Time to cozy up with this delicious Italian white bean soup! Made in the crockpot, this Tuscan soup is made super creamy with a coconut milk and sun-dried tomato base, and bulked up with pasta, white cannellini beans and fresh spinach for a healthy and satisfying Italian-inspired meal perfect for busy weeknights! {Vegan & gluten-free friendly}
219ozcans low sodium white beansdrained and rinsed
3 cupsreduced sodium vegetable broth
2 cupschopped fresh spinach
1cup whole grain or regular rotini pastagluten-free, if needed
Salt and pepperto taste
Instructions
Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion until softened and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. You can also do this step in the slow cooker if it has a saute function.
Meanwhile, in a blender, add coconut milk, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning and salt. Blend on high until smooth.
Add the onion and coconut milk mixture to the slow cooker along with the diced tomatoes, white beans, and vegetable broth. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
When there is one hour left on the timer, turn the heat to high (if it's not there already) and add in the dry pasta and stir. Stir in the spinach when there are five minutes left on the timer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve warm sprinkled with some freshly grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil, if desired.
Video
Notes
I like to blend the coconut milk and sun-dried tomato mixture in a mini blender (we love the Ninja) since it makes the mixture ultra smooth and creamy. You can use a regular blender too if that’s what you have.
I like to chop the baby spinach up before adding it to the soup to make the spinach a bit more subtle and kid-friendly. This step is totally optional and you can add whole baby spinach in there as well. Frozen chopped spinach is a really subtle, yet convenient option as well.
The soup tends to thicken up the longer that it sits, so you may wish to add some extra broth to thin it out before serving.
If you plan to make this soup hours before serving, you might want to cook the pasta separately and add it into the soup just before serving to prevent it from thickening it up too much, but it's a personal preference.