# White Bean Soup with Vegetables

> Beans stay hard no matter how long you cook them if **salt or tomatoes went in early**. Both strengthen the cell wall and stop the beans softening — so both go in **only after the beans are fully tender**, and the first boil must be in plain water.

**Turkish Cuisine · 110 min · 6 servings · 260 kcal per serving**

White bean soup is a complete, cheap meal full of plant protein and fibre. The most common frustration is beans that are still hard after two hours of cooking — and the cause is timing, not duration.

## Ingredients

- 2 cups — dried white beans
- 2 حبة — carrots, diced
- 1 حبة — onion, chopped
- 2 sticks — celery
- 5 cloves — garlic
- 2 tbsp — tomato sauce
- 1 حبة — tomato, grated
- 3 tbsp — olive oil
- 1 tsp — paprika
- 1 tsp — cumin
- 2 ورقة — bay leaves
- 1 tsp — salt
- 1 tbsp — lemon juice

## Method

1. **Soak overnight** — Soak the beans in plenty of water for **12 hours**, then discard the soaking water. Soaking halves the cooking time and removes the sugars that cause bloating.
2. **Boil in plain water** — Boil them in fresh water with the bay leaves and **no salt and no tomato** for **60 minutes**, until tender enough to crush between your fingers.
3. **Brown the vegetables** — In another pot soften the onion, carrot and celery in the olive oil for **8 minutes**, then add the garlic, paprika and cumin for a minute.
4. **Tomato after tenderness** — Add the tomato sauce and grated tomato and cook for **5 minutes**. Only now is it safe — the beans are already tender, and early acid would have kept them hard.
5. **Combine and salt** — Add the beans with their cooking liquid to the vegetables, **salt now**, and simmer gently for another **20 minutes** so the flavours merge.
6. **Blend part of it** — Blend **one cup of the soup** with a stick blender and return it. The released starch gives a creamy body with no cream or flour at all.
7. **Lemon at the end** — Take it off the heat and add the lemon juice. Acid at the end lifts every flavour — pulses taste flat without it.

## Tips

- No salt and no tomato until the beans are tender — both block softening.
- Throw away the soaking water — it holds the sugars that cause bloating.
- Blend one cup and return it — that is what gives creaminess without cream.
- A tablespoon of lemon at the end lifts the whole dish.

## FAQ

### Why are my beans still hard?
You added salt or tomato too early. Salt and acid strengthen the cell wall and stop the beans absorbing water. Boil them in plain water until tender, then add the salt and tomato.

### Can I use canned beans?
Yes, and the cooking time drops to just 20 minutes. Rinse them well from their liquid and start straight at the vegetable-browning step. Less depth of flavour, but a good result.

### How do I reduce the bloating?
Soak for 12 hours and discard the soaking water, then boil in fresh water. Adding a bay leaf or some cumin is a traditional digestive aid and improves the flavour too.

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Source: https://hanakoleah.com/en/turkish-cuisine/white-bean-soup-with-vegetables
Edited by: Marwa Mohamed
Last updated: 2026-09-12