This Italian soup recipe is easy to put together and is delicious yet light on a cold night. The combination of Italian sausage and cannellini beans are a perfect basis for Italian comfort food. This brothy Italian Sausage and White Bean soup will be a staple all winter long!

Looking for more cozy soups like this? Try out our Hearty Vegetable Pasta Soup or Creamy Three Bean Chicken Stew.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Comforting brothy soup for cold weather.
- Flavorful yet light
- Very easy to make
- This soup comes together in no time
- It is just as good or better leftover!
Jump to:
- Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- About This Soup Recipe
- Ingredients
- Substitutions
- How to Make Brothy Italian Sausage and White Bean Soup
- Equipment
- Step-by-Step Instructions
- Variations
- Storage
- Top Tip
- Troubleshooting
- What to serve with Italian Sausage and White Bean Soup
- What Wines To Drink with Italian Sausage Soup
- Mangiamo Cookbook
- FAQ
- Related
- Pairing
- 📖 Recipe
About This Soup Recipe
Mild (or sweet) Italian sausage is hearty and flavorful Italian soup ingredient, but this savory sausage is most often overlooked for a soup ingredient in the United States. Well, flavorful Italian sausage and cannellini beans (sometimes marketed as white kidney beans) are a match made in heaven and work so well in this soup. A few other common ingredients and a little time for the flavors to meld and you have a great dish for the fall or winter.
If you love a creamy Zuppa Toscana but prefer something a bit less heavy but still want a flavorful soup, then this Italian Sausage and White Bean soup is perfect for you!

Ingredients
Here is what you need to make this easy soup recipe:
- Fennel Seeds: We toast the fennel seeds and throw them in whole. They are very aromatic and add so much flavor to the broth. And they go perfectly with the sausage.
- Mild or Sweet Italian Sausage: Either in bulk or removed from their casings, this is the star of the soup
- Onion: A foundation of flavor in this soup. We use yellow onions.
- Bell Pepper: The sweeter the better here, so we use either red, orange or yellow for sweetness and a touch of color.
- Celery: A little celery is fantastic in this dish as the the last foundational flavor, similar to an Italian soffritto or mirepoix but without the carrots and with added bell peppers.
- Cannellini Beans: The co-star, cannellini beans are tasty, hold their shape and are healthy. We use canned beans that are drained and rinsed before adding them to the soup.
- Chicken Stock: Good quality unsalted chicken stock is used for the broth.
- Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
- Balsamic Vinegar: One of our commonly used secret ingredients. A good balsamic vinegar will add a depth of flavor to the soup. Make sure you look for the DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) label on balsamic vinegar to ensure that you are getting the real-deal balsamic vinegar from Italy for best results.
- Parmesan cheese: Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano is the perfect topping for serving.
See recipe card below for quantities.
Substitutions
Here are a couple of common substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe:
- Italian Sausage: You could use hot Italian sausage instead. The flavor will change a bit and it will be mildly spiced, but it will be just as delicious with spicy Italian sausage!
- Onion: Red onion or shallots will work here as well.
- Cannellini Beans: These creamy beans are perfect here, but any bean that will hold its shape will work also.
- Chicken Stock: Vegetable stock would work here as well.
How to Make Brothy Italian Sausage and White Bean Soup
This is an easy Italian sausage soup recipe and comes together in no time! The sausage is cooked, the vegetables are sautéed briefly, and then everything goes into the pot to simmer for 30 minutes. Quick, easy and delicious!
Equipment
Here is what you need to make this dish
- Large sauté pan or skillet
- Large pot or large Dutch oven (7-8 qt size is best)

Step-by-Step Instructions
Toast the fennel seeds
- To a dry skillet over medium heat, add the fennel seeds. Toss and stir the seeds often until they are fragrant and just begin to get some browning from the pan. Immediately remove them and set aside.
Cook the sausage
- Add the sausage to the skillet and cook over medium heat until the sausage is completely cooked through. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pan to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess grease. Leave 1 teaspoon of grease from the sausage in the pan.
Sauté the vegetables
- Heat the skillet over medium heat and add the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Sauté briefly until the onion just starts to become translucent on the edges.
Cook the soup
- Add all the ingredients, including the cooked sausage and sautéed veggies, into the pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook the soup for 30 minutes. Taste for seasonings and add more salt if necessary. Serve topped with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano (Parmesan cheese), a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes for a little heat and some crusty bread!
Variations
Here are a couple ways to change up this recipe:
- Try a different protein, such as chicken, ground beef, or leave it out completely!
- A vegetarian version of this would simply omit the sausage and replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock.
- Add fresh spinach or kale for a touch of green and extra flavor!
- Add some al dente small pasta shells or orzo pasta for a heartier soup.

Storage
This makes a big pot of soup that easily serves 6-8 people. And it is great leftover the next day, or you can freeze it to enjoy this delicious soup at a different time!
How to store leftover Italian Sausage and White Bean Soup:
- So store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
How to reheat leftover soup:
- Simply reheat in a pot on the stove over medium to medium-low heat until hot.
Can you freeze leftover soup?
- This soup freezes well, so yes! It should last up to 6 months frozen.
Top Tip
Don’t forget to toast the fennel seeds! Dry toasting spices enhances the flavor so don't leave this step out!
Troubleshooting
If the Italian sausage is very lean or very fatty, just ensure you have a little oil left to sauté the vegetables. If you need to add a bit of olive oil, you can.
What to serve with Italian Sausage and White Bean Soup
Crusty Italian or French bread is the perfect accompaniment. Also, a nice side salad is great to serve with this soup, but this soup is a complete meal on its own.
What Wines To Drink with Italian Sausage Soup
This soup has nice flavors from the sausage and beans, so we like to drink Chianti or Sangiovese with it.

Mangiamo Cookbook
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FAQ
The mix of herbs and the addition of fennel or crushed red pepper makes Italian pork sausage easy to distinguish.
There are a surprising many varieties of white beans grown in Italy. Most are smaller in size, but we use the larger cannellini beans for soup primarily. Cannellini beans are sometimes marketed as white kidney beans in the United States.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are our favorite side dishes to serve with this soup recipe:
📖 Recipe

Brothy Italian Sausage and White Bean Soup
Equipment
- 1 Large sauté pan or skillet
- 1 Large pot or Dutch oven (7-8 qt)
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 pound mild or sweet Italian sausage without or removed from casings
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped medium
- 1 medium red bell pepper chopped medium
- 1 large stalk of celery chopped medium
- 1 can 19 ounces cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 6 cups 48 ounces unsalted chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt and more to taste if needed
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- To a dry skillet over medium heat, add the fennel seeds. Toss and stir the seeds often until they are fragrant and just begin to get some browning from the pan. Immediately remove them and set aside.
- Add the sausage to the skillet and cook over medium heat until the sausage is completely cooked through. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pan to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess grease. Leave 1 teaspoon of grease from the sausage in the pan.
- Heat the skillet over medium heat and add the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Sauté briefly until the onion just starts to become translucent on the edges.
- Add all the ingredients, including the cooked sausage and sautéed veggies, into the pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook the soup for 30 minutes. Taste for seasonings and add more salt if necessary.
- Serve topped with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano (Parmesan cheese), a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes for a little heat and some crusty bread!
Nutrition

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