Tuscan Ribollita Soup Recipe

This incredibly easy-to-make ribollita soup recipe is loaded with greens, vegetables, and beans and is served with crusty rustic bread. This iconic Italian soup is synonymous with comfort and is perfect to eat through all the cool days and nights.

We eat soup at least once a week through the fall and winter. If you love it as much as we do, check out my chicken and wild rice or mulligan stew.

Ribollita

Ribollita is indigenous to the Tuscany region in Italy, on the country’s west coast and up towards the top. It was a peasant recipe utilizing crusty leftover bread and minestrone. The term ribollita means re-boiled, and this recipe, in its origin, uses up everything in the kitchen, so nothing goes to waste.

Once the ribollita soup is finished, it is classically placed in a terra cotta pot with crusty bread and a lid. It sits for 15-20 minutes so that the bread soaks up all of the soup, making it thicker, resembling gruel.

Since the soup base would have been minestrone, you can make this in many variations, including cooking procedures and ingredients.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Beans — Any Italian bean like cannellini or borlotti will work. I prefer always to use dried beans, as they make the soup much more flavorful and aid in thickening it. However, four 15-ounce canned strained beans may be used. Lastly, other beans that could work with limited access are Great Northern, kidney, or pinto.
• Herbs — I add a fresh rosemary sprig with leaves to the pot while cooking. You can also use sage or thyme. In addition, substitute two teaspoons of dry rosemary for fresh.
• Onion — White, yellow, sweet, or red onions may be used. Garlic cloves are also used.
• Celery – A few ribs of celery are a part of the basic sofrito of the recipe. You can also use celeriac root.
• Carrots – These can be any size or color, peeled or not, and added to the soup.
• Greens — The classical green used is laminate or Italian kale. However, any type of kale, like curly, Chinese, or Russian, will work. In addition, I used some Savoy cabbage in this recipe. Other greens that will work are spinach, Swiss chard, mustard greens, collards, or escarole.
• Tomatoes – Fresh or canned tomatoes are used in the soup.
• Stock – I try to keep this soup vegan by using vegetable stock. However, chicken stock, brodo, or water will also work.
• Bread – Any rustic bread, like an artisan loaf or sourdough, will work.
• Seasonings – only coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper are used.
• Additional — Other wonderful ingredients you can use in this are leeks, zucchini, potatoes, or a Parmigiano-Reggiano rind.

How to Make Ribolitta Soup:

Add the dried beans to a container and cover with water by 4 to 5 inches and let it stand at room temperature overnight or for 12-24 hour

The next day, drain the beans and add them to a pot covered with fresh water 4 to 5 inches over them, along with a rosemary sprig, and cook over low to medium heat for 30 to 35 minutes or until tender. This can take up to 1 hour.

Once they are cooked, strain them, reserving some of the water, and puree about half of the beans with some of the water they were cooked in until smooth and set aside. You can keep the whole beans in some of the warm cooking liquid, but they must be strained before adding to the soup.

In the meantime, sweat the onions, garlic, celery, and carrots in a small amount of olive oil over low to medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until tender.

Add the sliced kale, savoy cabbage, crushed tomatoes, pureed beans, cooked beans in water, and vegetable stock and simmer uncovered over low heat for 15-20 minutes or until the greens are soft and tender. This may take 10 to 15 minutes longer.

Adjust the seasonings of the soup with coarse salt and pepper.

Place a few slices of bread in the bottom of a bowl, pour several ladles over the top, and serve.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: You can make this soup up to one day ahead of time, and I advise keeping the bread separate from the soup until it is ready to be served.

How to Store: Cover and keep the soup separated from the bread in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It will freeze in the exact same manner for up to 3 months. Be sure to thaw it for 1 day in the refrigerator until it is thawed.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of soup to a small saucepot and heat over low heat until hot. Likewise, you can heat it in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl.

chef notes + tips

• Please feel free to use any homemade or store-bought bread from the bakery.  Please do not use sliced, bagged bread from the bread aisle, as it will scale down the flavor of this soup.
• Cover the dried beans in boiling water if you’re in a pinch, and let them stand for one hour before cooking.
• If your beans are not cooking, bring them to a boil and then cook them over low to medium heat for the rest of the way.
• Like any soup or sauce, the flavors of this will intensify and be better the next day.
• If you want some animal protein in this soup, feel free to add some chopped cooked chicken breasts.

More Soup Recipes

• Classic French Onion Soup Recipe
• New England Clam Chowder Recipe
• Pork Confit and Split Pea Soup
• Zuppa Toscana Recipe
• Wedding Soup

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Tuscan Ribollita Soup Recipe

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5 from 13 votes

This incredibly easy to make ribollita soup recipe is loaded with greens, vegetables, and beans that is served with crusty rustic bread.

Servings: 10

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• 1- pound cannellini beans
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 peeled and medium diced medium-sized yellow onions
• 4 medium diced stalks of celery
• 4 peeled and medium diced carrots
• 4 finely minced cloves of garlic
• 2 bunches of thickly sliced Lacinato kale
• ½ sliced savoy cabbage
• 15 ounce can hand-crushed whole peeled tomatoes
• 64 ounces vegetable stock
• coarse salt and pepper to taste
• 20 slices of old crusty rustic bread

Instructions

• Add the beans to a container and cover until it is about 4 inches over the top of the beans. Cover and set at room temperature overnight
• In the morning drain the beans and add to a medium-size pot and cover with water until the beans are covered by about 2 inches along with a sprig of rosemary.
• Cook the beans for about 30-35 minutes over low to medium heat or until tender. If the beans are not softening, bring them to a boil and then continue cooking them on low to medium heat until soft.
• Remove the sprig of rosemary and take ½ of the beans and some of the cooking liquid and put them into a blender and puree them until smooth. Set them aside and keep the other ½ of the beans in the warm cooking liquid. You will need to strain these before adding to the soup.
• In the meantime, add the olive oil to a large pot over low to medium heat and cook the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender.
• Next, add in the kale, cabbage, cooked beans in water, pureed beans, tomatoes, and vegetable stock, and cover with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes over low to medium heat or until the kale and cabbage are tender.
• Season the soup well with salt and pepper.
• To serve, place 2 slices of bread in a serving bowl and pour some of the soup over top. Garnish with optional shredded parmigianna Reggiano cheese and chopped fresh parsley and rosemary.

Notes

Make-Ahead: You can make this soup up to one day ahead of time, and I advise keeping the bread separate from the soup until it is ready to be served.

How to Store: Cover and keep the soup separated from the bread in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It will freeze in the exact same manner for up to 3 months. Be sure to thaw it for 1 day in the refrigerator until it is thawed.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of soup to a small saucepot and heat over low heat until hot. 

Please feel free to use any homemade or store-bought bread from the bakery.  Please do not use sliced, bagged bread from the bread aisle, as it will scale down the flavor of this soup.

Cover the dried beans in boiling water if you’re in a pinch, and let them stand for one hour before cooking.

If your beans are not cooking, bring them to a boil and then cook them over low to medium heat for the rest of the way.

Nutrition

Calories: 110kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 5gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 928mgPotassium: 351mgFiber: 5gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 5254IUVitamin C: 24mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 2mg

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Chef Billy Parisi