The Best Authentic Tuscan Ribollita Soup Recipe
Ribollita is a hearty, nourishing soup originating from Tuscany made with beans, kale and bread. You'll love how easy it is to make and how perfect this soup is for leftovers - it tastes better and better each day!
I love all Italian soups, like Italian wedding soup and minestrone. But, when I need to switch things up a bit, ribollita is a perfect alternative.
The name "ribollita" translates to "reboiled", which is fitting since this soup tastes even better the next day (and the next)! It's known as a peasant soup, since traditionally it was made using leftover beans and vegetables from the week, creating a delicious and hearty meal.
Soups like this and my 5-ingredient bean soup are perfect for weeks when your grocery budget is stretched thin!
La ribollita is mainly characterized as being a thick potage with a base of beans, greens and bread. The rest is up to interpretation by the cook, and more often than not, is determined by whatever happens to be lying around that day.
For me, that was a slab of pancetta and a bag of dried cranberry beans, or fagioli borlotti as they're called in Italy.
Like all rustic Italian dishes, each cook will have their own variation. Traditionally, ribollita recipes use stale bread to add thickness to this soup, but my version leaves the bread on the side, as the beans do a great job creating a thick and creamy soup base.
Instead, I prefer lightly toasting my bread, rubbing it with garlic and olive oil (like bruschetta) and then ladling the soup over top (like French onion soup) so it retains some of its crispness.
For more soup recipes, try my cream of crab soup, pasta e fagioli, or lobster chowder with corn and bacon.
Why This Recipe Works
- Perfect for meal prepping - it tastes even better the next day!
- Budget-friendly way to use up leftover meats, beans, and vegetables.
- Can be made with canned beans for an easy 30-minute meal.
- Nourishing with plenty of protein, fiber, and greens!
Ingredient Notes
Chicken stock - Homemade stock adds the best flavor for this recipe. You can always use boxed, or substitute vegetable stock if you want to make this vegetarian (just leave out the pancetta as well).
Cranberry (borlotti) beans - These beans are similar to pinto beans, but have thicker skins and are incredibly flavorful and creamy. You can use fresh cranberry beans or dried (just be sure to soak them overnight). If you can't find cranberry beans, feel free to use a white bean like cannellini, great northern, or navy beans. If using canned beans, see the note below.
Kale - Using a hearty green like kale is perfect for this soup. I use black Tuscan kale, known as Cavolo Nero in Italian or Lacinato kale, but feel free to use curly kale, cabbage, chard or even collard greens if that's what you can find or prefer.
Canned Tomatoes - I prefer whole peeled tomatoes, as they're the least processed canned tomatoes and often have the best flavor, but any type of canned tomato can work - crushed, diced, etc. You could even use marinara sauce in a pinch.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil sautéing the vegetables, brushing the garlic toast and for drizzling on top before serving.
*Find the full ingredient list in the recipe card below!
Helpful Equipment
- Heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven
- Wooden spoon
- Baking sheet
- Ladle
How to make Ribollita
- Pour the olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pot and set it over medium heat.
- Add the pancetta and sauté it until the fat starts to render out, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the onions, celery and carrots, season with a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 8 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and crushed red chili flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes and chicken stock, then use the back of a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes a bit.
- Drain the beans and add to the pot along with the bay leaf and rosemary sprig.
Pro Tip: If substituting canned beans for dry, substitute with four 15-ounce cans of beans. Be sure to drain and rinse the canned beans and reduce the chicken stock by half (one quart).
- Bring up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the beans have softened, about 2 hours, supplementing with water if it starts to become too thick.
- Add the kale, stir, then simmer for about 10 minutes more, or until the kale has fully softened.
- Taste, then adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, then stir in the parsley.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Drizzle the sliced bread with olive oil, then arrange it in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
- Remove the bread form the oven and immediately rub the remaining raw clove of garlic on all sides while the bread is still warm.
- Place a piece of toasted bread in each bowl, then ladle the ribollita on top.
- Drizzle with olive oil and top with grated parmesan or pecorino Romano.
- Serve extra garlic toasts on the side.
Tips for Success
- If using dried beans, make sure to let them soak overnight. If you don't have time, you can use the "quick soak" method by pouring boiling water over them and letting them sit for one hour before padding them to the recipe.
- You can use any beans you'd like for this recipe, but white beans are traditional to Italian-style soups, so cannellini, navy, great northern, or cranberry beans are ideal.
- RIbollita is even better the next day, but the beans will continue to absorb liquid as it sits. Add water when reheating and adjust the seasoning to keep it at a soupy consistency.
Storage Tips
This recipe can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for 3 months in an airtight container.
To reheat, just place the soup back into a small pot and warm over the stove. Add more stock or water if the mixture seems too thick (the beans will continue to absorb liquid as it's stored).
To reheat from frozen, let the soup thaw overnight in the refrigerator then warm in a pot on the stove.
FAQs
While my recipe uses pancetta and chicken stock, you can easily leave the meat out and use vegetable stock for a delicious and hearty vegetarian ribollita.
The two soups are very similar and can each be made with several variations depending on the cook's preference. Minestrone often includes tomatoes, various beans, several different types of vegetables, and sometimes even pasta or rice. Ribollita's base is beans, a hearty green like kale or cabbage, and bread.
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Tuscan Ribollita
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 4 ounces pancetta (¼ lb) diced (optional)
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 1 cup celery finely diced
- 1 cup carrots finely diced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 cloves garlic minced, plus 1 whole clove
- ½ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes optional
- 28 oz whole peeled tomatoes with juice (1 can)
- 2 quarts chicken stock (8 cups) homemade or low sodium if possible (substitute vegetable stock)*
- 1 lb dried cranberry borlotti beans or cannellini beans or other white beans, soaked overnight*
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 parmesan cheese rind optional
- 1 large bunch Tuscan kale ribs removed and roughly copped
- ¼ cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1 loaf crusty Italian bread sliced
- grated Parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese, for serving
Instructions
- Pour the olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pot and set it over medium heat.
- Add the pancetta and saute until it starts to give up its fat, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the onions, celery and carrots, season with a generous pinch of salt and cook, while stirring, until translucent, about 8 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and crushed red chili flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes and chicken stock, then use the back of a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes a bit.
- Drain the beans and add to the pot along with the bay leaf and rosemary sprig.
- Bring up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the beans have softened, about 2 hours, supplementing with water if it starts to become too thick.
- Add the kale, stir, then simmer for about 10 minutes more, or until the kale has fully softened.
- Taste, then adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, then stir in the parsley.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Drizzle the sliced bread with olive oil, then arrange it in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
- Remove the bread form the oven and immediately rub the remaining raw clove of garlic on all sides while the bread is still warm.
- Place a piece of toasted bread in each bowl, then ladle the soup on top.
- Drizzle with olive oil and top with grated parmesan or pecorino Romano.
- Serve extra garlic toasts on the side.
Notes
- *Substitute 4 15-ounce cans of beans for dried. Make sure to drain and rinse them before adding to the pot, and reduce the chicken stock by half (one quart).
- If using dried beans, make sure to let them soak overnight. If you don't have time, you can use the "quick soak" method by pouring boiling water over them and letting them sit for one hour before padding them to the recipe.
- You can use any beans you'd like for this recipe, but white beans are traditional to Italian-style soups, so cannellini, navy, great northern, or cranberry beans are ideal.
- This soup is even better the next day, but the beans will continue to absorb liquid as it sits. Add water when reheating and adjust the seasoning to keep it at a soupy consistency.
Nutrition
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I made this two days ago and it was very good. We had it again last night and it was great, just like you said!
SO glad you liked it!! <3
May it be that you also add metric values of the values for the good of the remaining 7.5 billion potential readers?
Of course, I will look into the possibility. Thanks for the note
Hi Nicole
John made this for a Football Sunday! It was very hardy and delicious. Thank you
Hey John + Mina! It makes me so happy to know you guys make my recipes and enjoy them. Lots of love to you both and the family! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
This looks great. I haven't tried it yet. Note that your total time reads 40 minutes, but in step 7 we are asked to cook the bean mixture for 2 hours.
I appreciate that! I will fix it right now.
Hi. So excited to try this. My mother made pasta fagiola but my aunt made something similar to this. If I use canned beans how long should I cook. Assuming not the 2 hrs? Tx so much.
If using canned beans, you only have to simmer for about 30 minutes, but longer wont hurt. You will need to reduce the liquid though, since the dried beans absorb quite a bit, unless you like your soup very broth. I hope you love it!
2 quarts is 8 cups, not 16. Otherwise, this recipe looks beautiful.
Thanks for the call out - just changed it! Hope you make the recipe!
Delicious! I doubled garlic - yummy!
I am always in favor of doubling the garlic!
This soup hit the spot!! I couldn't find cranberry beans so I used white beans and I added crisped pancetta as a topping. Delicious, filling and perfect for a cooler winter night!
Ooohhh love the crisped pancetta idea! Yum!
Have you tried this in a pressure cooker? If so, how much time?? An hour?
I personally have not, but yes it is absolutely doable! I would reference any standard recipe for pressure cooking dried beans and use that for reference. Hope this helps!
This will be perfect for me to make for Ashley Craig when she comes out to visit next month! Yum.
Awww yesss!! It will be like I'm there in spirit. Forkie, Spooner and Gam-Gam! <3 Just make sure you leave out the pancetta 😉
OMG!! This rocks! Couldn’t find cranberry beans so I used dried canlini beans... I indulged and made my own chicken stock... but this is so tasty and comforting.. love that you added the bread rubbed with garlic. This is definitely going into the favorites!
So glad you loved it Sandi!
Making this now. Smells amazing !
Yay!! How did it taste??