Last week I made a recipe that used white beans, I don’t use them often enough to realize how much larger they get after soaking and cooking so I made an excessive amount. I knew I had seen them used in soup before but when I went to find a recipe to try them in I didn’t find what I was looking for so I created my own.

I was worried about texture and flavor so I new I was going to need to blend then with another ingredient. I choose potato because A) I had them, B) I love potatoes, and C) They are a comfort food and as it has been a very cold week I want a cozy soup!

The base of the soup was white beans, potatoes, and vegetable broth. For a little something special I added broccoli and cheese. That is it! Five ingredients! So easy so now on to the recipe!

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked white beans

6 potatoes peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces, cooked

4 cups vegetables broth, divided

12-16 oz. Frozen broccoli

2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

1. Cook potatoes, you can boil on the stove top until soft like when preparing to make mashed potatoes. I used my instant pot, I placed my prepped potatoes in the instant pot along with 3 cups of vegetable broth. I cooked for 10 minutes on pressure cook then let naturally vent.
2. While the potatoes cook place drained beans and one cup of vegetable broth in a blender and blend on medium until smooth. Pour into large pot or dutch oven.
3. Once potatoes are done place half of the cooked potatoes in the blender along with remaining vegetable broth, either fresh or from the instant pot, again blend until smooth and pour into bean mixture in the pot.
4. Heat on medium-low.
5. Add remaining potatoes into soup.
6. While heating soup microwave frozen broccoli to cook, once done add to soup.
7. Mix in shredded cheese.
8. Once melted and soup is thoroughly warmed, enjoy!

If you are looking for other ways to dress up your soup adding crumbled bacon or a dollop of sour cream/ plain greek yogurt could be tasty touch!

I enjoyed a side of garlic bread with my soup to make more of a meal out of the soup. Other ideas include adding half a sandwich, a quesadilla, a side salad, a side of fruit. As much as I like soup I usually need a little something else to make it a meal.