Smoky Butter Bean Soup with Tomato and Spinach

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Is butter bean soup healthy?

This soup provides a hearty meal that's low in fat and high in healthy nutrients such as plant-based protein. One serving provides:

• Calories: 237 kcal
• Protein: 13 grams (26% of RDA)
• Fibre: 13 grams (54% of RDA)
• Iron: 5 mg (28% of RDA)

(Amounts based on a third-party nutrition calculator)

Are butter beans and lima beans the same?

Simply put, yes. These are just two different names for the same Phaseolus lunatus variety. You may come across 'baby' versions of these, which are simply younger and often have the outer skin removed.

Can I make this recipe with dried butter beans?

For convenience, it's much quicker to make this recipe using canned butter beans. These are already pre-cooked as part of the canning process and so you're essentially just heating them through.

If you want to use dried beans, you'll need to soak these overnight and pre-cook for at least an hour until creamy and soft. Alternatively, you could simply soak the beans and then follow this recipe, increasing the cooking time by up to 1-2 hours to ensure they are tender.

For more information, see my Beginner's Guide to Pulses.

What you'll need

This recipe is full of simple plant-based ingredients to create a soup brimming with texture and flavour. You'll need:

• Butter beans as the starring role
• Smoked paprika for its distinctive smoky flavour
• Veg in the form of onion, carrot, garlic, and spinach
• Tomatoes to add depth of flavour and bulk

How to make smoky butter bean soup

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on medium heat and add the onion and carrot. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring now and then until the veg has started to soften.

Once the veg starts to soften, add the chopped garlic and cook for another 2 minutes (1).

After a couple of minutes, add the tomato puree, smoked paprika, thyme, and sage. Stir well and cook for another minute.

Next, add the tinned tomatoes, drained butter beans, vegan stock, bay leaves, and nutritional yeast (2). If using tinned whole tomatoes, break these apart with a spoon.

Add a little water to the empty tomato can and swirl around before adding to the pan. Mix well, bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce the heat and cook on a low heat for 6-8 minutes.

After 6-8 minutes, add the spinach. If using fresh parsley, you can chop some of the stems and add them to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes until the spinach has wilted down (3).

Taste the soup and adjust the flavours if necessary. You may want to add a little more smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, salt, or pepper.

Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves, and blitz using a hand blender (4). Do this until you have the desired consistency. You could also transfer to a larger, more powerful blender, or simply mash using a potato masher for a chunkier texture.

Adjust the seasoning again and serve.

Serving suggestions

This hearty soup needs nothing more than a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley, although a dash of homemade cashew cream also adds a nice touch. If you want a bit of extra texture and smokiness, try topping off with some tofu pancetta.

To make the meal stretch further, serve alongside fresh crusty bread (gluten-free if necessary).

Variations and tips for vegan butter bean soup

• Frozen spinach: If using frozen spinach, add this at the same time as the beans and tomatoes to ensure it's thoroughly defrosted and cooked.
• Other greens: If you don't have spinach, you could substitute this with other greens such as kale or cabbage.
• Other veg: Feel free to add any other veg you like – celery, leeks, peppers etc. would all be great additions. If you want to add potato, cut this into small cubes and cook the soup until these are tender. If necessary, add a little extra stock.
• Quantity: This recipe should provide around four servings, but you could always make it stretch further with more beans, veg, and stock (and a touch more of each seasoning).

Hey you – let me know what you think

If you made this recipe and enjoyed it – or did anything differently – I'd love to hear from you down below in the comments 👇

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More vegan recipe ideas

If you liked this recipe, you may also enjoy:

• Lemony Butter Bean Stew
• Creamy Butter Bean Dip
• Pinto Bean Soup with Chilli and Lime
• Hearty Black Bean Soup
• Vegan Goulash (Hungarian Stew)
• White Bean Soup with Lemon and Parsley
• Vegan Scotch Broth (Scottish Barley Soup)
• Vegan Red Pepper and Lentil Soup

You can also check out my full list of vegan soup recipes.