This cozy hen and white bean soup is a one-pot recipe full of juicy shredded hen, cannellini beans, and veggies, brightened with contemporary do-it-yourself basil pesto.
You may also love this comforting hen orzo soup or a basic tomato soup and grilled cheese.

This hen and white bean soup completely bridges that summer-into-fall time of yr, when days are nonetheless heat however nights begin to get chilly. It’s a scrumptious and zesty one-pot hen soup recipe loaded with juicy shredded thigh meat, creamy cannellini beans, tender veggies, and spinach. I embrace find out how to make a fast, Italian-style basil pesto that provides a citrusy punch to the broth!
What Makes This One-Pot White Bean Hen Soup So Satisfying
- Wealthy Tuscan-style flavors. Basil pesto is zesty, nutty, and the proper solution to deliver a burst of vivid, contemporary Italian-inspired flavors to the soup.
- Straightforward clear up. Sear the hen, sauté the greens, and put together the soup in a single pot.
- 1-hour cooking time. This soup comes collectively in an hour on the stovetop, which provides simply sufficient time for all these flavors to mingle. It’s fast sufficient for weeknight meals, too.
- Use leftover hen. Each time I’ve a rotisserie hen or roast hen within the fridge, I really like shredding leftovers so as to add to stews and chili, or soup recipes like hen noodle or right now’s cozy hen white bean soup. I really like turning random fridge scraps and leftovers into one thing value bragging about.


Seize Your Soup Components
These are the substances you’ll must make this straightforward however scrumptious soup with pesto from scratch. Scroll to the recipe card for the printable recipe with the total quantities and particulars.
- Olive Oil – Or avocado oil or butter, for sautéeing.
- Hen Thighs – I exploit boneless, skinless hen thighs since they’re flavorful and more durable to overcook than hen breasts. Hen breasts and bone-in hen may also work on this recipe, although you’ll must adapt the cooking time accordingly (much less time for boneless breasts, and extra time for bone-in hen).
- Onion and Garlic – These aromatics work collectively to create the flavour base for the soup. Attempt to use contemporary garlic each time doable, but when contemporary isn’t obtainable, you’ll be able to substitute one teaspoon of jarred garlic per clove.
- Carrots and Celery – For some basic vegetable goodness.
- Cannellini Beans – You would additionally use one other white bean, like navy beans, nice northern beans, butter beans, pinto beans, or chickpeas.
- Hen Broth – Use roughly broth relying on how thick you want your soup. I like to recommend low-sodium broth or do-it-yourself hen inventory. Vegetable inventory will work, too, and you may add a touch of Worcestershire sauce to deepen the flavour.
- Child Spinach – Different good choices embrace chard, chopped kale, and collard greens.
- Parsley – Freshly chopped. You may as well use one other herb, like basil or thyme.
Strive My Vegetarian Model
If you happen to’d want a vegetarian soup, strive my white bean soup with out hen. You may stir in do-it-yourself pesto towards the top of the cooking time, identical as you do right here.


5-Ingredient Do-it-yourself Pesto
- Cashews – Conventional basil pesto recipes include pine nuts, however I discover cashews are an reasonably priced choice that’s extra readily stocked in shops. Be at liberty to swap cashews for pine nuts or walnuts.
- Olive Oil – High quality counts! Select a high-quality olive oil with a taste that you just like, since it is going to stand out. Search for 100% further virgin olive oil, ideally from a single origin with a harvest date on the bottle. Some bigger manufacturers will mix oil from a number of international locations, and a few might mix in cheaper oils, like canola.
- Garlic – You may adapt the variety of cloves to fit your tastes. If you happen to’re utilizing older garlic, you could want extra because it tends to lose its taste with time.
- Contemporary Basil – Contemporary basil leaves are a should! If you happen to’re fortunate sufficient to develop basil your self, this can be a smart way to make use of up a harvest. In any other case, select the freshest store-bought basil you will discover.
- Parmesan – Freshly grated for the absolute best taste and texture. You should utilize Pecorino if wanted.


Soup Success Ideas
- Protect your contemporary herbs. One in all my favourite methods to stretch contemporary substances, like basil, is to freeze the herbs in olive oil to make use of in recipes like pesto! Merely thaw out the herbs within the oil, and mix them into your sauce. Straightforward.
- Substitute the pesto. If you happen to needed to, you would substitute the pesto recipe right here with do-it-yourself parsley pesto, spinach pesto, or your favourite jarred pesto from the shop as an alternative. Spicy zhoug sauce would add a pleasant kick of cilantro and chili.
- Make it creamy. You may all the time add a splash of half-and-half to this soup on the finish for a creamy model. Or, a simple hack for a “creamy” soup with out cream is to mix a portion of the soup utilizing an immersion blender after you’ve eliminated the hen to shred it. Mix a number of the beans and veggies with the broth earlier than you come back the hen to the soup and end the recipe as written.
- Swap hen with turkey. This white bean soup can also be a good way to make use of up leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Shred it into the soup as an alternative of hen. Another choice is to make use of floor hen or turkey as an alternative of entire hen thighs.


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Brown the hen. Warmth the olive oil in a big pot over medium warmth. Add the hen items, season with salt and pepper, and prepare dinner till browned on all sides. Take away the hen from the pot and put aside.
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Sauté the veggies. To the identical pot, add the onion and sauté till translucent, about 2 to three minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 15 seconds or till aromatic. Lastly, add the carrots and celery and sauté for 4 minutes or till barely softened.
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Make it soup. Return the hen to the pot and stir within the cannellini beans and hen broth. Carry the soup to a boil after which scale back it to a simmer. Cook dinner on low warmth for 20 minutes.
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Make the pesto. Whereas the soup is simmering, make the pesto. Mix the cashews, olive oil, garlic, and basil in a meals processor or blender. Pulse till nearly clean after which pulse within the grated Parmesan cheese. Style and season with salt and pepper if desired.
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Shred the hen. Take away the hen from the soup, switch it to a slicing board, and shred it. Then, return it to the soup.
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Add the greens. Stir within the child spinach and prepare dinner till it wilts into the broth, about 1 minute.
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Add taste. Stir in ½ of the pesto together with the chopped contemporary parsley. Style and season with salt and pepper if obligatory. Stir in additional pesto if desired.
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Simmer. Permit the soup to simmer for a further 10 minutes.
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Serve. Take away the pot from the warmth and let it relaxation for five minutes earlier than ladling the hen and bean soup into bowls and serving.
Serving: 2cups | Energy: 460kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 33g | Fats: 22g | Saturated Fats: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 3g | Monounsaturated Fats: 13g | Trans Fats: 0.01g | Ldl cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 695mg | Potassium: 1237mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 7843IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 177mg | Iron: 6mg
Dietary information is an estimate and supplied as courtesy. Values might differ in accordance with the substances and instruments used. Please use your most well-liked dietary calculator for extra detailed information.
The best way to Make Hen and White Bean Soup
Right here’s a simple step-by-step with images displaying find out how to make this hen white bean soup in a single pot:




- Cook dinner the hen. Begin by browning the hen in a big soup pot with oil.
- Sauté the aromatics. Then, take away the hen, and sauté the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery.




- Make it soup. Subsequent, return the hen to the pot and add the beans. Pour within the broth, deliver the pot to a boil, after which simmer the soup over low warmth for 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, make the pesto. Course of cashews, olive oil, garlic, and basil in a blender. Add the Parmesan, and mix once more, then season your pesto to style with salt and pepper.




- Shred the hen. Now, switch the hen from the soup to a slicing board or sheet pan, and shred it utilizing two forks. Stir the shredded hen again into the soup.
- Add the greens and pesto. Wilt the spinach into the soup, then stir in about half of your ready pesto. Add the contemporary parsley, and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. You may season the soup and add extra pesto as desired. Serve heat with further grated Parmesan and slices of garlic toast or breadsticks.


Storage and Reheating
- Refrigerate and reheat leftovers. Cool the soup to room temperature and retailer it hermetic within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Heat up leftovers on the range or within the microwave.
- Save the pesto. Retailer any leftover pesto in an hermetic jar or container within the fridge for as much as 1 week. You should utilize it in additional soups, add it to pasta, or use it as a topping for salmon or hen.
- Freeze. Freeze the soup for as much as 2 months and thaw it within the fridge earlier than reheating.