Tuscan Sausage and White Bean Soup is a hearty, flavorful dish perfect for dinner any night of the week. This comforting soup is perfect on it’s own, or you can be like us, and add some crackers before enjoying!
Tuscan Sausage and White Bean Soup
This comforting soup comes from one of Barbara’s good friends, Maryann. It is one of those throw-it-all-together-and-enjoy kinds of soups, especially good on a cold winter’s day. This is comfort food at it’s best.
Maryann shared the recipe with Barbara years ago and it has stood the test of time and is even kid-approved. There’s nothing better than hearing a three year old say, “more, Momma.”
UPDATE: The 3-year-old is now almost 5 and he requests the “white soup” weekly so it definitely stands the test of time!
Trying to follow a low-carb or gluten-free diet? Try our Low-Carb Tuscan Soup that features riced cauliflower!
Notes about Tuscan White Bean and Sausage Soup
- The ingredients are easy to keep on hand: butter, onion, garlic, flour, evaporated milk, chicken broth, sausage, cannellini beans and salt and pepper. Check out here Pantry Essentials list in our Amazon storefront to find many of these ingredients!
- We use regular ground pork sausage in this soup. You could use a flavored sausage, like Italian, or even use a turkey sausage if you prefer.
- The white beans in this Tuscan Sausage and White Bean Soup are actually Cannellini beans. Be sure to just dump them in undrained.
- Once the soup is heated through, all that is left is to ladle it out into your favorite soup bowls, add crackers and dig in! Simple as can be.
- This recipe only yields 4 bowls of soup so if you are cooking for a larger family, be sure to double.
Alternate Versions of This Popular Soup
We have had so many readers share how they’ve tweaked this sausage and white bean soup to add flavors their families love. From spinach to crushed red pepper, adding ingredients to soup is easy and let’s you create a dish that is personal to you. So check out the comments at the bottom of the post to see what other readers have done to make this soup their own!
We’ve also made a few variations of this soup, including a couple of low-carb versions. The one thing these all have in common is that they are delicious and so easy to make.
Here’s some of our spin-off recipes of creamy Tuscan Soup:
- Stovetop Italian Bean Soup
- Tuscan Soup with Kale
- Low Carb White Bean and Kale Soup
- Low Carb Tuscan Soup
- Chorizo Taco Soup (Low Carb)
Ingredients Needed for Tuscan Soup with Sausage and White Beans
The ingredients for this soup are easy – butter, onion, garlic, flour, evaporated milk, chicken broth, sausage, cannellini beans and salt and pepper.
We love using evaporated milk in recipes as it adds a bit of richness to dishes AND it’s shelf stable so we can keep a few cans in the pantry to pull out when needed.
Be sure you use EVAPORATED milk and not sweetened condensed milk! People sometimes get these confused but they are two very different products.
HOW TO MAKE TUSCAN SAUSAGE AND WHITE BEAN SOUP
Find the full recipe and ingredient list for creamy Tuscan soup at the bottom of this page.
- Cook sausage, drain and set aside.
- Heat butter in a saucepan; add onion and garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Stir in flour.
- Slowly add evaporated milk and chicken broth, stirring constantly.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, and add cooked sausage and undrained beans.
- Heat through, and season to your liking with salt and black pepper.
One thing to keep in mind is that this is small-batch recipe and you’ll get 4 servings, so definitely double it for larger families or if you want leftovers.
Other Soup Recipes
Soups are a favorite in our family and we have shared several on here. Check out our favorites:
- Mom’s Wild Rice and Broccoli Soup
- Low Calorie Cabbage Soup
- Instant Pot Vegetable Soup with Lemon and Ginger
- Low Calorie Cabbage Soup
- Slow Cooker Bloody Mary Beef Vegetable Soup
- Creamy Ham and Bean Soup
Tuscan Sausage and White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
- 1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth
- 1/2 lb. ground pork sausage cooked and drained
- 1 15.5 oz. can undrained cannellini beans
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- In a skillet, cook sausage. Drain and set aside.
- Melt butter in medium saucepan.
- Add onion and garlic; cook for 1 to 2 minutes while stirring occasionally or until onion is tender.
- Stir in flour.
- Slowly add the evaporated milk and chicken broth while stirring constantly.
- Once the mixture comes to a complete boil, add sausage and beans.
- Heat through, and season with salt and pepper.
Notes
- The ingredients are easy to keep on hand: butter, onion, garlic, flour, evaporated milk, chicken broth, sausage, cannellini beans and salt and pepper.
- We use regular ground pork sausage in this soup. You could use a flavored sausage, like Italian, or even use a turkey sausage if you prefer.
- The white beans in this Tuscan Sausage and White Bean Soup are actually Cannellini beans. Be sure to just dump them in undrained.
- We have had so many readers share how they've tweaked this sausage and white bean soup to add flavors their families love. From spinach to crushed red pepper, adding ingredients to soup is easy and let's you create a dish that is personal to you.
- Once the soup is heated through, all that is left is to ladle it out into your favorite soup bowls, add crackers and dig in! Simple as can be.
Other Soup Recipes
Soups are a favorite in our family and we have shared several on here. Check out our favorites:Linking up to Weekend Potluck!
This sounds amazing and I am going to have to try it some really cold night. My kids, when they were small, would eat just about anything that I put in front of them. Guess I was lucky that way. I don’t know where they got this pickiness now for not wanting to eat beans. Howeve, we have a family tradition of Black Eyed Peas with ham on New Year’s Day, and over the years I have kicked it up a notch or two with the addition of a jalapeno and carrot and diced potato. This is one I make from dried beans, and the family loves it! They also love the barbecued beans that I make for summer cookouts.
So I am going to make a double batch of this soup, so I can freeze some, and I’m going to enjoy it all by myself… They are on their own! Some good hearty sourdough bread with this sounds mouth watering. Thank you for the great recipes!
Isn’t it crazy how one day your kids love a food and the next day they don’t?!? Freezing a batch of this soup is a great idea! Just pull it out and you have a meal!
This was absolutely delicious!! I made this tonight.. but doubled the batch and I added about a teaspoon and a half of crushed red pepper and right before serving I added or sprinkled some fresh grated parmesan cheeses.
Love the additions, especially the parmesan cheese! So glad you liked the soup!
I quadrupled this recipe to feed 7 people. We like thicker soups, so I poured a family sized pouch of roasted garlic and parmesan red potato flakes in the pot with the sausage. We also used sweet Italian sausage. It was delicious.
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Is that like a box of instant scalloped potato? Just checking because that sounds wonderful
That would be the instant mashed potatoes, not scalloped potatoes 😉
I love winter soups . Tuscan sqasage ànd White Bean Soup ia a great addition .
How many servings does this make?
It’s definitely a small batch recipe. It makes enough for 4 servings. So definitely double if you have a large family or want leftover!
Do I cook the sausage first?
Yes, you do!
Oops sorry! Just saw it!
That’s OK. Better safe than sorry, right?
Made this it was so good, made it just a bit thicker! Had it with corn bread.. ?will make again!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting us know.
We like really thick hearty soups and stews so I used 15 oz of the condensed milk and 2 cans of the cannellini beans and almost 2 lbs of italian sausage. Also added some chopped red, yellow and orange bell peppers. Served with garlic bread and it was a huge hit. We will definitely be keeping this in our favorite soups file. Thank you.
Love the additions and my husband would agree on thicker soups are better! Thanks for sharing.
Italian sausage? I thought just breakfast sausage! Glad I read
the comments.
Carol – We’ve used both. Our kids like the milder breakfast pork sausage but Italian sausage does add something to the flavor of the soup too!
Great recipe! Something different for a change!
I made this with Jimmy Dean sausage and it was delicious! Could I use Fat free evaporated milk? I’m wondering if it would still thicken. I’m also going to try the fat free sausage next time. I usually don’t use the fat free foods, but I like this soup so much I am thinking of trying to lighten it up a bit and not loose too much flavor.
Yes, non-fat evaporated milk works just fine. Barbara uses it all the time!
This looks soooo good! My daughter has a dairy allergy, so I’m wondering if you think a can of full fat coconut cream would be a good substitution for the evaporated milk?
We’ve never tried substituting non-dairy options for the evaporated milk so we don’t want to say it would or wouldn’t! If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
When you say double the recipe for large families, is that all ingredients? I’m specifically wondering about the milk. Two cans seem like a lot.
If you don’t double the liquids, including the evaporated milk, the consistency will be chalky. That’s our one warning!
Thank you! I did double everything, including the milk and it came out great! I really seasoned well with salt and pepper so be sure to do that. Great recipe. Super simple. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks. I made this and did double the ingredients (including the milk) and it turned out great! I did season really well with salt and pepper so be sure to do that. I’ll be adding it to me rotation as it was delish and the family loved it! Thanks for sharing!
Yay! So glad it turned out. Thanks for letting us know.
I just made this for lunch. Quick and easy. It was absolutely delicious! We added a little cheddar cheese on top and skipped the crackers since we’re cutting down on carbs. It reminded us of potato soup. I’ll definitely do this one again!
So glad you enjoyed it! Adding cheese is ALWAYS a good idea!
Made it and the whole family loved it. The only thing was that the beans were a little “gritty” if that’s the right word. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Nikki – So glad your family enjoyed the soup. It’s one of our favorites. Hmmm…gritty beans. Might be the brand so you may try washing them next time before adding. That might help. If we think of any other advice, we’ll let you know!
I mixed mild Italian sausage with chorizo sausage and added mushrooms. Yum! Also basil and thyme. Topped with Parmesan and mozzarella.
Really good. I added a nice dash of cayenne pepper and a little Italian seasoning.
So glad you enjoyed it. Love how we can tweak recipes to suit our taste with just a bit of seasonings!
Delicious! And so easy! It tastes very similar to Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana big it’s so much quicker to make. Thank you!!!!
So glad you enjoyed it!!
Sooo good, I ate it for 3 days .
It’s a good base BUT needs a lot of help as far seasonings. I read reviews where they added various seasonings with that being said it’s pretty good. It’s hardy and will stick to your bones on a cold rainy day or just cold. I’m also making corn bread or garlic bread as well.
Thanks for the note. Seasoning is such a personal taste so we love soups that you can add more or less and make it just like you want it. Glad you liked the “base” of the soup!
Just use a spicier sausage, I buy fresh sweet and spicy, perfect
I have been making this for years with Italian sausage and I also add a parmesan rind. It adds great flavor. I have also added spinach or kale. Thanks for Shari g this recipe
How much spinach and do I cook it first?
Made this today & it was as delicious!! And it was husband approved!! I added some crushed red pepper. Put a little parmesan cheese when I served it!! Was so good too with crushed Ritz crackers on top!! Thanks for sharing!! ??❣️
Yay! So glad you and your husband enjoyed it. Thanks for letting us know!!
Can you make this soup in a instant pot. TU
We have not attempted it in the Instant Pot but it seems like almost anything can be done in there, right?
For the IP I would hold off on putting the evaporated milk in until it’s done cooking and don’t make the roux (the butter and flour). To thicken it I would mix cornstarch and water or broth from the soup and add it to the soup. Or you could always use an immersion blender and mash some of the beans to thicken it. As for cook time, I’d stick to around 10 minutes or so. You won’t need long, just long enough to heat up the ingredients. You could probably get away with 5 minutes too.
I TRIED THE RECIPE JUST AS IT WAS EXCEPT I DID NOT HAVE CANNELLI BEANS SO I USED A CAN OF 15 OZ WHITE NAVY BEANS WITH MILD CHILI SAUCE AND ADDED A TSP OF OREGANO, SOME SHREDDED CARROTS AND PLOPPED LITTLE BALLS OF SAUSAGE I HAD MADE UP WHICH YOU DON’T HAVE TO PRE-COOK, JUST THROW INTO SIMMERING LIQUID!!! IT WAS WONDERFUL. NEXT TIME I MAKE IT I AM ADDING POTATOES AND SHRIMP, AND CHICKEN AND MAYBE SOME OTHER VEGGIES. I WILL KEEP USING THE WHITE BEAN WITH CHILI SAUCE AND THE OREGANO!! I AM ALSO GOING TO MAKE THE SAUCE UP AND FREEZE IT THEN THAW AND ADD WHATEVER I CHOOSE LOVED IT
Isn’t it great when you can find a recipe to be the “base” of so many other meal options! Love all the great ideas. Thanks for sharing!
What a fantastic cold, wintry day, football watching, fire raging, soup! And sooo freaking easy! I added some rosemary springs with the onions and garlic, and also cooked off about a 1/4 cup white wine before adding the flour. Just added another layer of flavor. Yum, and thank you!
Adding white wine is always a good option! Thanks for sharing and so glad you enjoyed it.
Delicious soup. I used 2 cartons of chicken broth and threw in a diced carrot. I used gluten free thin spaghetti which I broke in small pieces and cooked. I didn’t add to the soup directly, I opt to put noodles on bottom of bowl then ladle soup over it. I used gluten free ingredients. Smells so good. Hearty.
Thanks for the comment. Glad you enjoyed. We have another reader asking what to replace flour with to have a GF option. Would you be willing to share what you substituted? Thanks!
What would you suggest in place of evaporated milk?
Perhaps 1/2 and 1/2 or whole milk?
You should be able to use either. It might not be quite as rich but should work!
You do cook the sausage separately don’t you?
Yes, cook and drain the sausage before adding.
Made this soup today, as weather forecast calls for snow shortly.
Doubled the ingredients, and the recipe stayed true.
Felt confident enough to toss in a lil italian herb mix and a shot of hot sauce.
Delicious!
It’s a keeper: easy to prepare, available ingredients, not too time-consuming, and freezable.
If there’s any left.
Bravo!
So glad you enjoyed it and LOVE how you made it your own. Thanks for sharing!
I used real milk, 1tbl spoon dried thyme, 1tsp red pepper flakes and served with cheddar cheese. I also tripled the recipe as this is such a small batch. Good recipe!
Everything is better with cheese! Awesome.
I made this today. It was really good. I did add some crushed red pepper flakes. Will make it again.
Thanks
I made this for the second time today. It’s becoming one of my favorites. I’ve added greens both times, because you know, veggies. Today it was kale. Doesn’t change the flavor but adds nutrients. I love that it’s quick and easy. The small batch is perfect for a senior couple. Thanks!
Love that you added greens AND that you love the soup. We love the small batch size too!
Tried this soup tonight, definitely a keeper! Next time, I will add an extra can of beans and spinach. Tonight I served with French bread, next time it will be cheesy breadsticks! Hubby really liked it!
So glad you enjoyed it. It’s definitely a soup you can customize, right? Thanks for letting us know!!
This was sop good with the fresh sausage I buy, added xtra can beans and fresh thyme and bay leaf, should have doubled
I always drain canned beans before using them in recipes because of the sodium . Do you think that will effect the recipe? I also like my beans very soft . What brand do you use and would any type of white bean work? I can’t recall if cannelinis soften easily. I am thinking about trying this recipe with chicken instead of sausage so I will probably boost spices and herbs.
Draining the beans should not affect the recipe. There isn’t too much liquid that drains from the beans to make a big difference. Barbara’s consistently uses Aldi brand beans, and they are always very soft. Barbara has also substituted chickpeas but these do not soften like cannellinis. This recipe is such a great base that chicken and a variety of herbs would be delicious. Enjoy!
My 13yo is so ready to try this! She wants me to add some potatoes and I’m going to use some sort of breakfast sausage. And triple the recipe! We’re a household of 5 ladies, yet we eat like starving Vikings LOL. Thanks for adding this delicious looking recipe
Let us know how it goes! We love hearing how people customize our favorite soup!
I made this tonight OMG! this one goes in my favorites. the only thing i changed is i like beans so i used 2 cans. i also used jimmy deans hot sausage for a little kick. great meal!!!
Thanks for letting us know how much you enjoyed the soup. It’s definitely super easy to modify to your taste! Love the hot sausage substitution!
I am making this as we speak. I had to use pinto beans as I didn’t have canalinni beans. So far I added red pepper flakes and some oregano and basil, so we’ll see how it turns out. I doubled the recipe and I think I’m going to add one more can of beans. I did use Italian sausage since it was all I had on hand. So far, the base is tasting pretty darn good. Fingers crossed. (Smile)
Hope it turned out for you!!
Loved this and so does my hubby
Has anyone tried with ground chicken or turkey instead of sausage?
We’ve heard from a couple of folks who tried it with ground turkey. You’ll just need to season to your taste if you are using regular ground turkey and not a sausage. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!
Can this be done in a crockpot
We are sure it can but we’ve never done it so we don’t have any instructions. Sorry!
I made this for the first time today in my crock pot. Followed the directions exactly except poured only half chicken broth and half evap. milk in with the onions. Put the rest directly in the crock pot with the meat and beans. Then mixed it all together in the crock pot. Let it cook for a couple hours on high. Sprinkled with cojack cheese just before serving. It was delicious!
One of my very favorite soups! Want it with more spice? Use a spicier sausage! I’ve traded the beans for mushrooms and made it into a sausage mushroom soup too! Wow, that was really good too. I always double the recipe as it’s even better the next day. I also add just a little poultry seasoning which compliments the sausage. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Love all the tips. So glad you love it as much as we do!
I made this tonight. I hate when comments say it was perfect except the 20 different things I added… but here I go. I added grated carrots, and some celery in with the onions. The cannelli beans I bought were hard and the skin was tough,so I added pinto beans. After it was done, I microwaved a couple potatoes and cut them in bite sized pieces added to soup. Ritz crackers are good with this.
Too funny! We love hearing how you made this soup your own!
I sautéed’ the sausage with onion, then added garlic and sautéed a little more. Then continued from there.
Sounds good!
Just made this —SO good! I added some chopped kale i needed to use up. Inviting the neighbors over for dinner during our record-breaking cold today!
So glad you enjoyed it! Love the kale addition. Stay warm!!
Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. So much flavor, yet so easy to bring together. Followed your recipe exactly, and at the end tossed in some fresh spinach leaves for a little color. Made the perfect amount for two people to enjoy with enough for lunch the next day. I really appreciate these small batch recipes and I’m so happy I found your site via Pinterest.
Thank you so much for the comment and we are so glad you enjoyed the soup.
Great recipe! This soup has a lot of flavor for taking less than a half hour to make! We will be making it again. My daughter wants gnocchi instead of beans though. I think that would work well. Thank you and I’ll be checking out your other recipes!
Love the gnocchi idea! Thanks for sharing.
Delicious! Had half pound of sausage and needed a way to use it. Found your recipe on Pinterest and it is perfect comfort food for a cold night in northern CA. Just finished my 1st bowl and this definitely is a keeper.
So glad that you enjoyed it!!
Love this soup! I make it with as the recipe states, but add crushed red pepper and kale. I also top it with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese. It is delicious!
Was delicious I added spinach and parmesan to the soup. My husband loved it more than zuppa Toscana which is his favorite soup
So great to hear. Love the addition of spinach and parmesan…yum!
Barbara told me about this recipe and I fixed it yesterday, your Uncle Sam loved it!
Thanks!
Yay!! So glad it was a hit.
I made a rookie mistake. I added the sausage to the mixture uncooked. I clearly was not thinking. Do you think the sausage would cook ok? I’ve put it in the Crock-Pot to let the soup continue cooking.
Oh man…we can say that we’ve made those kind of mistakes before!! We don’t want to say whether it would work that way since we’ve never done it. So sorry!
Just made a double batch for my sister who is going through chemo…since I never made this recipe before I had to try some and it’s delicious…I think my sister will enjoy it too…I may add more sausage next time..
So glad you enjoyed it and hopefully your sister will too.
I love soup, any kind of soup. I was born in Scotland and that was our stable diet, soup. Now I live in America and I still love soup , My family, my children, we all loved this white bean soup recipe, especially with Italion mild sausage which I cook first of course with some onions. Thank you for this delicious Recipe. I also used Naan bread dippers with this soup , and it was satisfying and filling thank you once again
The Naan bread dippers sound amazing! Soup is such a great meal – everything you need in one bowl. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
One of the best soups I’ve ever made. Only thing I added was celery, carrots, a sprig of thyme and an extra can of beans. Dinner is made! Took less than 15 minutes!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it.
I love soups, and only recently started to like sausage. I made this for my (very picky) husband who is an excellent cook, and he gave it a thumbs up! He did add some crushed red pepper, and few dashes of both onion powder and shallot powder. I’m going to make my bowl with a bit of sprinkled cotija on top. Thank you!!!!
PS – this is my first time cooking with sausage. Like I said, I never liked it before. My tastes are changing! I used the Johnsonville HOT Italian ground sausage.
Mary, So glad you and your husband enjoyed the soup. Love how you customized it to your tastes! Isn’t it funny how tastes change as we age. I never ate raw tomatoes until a couple of years ago and now love them! Thanks for sharing with us!
Very flavorful. I used Bob Evans hot bfast sausage. My son said it tasted like sausage gravy. Next time, I’ll double the beans and make biscuits or toast to accompany it.
Can’t go wrong with toast or biscuits on the side! Thanks for sharing.
I have made this soup several times and it is absolutely perfect every time! I never have any to throw out on garbage day like I do with every other meal I cook! It’s that good that I finish the leftovers.
So glad that you enjoy it…every drop of it! Thanks for letting us know. It’s always great to see that our recipes are being enjoyed!
J made this soup a couple months ago and had to get back on here to get the recipe to make it again & leave a comment. We loved this soup! So yummy & filling with some good crusty homemade artisan bread! I used pinto beans because thats what I had on hand. Yum!
Thank you so much for leaving us a comment to let us know you all loved the soup!
Being confined to quarters is no fun for any of us, all I’ve been doing is cooking and baking! I made this soup today and it’s awesome! Thanks for the recipe, it’s a keeper! ❤️
Michele – So glad you enjoyed the soup! Keep baking and cooking to pass the time! Thanks.
My go to comfort. Always add greens. Also added carrots,pota6and celery this time around. Finished off with a bit of basil puree and a good crusty bread…. So delicious.
Great recipe!!! My husband is so dang picky but he LOVES this. I do add crispy bacon and some garlic and herb seasoning and chili flakes (we like everything spicy). We usually put this over french fries or fried potatoes the 2nd night. Thank you fora fall/winter go to recipe.
Thank you for the comment and we love your additions. Never thought to put it over potatoes and we’ll definitely try that!!
I made this soup today. Followed the rrecipe but did have some breakfast sausage that our son had made, mild, and we enjoyed it. As I am old school, putting it on a recipe card so I can find it easier.
Thanks for the recipe.
Glad you enjoyed it! We still love our recipe cards too!
This recipe was simply delicious! It wasnt that expensive to make and it came together quickly. I was skeptical to try this. I always check a recipe for seasonings and this one simply salt/pepper. I did add a little onion & garlic powder as well as a tomato basil seasoning that I recently discovered. I have no idea how so few ingredients or seasonings created such an amazing soup but it works. I used a sage sausage (Jimmy Dean) because that is what I had on hand and red onions because that’s what I had already chopped in the frig. Great Northern beans because my store didnt have Cannelini Beans. It seems this receipt lends itself to changes like that very easily. That’s another mark of a great recipe.
Thanks for the note and we agree that this recipe is a great base that allows for a lot of customization!
I never comment on recipes but had to come and leave one here. I have made this soup many times and it turns out perfect every time. I have added and subtracted ingredients and it always is perfect. I now make it with hot Italian sausage and add a bit of baby kale at the end. Perfection. Thank you for a simple yet delicious recipe.
Stephanie – Thank you so much for the comments! We love hearing how much people love this simple soup AND how they make it their own!