Smoky tomato and white bean soup
A thick, smoky tomato soup with creamy white beans and a handful of spinach, a vegan, gluten-free thermos lunch made from pantry cans in 35 minutes.
- 35 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.54 a serving
- 350 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount and pack the rest for the next few days.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 cups baby spinach
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 350 calories, 18 g protein, 56 g carbs and 8 g fat, and costs about $2.54 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No crushed tomatoes? Diced tomatoes work.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion and the garlic.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion, now and then, until soft and , about 6 minutes.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Translucent. Translucent means onions have cooked until they turn from white to slightly see-through. It shows they’re soft and sweet but haven’t started to brown.
How you’ll know: The onion looks glossy and a little see-through, bends easily, and has barely any color.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
in the garlic, smoked paprika and thyme for 1 minute, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Add the tomatoes, broth, beans, salt and pepper, turn the heat up to medium-high and .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium-high heat
Turn the heat to low and for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until slightly .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: For a creamier soup, mash some of the beans against the side of the pot with your spoon.in the spinach until it , then taste and add salt at a time.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Low heat
To pack, fill a thermos with boiling water for 5 minutes, pour it out, and fill it with steaming soup.
Dolly’s tip: The rest keeps 4 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. Reheat it until steaming before it goes in the thermos.Food safety: Put leftovers in the fridge within 2 hours and eat them within 3 to 4 days. Reheat until steaming hot, 165°F.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop plans your lunches along with the week’s dinners, puts what you need on the same grocery list, and walks you through each step.
