced (add more or less as you like)
- 2 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 3 cups (2 - 15 oz cans) cooked white beans
- 1 lb cooked shredded turkey or chicken
- 4 cups spinach or kale chopped
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbs lemon juice
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Add 2 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil to a large pot or Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Then add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute, stirring ocassionally for 5 minutes until the vegetables are softened and fragrant.
- Next add in the garlic, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning and stir to combine and saute for another 3 minutes so the garlic is fragrant.
- Then add in 6 cups of both and 3 cups of cooked white beans and increase the heat to high heat and once the soup comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium low and cover the pot. Let the soup simmer for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, ladle 2 cups of the soup (including the broth, veggies and beans) into a blender and blend until smooth, then add the blended mixture back to the main soup pot. This helps to create a bit of creaminess and body to the soup. You can also use an immersion blender here instead, blending just a bit, 4 or 5 quick pulses. You still want some whole beans to remain in the final soup.
- Next, add the shredded turkey or chicken, chopped spinach or kale, lemon zest, lemon juice, and grated parmesan cheese to the soup. Increase the heat to bring the whole soup to a simmer, leaving the lid off of the pot.
- After 5 minutes of simmering, your soup is ready to serve!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 372
- Sugar: 3.6 g
- Sodium: 1871.7 mg
- Fat: 10.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 37.6 g
- Fiber: 13.9 g
- Protein: 33.2 g
- Cholesterol: 65.2 mg
More Soups My Family Loves
- Instant Pot Ground Beef and Barley Soup
- Succotash Soup
- Instant Pot Pork Stew
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Corn Chowder
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