Chicken and White Bean Soup
Published Aug 18, 2025
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This cozy chicken and white bean soup is a one-pot recipe packed with juicy shredded chicken, cannellini beans, and veggies, and brightened with fresh homemade basil pesto.
Easy Chicken Soup with Cannellini Beans
I love a classic tomato soup or a good chicken soup, especially my popular chicken noodle or this comforting chicken orzo soup, but sometimes I want to switch things up and stir in some beans! This white bean chicken soup is made with juicy shredded chicken, creamy cannellini beans, tender veggies, and spinach. I also make a quick basil pesto to stir into the broth, and that little bit of lemony, garlicky goodness makes such a difference. Try not to skip it!
The whole soup comes together in one pot in about an hour, so it’s easy and quick enough to make during the week. If I have leftover rotisserie chicken or roast chicken in the fridge, I’ll use that instead to save time and add it toward the end since it’s already cooked!
What You’ll Need
For the Soup
- Olive Oil – For sautéing, but avocado oil or butter are okay to use.
- Chicken Thighs – I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but chicken breasts and bone-in chicken will also work, though you’ll need to adapt the cooking time accordingly (less time for boneless breasts, and more time for bone-in chicken).
- Onion, garlic, carrots, and celery – These veggies create the flavor base for the soup. I prefer fresh garlic, but you can use 1 teaspoon of jarred garlic for each clove.
- Cannellini Beans – You could also use navy beans, great northern beans, butter beans, pinto beans, or chickpeas. Gnocchi is also a great alternative if you want to turn this into a chicken gnocchi soup.
- Chicken Broth – Use more or less broth depending on how thick you like your soup. I recommend low-sodium broth or homemade chicken stock. Vegetable stock will work, too, and you can add a dash of Worcestershire sauce to deepen the flavor.
- Baby Spinach – Other good options include chard, chopped kale, and collard greens.
- Parsley – Freshly chopped. You can also use another herb, like basil or thyme.
For the Pesto
- Pine nuts or cashews – Traditional basil pesto recipes contain pine nuts, but I find cashews are more readily available in stores. Feel free to swap cashews for pine nuts or walnuts.
- Olive Oil – Choose a high-quality olive oil with a flavor that you like.
- Lemon juice – I use a couple of tablespoons of fresh lemon juice to brighten up the pesto.
- Garlic – You can adapt the number of cloves to suit your tastes.
- Basil – Fresh basil leaves are a must! Buy a bunch and follow this recipe to freeze the herbs in olive oil for later use.
- Parmesan – Freshly grated for the best flavor and texture. You can use Pecorino if needed.
How to Make Chicken and White Bean Soup
- Cook the chicken. Start by browning the chicken in a large soup pot with oil.
- Sauté the aromatics. Then, remove the chicken, and sauté the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery.
- Simmer. Next, return the chicken to the pot and add the beans. Pour in the broth, bring the pot to a boil, and then simmer the soup over low heat for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the pesto. Process cashews, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and basil in a blender. Add the Parmesan and blend again, then season your pesto to taste with salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice if you like.
- Shred the chicken. Transfer the chicken from the soup to a cutting board or sheet pan, and shred it using two forks. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup.
- Add the greens and pesto. Wilt the spinach into the soup, then stir in about half of your prepared pesto. Add the fresh parsley and simmer for another 10 minutes. You can season the soup and add more pesto as desired. Serve warm with extra grated Parmesan and slices of garlic toast or breadsticks.
Try My Vegetarian Version
If you’d prefer a vegetarian soup, try my white bean soup without chicken. You can stir in homemade pesto toward the end of the cooking time, same as you do here.
Recipe Tips
- Substitute the pesto. You can make homemade parsley pesto, spinach pesto, or use your favorite jarred pesto from the store instead. Spicy zhoug sauce would add a nice kick of cilantro and chili.
- Make it creamy. You can always add a splash of half-and-half to this soup at the end for a creamy version. Or, an easy hack for a “creamy” soup without cream is to blend a portion of the soup using an immersion blender after you’ve removed the chicken to shred it. Blend some of the beans and veggies with the broth before you return the chicken to the soup and finish the recipe as written.
- Swap chicken with turkey. This white bean soup is also a great way to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Shred it into the soup instead of chicken. Another option is to use ground chicken or turkey instead of whole chicken thighs.
What To Serve With Chicken Soup
Serve this Tuscan-style chicken and white bean soup with crusty Italian bread, garlic bread, or focaccia brushed with garlic butter. For a cold-weather dinner, follow up this soup with a Mediterranean salad and baked salmon or pasta with beef ragu. Or, for an easy lunch, it’s hard to beat soup and a classic grilled cheese!
Tools I Used
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- Dutch Oven – For simmering the soup.
- Cutting Board – For prepping the chicken, vegetables, and herbs.
- Blender or Food Processor – This is used to make the basil pesto.
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Chicken and White Bean Soup
This one-pot chicken and white bean soup is packed with juicy shredded chicken, cannellini beans, and veggies, brightened with fresh homemade basil pesto.
Ingredients
For the Soup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 medium carrots, sliced into thin rounds
- 4 celery ribs, sliced into half-moons
- 30 ounces canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 8 cups chicken broth, you can do more or less depending on personal preference
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the Pesto
- ½ cup pine nuts or cashews, or walnuts
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Brown the chicken. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces, season with salt and pepper, and cook until browned on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
- Sauté the veggies. To the same pot, add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 15 seconds or until fragrant. Finally, add the carrots and celery and sauté for 4 minutes or until slightly softened.
- Cook the soup. Return the chicken to the pot and stir in the cannellini beans and chicken broth. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer. Cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
- Make the pesto. While the soup is simmering, make the pesto. Combine the cashews, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and basil in a food processor or blender. Pulse until almost smooth, then pulse in the grated Parmesan cheese. Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Shred the chicken. Remove the chicken from the soup, transfer it to a cutting board, and shred it. Then, return it to the soup.
- Add the greens and pesto, and simmer. Stir in the baby spinach and cook until it wilts into the broth, about 1 minute. Stir in ½ of the pesto along with the chopped fresh parsley. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in more pesto if desired. Allow the soup to simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
- Serve. Remove the pot from the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes before ladling the chicken soup into bowls and serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 2cups | Calories: 460kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 695mg | Potassium: 1237mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 7843IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 177mg | Iron: 6mg
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
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Storage and Reheating
- Refrigerate and reheat leftovers. Cool the soup to room temperature and store it airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days. Warm up leftovers on the stove or in the microwave.
- Save the pesto. Store any leftover pesto in an airtight jar or container in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can use it in more soups, add it to pasta, or use it as a topping for salmon or chicken.
- Freeze. Freeze the soup for up to 2 months and thaw it in the fridge before reheating.
How many cups of shredded rotisserie chicken as a sub for the chicken thighs???
Hi!
You’ll need about 3 cups of shredded chicken.
Salted or unsalted cashews?
Hi!
That’s totally up to you, but I use unsalted so I have more control over the flavor and the salt level.