Ribollita Soup

This ribollita soup combines crusty sourdough bread with Italian herbs, tomatoes, garlic, and white beans to make a hearty vegetarian soup perfect for chilly days!

There are so many fun ways to use sourdough apart from just eating it with butter or olive oil (although that is always an excellent choice!). You can make it into croutons, use it for grilled cheese or a base for bruschetta, or you can even make soup with it.

Ribollita is my sister’s favorite soup, and it’s easy to see why! When you’re tired and hungry, this soup is sure to comfort with lots of sourdough bread, stewed tomatoes, garlic, and white beans. It will warm you up all the way to your toes and keep you full for hours. Serve it with your favorite sourdough bread (sourdough twice in one meal? yes please!) for a quick and delicious meal!

What is Ribollita Soup made of?

Ribollita soup is a great way to use up any stale bread you have leftover! It’s typically made with crusty bread, vegetables, white beans, and Tuscan herbs like basil and oregano. In Italian, “Ribollita” means “reboiled,” and they call it this because cooks would reboil leftovers and add bread to make this soup.

Tips for making Ribollita Soup:

• Make sure to use crusty, stale bread for this soup so that the bread doesn’t get too soggy when you add it to the soup. If you want, you can even toast the bread in the oven for a few minutes before cutting it up and mixing it in with the soup.
• Want to make this recipe even easier? Try making it in the slow cooker! Add all the ingredients except the bread to a slow cooker and let cook on low for 6-8 hours. About an hour before you want to serve the soup, stir in the bread so that it has enough time to soak up the broth and flavors.
• This soup is vegetarian and dairy-free, which is great if you have allergies! But if “dairy-free” makes you sad, you can definitely add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top of this soup before you serve it. 🙂
• Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge and enjoy within the next 3 days! This soup makes a great work or school lunch on a chilly day.

Tools you will need

To make the soup, you’re going to need a large pot with a lid, cutting board, knife, and a spatula or spoon.

Ingredients you will need

• 4 Roma tomatoes – Fresh tomatoes add so much flavor! If you don’t have them though, you can use a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes.
• 3 carrots – Great way to get in some beta carotene!
• 8 cloves garlic – Feel free to adjust this amount depending on your taste.
• 1/2 an onion – You can use red or yellow onions, whatever you have on hand.
• 2 cups vegetable broth – You can also use chicken broth if you prefer, either works.
• 4 cups chopped stale bread – Sourdough baguette, sourdough overnight bread, or sourdough sandwich bread all would work well for this!
• 1 tsp dried basil – If you have fresh basil, 1 tbsp of chopped basil will also work.
• 1 tsp oregano – This is going to make your kitchen smell amazing, you’re welcome 🙂
• pinch of red pepper – For a little extra spice.
• 1-14oz container of white beans – Cannellini beans or Green Northern beans are great for this recipe!
• 3 stems of kale – Lacinato or common curly varieties of kale will work well.

How to make Ribollita Soup

Peel and chop the carrots and onion finely. Add the chopped vegetables with 1/4 cup of water to a large pot over medium heat.

Peel and mince the garlic and add to the chopped vegetables. Cook the vegetables for 5 minutes, until softened.

Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes roughly, then add them to the pot with the garlic, carrots, and onions. Cook for another 5 minutes, until softened.

Add the bread to the pot along with the vegetable broth and spices and cook for 2-3 minutes, so the bread softens.

Stir in the can of beans, cover the pot, and let the soup cook until heated through, about 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, remove the stems from the kale, and tear into small pieces. Stir into the soup and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Serve with your favorite sourdough bread!

Hungry for more fall soup recipes?

If so, make sure you head over to the Kitchen Counter for lots of cozy recipes. Here are a few you might enjoy:

• Turkey Wild Rice Soup
• Chickpea and Chicken Soup
• Sausage and White Bean Soup
• Curried Carrot Soup

If you make this recipe and enjoy it, let me know in the comments section below! You can also tag me on instagram @oldfashionedinspiration with a picture of your creation.