Chunky: Tuscan bean and kale soup from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking (page 274) by Samin Nosrat

Ingredients

bay leaves
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green cabbage
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Notes about this recipe

barbara_xcaci9 on April 12, 2026

Delicious and hearty soup. Made as per basic recipe, except I had pre-cooked bacon in the freezer, which I chopped up and added just before the garlic. It took me about 2 hours active time in the kitchen, not including the time to soak the dried beans (4 hrs) and pressure cook (40 mins). An excellent meal to make ahead, reheats well, and makes plenty for leftovers.
brianna_lozwij on April 09, 2026

Added anellini noodles, omitted meat otherwise followed completely. 1 can tomatoes and 1 can butter and 1 can canellini beans since I had a lot of bean cans to use up. Chicken bullion for broth. Next time make it the same but increase garlic and bay leaves.
ellen_gvlooi on March 29, 2026

great skeleton recipe to riff off of! used canned beans and omitted the pancetta/bacon. parm rinds in it brought so much flavor but bit of a mess to clean up when fishing them out and cleaning the dutch oven
tippi_dkityu on March 26, 2026

Made with no pork, one can of beans and pre-cooked ground turkey. It was great. My Parmesan rind disintegrated and I had a fish a lot of chunks of cheese out. But apart from that, it was smooth sailing; would recommend.
rebekahbryce on March 14, 2026

Omitted bacon and measured with my heart for the other ingredients. A delicious, filling, fiber-ful soup!
anjelica_52p2oe on March 05, 2026

So simple and sooo tasty! I omitted the cabbage and added extra kale because I had some to use up. I was going to make the ribollita variation but decided to dip the bread instead. Added 3 bay leaves and 4 cloves of garlic because why not.
cadfael on February 06, 2026

This is a really good primer which allows you to riff and still stay true to the great flavours of the original.
hannah_06xygv on January 19, 2026

Excellent! Made without pancetta, with tinned cannellini beans, probably a bit more cabbage than written, pecorino romano instead of parmesan, and with croutons from the end of an old loaf added in the last 15 mins.
paisleymonsoon on January 12, 2026

This has so much kale and cabbage, and it's delicious. It will become a regular soup in our rotation for sure. We only made one change, using Better Than Bullion's veggie bullion to make the stick so that it was all vegetarian (no bacon obviously). And we added the suggested pasta as well.
eatswhilestanding on January 05, 2026

Really good. I can't say I got the full effect because I didn't have cabbage and ran out of time to add the kale. But I would definitely make it again, with or without the greens.
AllieTaylor on September 22, 2024

Made this pretty much following the recipe exactly for Pasta e Fagioli (used orzo). Had a huge rind in the freezer (yay!) and had found fresh bay leaves, and cavolo nero! Scored the last package of CN, so used quite a bit of cabbage very finely sliced. Needed a big splash of lemon juice just before serving to lift it. It was very good and we are looking forward to having the leftovers (always better the next day!). Forgot to mention that I used the pancetta and added water, rather than chicken stock, as I wanted the veggies to shine.
dosojosazules on October 09, 2023

Perfect use of many CSA veggies. Cooking times for each section were at least 10 minutes more than suggested, especially for cooking off the tomato juices to get it to a jammy consistency. Really perfect stew-accented with artisanal EVOO and sea salt
Rinshin on April 04, 2023

Very good use of big sized super greens from Costco and tender fresh Spring cabbage. Made several versions of similar Tuscan bean and vegetable soup in the past and this is a good one. This is a luxury version of what all canned, bottled, and deli vegetable soups try to be. The use of Parmesan rind is something I do often when making Italian style soups and good use of what is normally discarded. We enjoyed this healthy soup with homemade rolls. Photo added.
eathealthy on April 02, 2023

Delicious!! Made without pancetta, with chicken broth and Napa cabbage
joeljkp on March 21, 2023

Good chunky hearty soup. I made it vegetarian with no pancetta and using Cook's Illustrated's freezer vegetable stock. Also no parmesan rind because I didn't have any. Cooked the cannellini beans in the Instant Pot and used the cooking liquid. The result was great! We ate it with some hearty bread for dinner. Plenty of leftovers. I still like the Bittman version of this from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian as that's more of a true template recipe. I'm also not sure the cabbage is truly necessary here. But this is a really great take on this type of soup that I look forward to enjoying as leftovers.
monicatgood on March 14, 2023

Having received kale in my produce box this past week and my menus are primarily made from my received produce and EYB. Plugging in keyword "kale" and "soup" This recipe popped right up. Then my senses kicked into high gear. My mind immediately filled with the aroma of this soup. Yes! I had made it before! If you haven't made it, please do. If you have made it, I bet you'll make it again.
rhb on November 17, 2022

Loved this! I used pancetta because I had it...would love to know if others skipped the pancetta. It seems that this would not need it. I used chicken stock, cranberry beans (cooked with garlic, salt, & bay leaf), half the amount of grated parm, more kale, and no cabbage. Would make again.
patioweather on March 09, 2022

Cooked the Pasta y Fagioli version exactly as directed. Maybe it is the Alubia Blanca beans or the wine I drank while making it but this is the best soup I have ever had, despite having made soup with basically the same ingredients many times before.
Dannausc on June 06, 2021

I used 9 c of kale and skipped the cabbage. I added a splash of apple cider vinegar and some pepper flakes. Fairly quick and easy. Pretty decent.
rrackles on December 27, 2020

Also omitted cabbage because I had none. Used canned navy beans. Husband said he would have liked it spicier, so may add some red chili flakes next time.serving size in book says 6-8, but that is more accurate for a starter. As a main dish for lunch, the two of us finished just over half, and we are looking forward to the leftovers!
AugustaLarson on July 28, 2020

Omitted the cabbage because I didn't have any, and it was still delicious. Well worth making the full quantity for leftovers.
ebs on January 25, 2020

I had some ham bones in the freezer and was making stock with them, so used some of the stock, mixed with some chicken bouillon paste. Instead of pancetta, I used some frozen ham with bacon. I had only one bunch of kale, so it could have been a bit thicker, but this soup was so delicious
clcorbi on February 07, 2019

Excellent soup recipe. Use a good-quality stock here if you can--it really adds a richness that can help cut through all the vegetables. Of course, all the parmesan really helps too. I normally don't love kale soups but this one was delicious.
ldtrieb on August 30, 2018

Sort of followed the recipe, already cooked beans added to previously sautéed kale. Looked over the recipe and added anything that wasn't in the original recipe. Oh, and no tomatoes because I didn't have any. Amazing how the parmesan rind changed the taste in just a short simmering time. Superb!
Jane on December 31, 2017

This is a lovely warming winter soup, a thick stew-like soup. I cooked the beans in the Instant Pot then added the cooking liquid from the beans instead of stock. I think the grated Parmesan on top is important to lift the flavor a notch.