Tuscan vegetable soup with white bean balls is a hearty vegetable soup that is simple, comforting and completely delicious. It's packed with vegetables, pasta, white bean balls and homemade vegetable broth. It is truly a filling vegan meal in one bowl that everyone will enjoy!
Don't let the long ingredient list scare you away from making this soup because it can be made in less than one hour. Here is what you will need to make this Tuscan vegetable soup: olive oil, onions, vegetable broth, garlic, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, lemon juice, chopped fresh greens, white beans, nutritional yeast, tamari sauce, oregano, whole wheat pasta, and a pressure cooker or soup pot.
Click Here to Pin the Recipe for Tuscan Vegetable Soup with White Bean Balls
This soup is so good! I received The Thug Kitchen Official Cookbook as a gift recently and found a recipe for vegan wedding soup, which inspired me to make my own version.
The bean balls take the longest to prepare and cook, so I make them first and while they are cooking in the oven, I make the soup. By the time the bean "meatballs" are ready, the soup is too..
Unlike meatballs these bean balls are fragile and should not be added to the soup until you are ready to eat the soup. I serve them on the side so that you can add as many as you like. Once they hit the soup they begin to fall apart and that's when the magic begins. All of the flavors in the the bean balls spread throughout the soup. They are so good, you will find yourself reaching for more before your soup bowl is empty.
These little white bean balls really are flavor bombs, I usually double the recipe for the bean meatballs and serve them the next night with homemade marinara sauce over zucchini noodles.
Even though this bowl of hearty vegetable soup is a meal in itself, we like it with a side salad like this garden chopped salad. This soup can be made on top of the stove or in an pressure cooker, below are instructions for both.
Make Tuscan Vegetable Soup with White Bean Meatballs in a Pressure Cooker
- Make the bean meatballs first by adding the white beans into a bowl and mashing them with a potato masher or food processor.
- Add seasonings (onion,garlic, lemon juice, tamari and spices) to the smashed beans and mix well
- Roll the Mixture into little balls
- Bake
- While bean meatballs are cooking, set the pressure cooker to saute and add the garlic,onions, carrots and cook until vegetables begin to soften, and press cancel
- Add the broth, tomatoes, lemon juice and pasta
- Set pressure cooker to manual, cover and set to low for 8 minutes
- Quick release and carefully remove the top, stir in the greens cover until greens have wilted
Make Tuscan Vegetable soup with White Bean Meatballs on Top of the Stove
- Make the bean meatballs first by adding the white beans into a bowl and mashing them with a potato masher or food processor.
- Add seasonings (onion,garlic, lemon juice, tamari and spices) to the smashed beans and mix well
- Roll the Mixture into little balls
- Bake
- Preheat a sauce pan over medium to high heat, add the olive oil and saute the vegetables
- Add the broth tomatoes and pasta, reduce heat and cook 10 to 15 minutes until pasta has cooked through
- Stir in the green and allow them to wilt
Tips and Variations for Making Tuscan Vegetable soup with White Bean Balls
Meal Prep Tips!
- You can start preparing this soup ahead of time by mixing up the bean balls ahead of time and storing them in the refrigerator before or after baking them.
- Chop up the vegetables and store them in the refrigerator until it's time to make the soup.
- Make an extra batch of bean balls and serve with pasta, zoodles and sauce or in roll for a sub-style sandwich
Change up Tuscan Style Vegetable Soup with White Bean Meatballs
- You can use just about any kind of vegetable that you like in this soup, think diced turnips, celery, parsnips. Go heavy or light and see how the flavor changes.
- For a gluten-free version substitute the pasta with gluten-free pasta
- For a lower-carb version leave out the pasta completely
- If you are not vegan, you can use chicken broth in place of vegetable broth, and swap out the nutritional yeast for Parmesan cheese.
Check out these soup recipes
Sausage and Kale Soup with White Beans
📖 Recipe
Click on serving size to scale this recipe
Ingredients
Bean Balls
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 2 cups cooked or canned [white beans] drained
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- ⅛ cup [nutritional yeast]
- 2 tablespoons [Tamari sauce]
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
Soup
- 1 tablespoon [olive oil]
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small to medium zucchini diced
- 3 carrots peeled and sliced
- ¼ cup small whole wheat or gluten-free pasta such as orzo
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- ½ cup tomatoes diced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 cups chopped greens such as kale spinach, escarole or arugula
Instructions
Pressure Cooker Method
- pre-heat the oven to 425
- line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and apply a thin coating of olive oil
- mash the beans into a paste using a potato masher or food processor
- add the garlic, onion, nutritional yeast, tamari sauce, spices, lemon zest to the mashed beans and mix well.
- roll the mixture into ½ inch sized balls and place on baking sheet
- bake for approximately 20 minutes - turning half way through cooking
- remove from oven and set aside
- make the soup - Turn the pressure cooker to saute.
- add oil along with garlic, onions, carrots, zucchini and cook until vegetables begin to soften for about 3 to 5 minutes. Press cancel
- add the broth, pasta, zucchini, and tomatoes
- cover, and set the pressure cooker to manual, low for 8 minutes
- quick release and once all of the steam has disappeared, carefully remove the cover and stir n the lemon juice and greens. Reduce heat to low until greens begin to wilt
- serve the soup with three bean balls and enjoy!
Stove Top Method
- pre-heat the oven to 425
- line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and apply a thin coating of olive oil
- mash the beans into a paste using a potato masher or food processor
- add the garlic, onion, nutritional yeast, tamari sauce, spices, lemon zest to the mashed beans and mix well.
- roll the mixture into ½ inch sized balls and place on baking sheet
- bake for approximately 30 minutes - turning half way through cooking
- remove from oven and set aside
- heat the olive oil in a soup pot and add the garlic and onions, cook, until they begin to brown about 5 minutes
- add the pasta, zucchini, tomatoes, and broth
- let simmer for about 10 minutes until pasta is soft
- stir in the lemon juice and greens and reduce heat to low until greens begin to wilt
- serve the soup with three bean balls and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and can vary based on cooking methods and ingredients used
Erin Vasicek says
While I love real meatballs, I love trying new things an I definitely need to try this with those bean "meat" balls.
anne says
The bean balls are full of flavor, but you could always substitute them with meatballs too Erin.
Karen says
What cute little "bean balls." This soup looks hearty and delicious.
anne says
Thanks Karen, it is very filling!
Colleen - Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck says
Such a pretty soup...so colorful...and I bet it tastes amazing!
anne says
Thanks Colleen it does taste good!
Lisa Kerhin says
I could be persuaded to eat this and even ask for seconds!
Hezzi-D says
Great idea for the meatballs! Makes this vegetable soup fun!
Ellen says
The bean balls sound so interesting. Such a flavorful and hearty soup. Perfect cold weather food.
Carlee says
That looks so warm and satisfying, perfect for a cold day like today! I wish I had a bowl now!
Liz @ Books n' Cooks says
This is a recipe that I need to share (or make for) my brother - sounds like something he'll love.