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White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil is so tasty, and with sausage and zucchini, this soup is relatively low in carbs! See notes for making a version of this white bean soup that’s even lower in carbs.

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White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil shown in white bowl with salt-pepper in back.

Let’s talk about this White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil. When I picked out some favorite soups to make for my soup party this year, I wanted to make this tasty soup, and then I decided it really needed better photos, so I took some pictures as I was making it.

The photos in the post are for a double batch of soup, so keep that in mind when you look at the pictures. But I hope the new photos do show off how truly delicious this sausage and bean soup really is!

There are a few ways you can vary this soup with equally good results, but please, please, please use dried white beans that have been soaked overnight and not canned beans. That’s going to make a huge difference in the flavor of the soup.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

What dried beans should you use for White Bean and Italian Sausage Soup?

I would use a small white bean like navy beans, great northern beans, or a variety that’s sometimes just called small white beans for this recipe.

How to makeWhite Bean and Italian Sausage Soup lower in carbs:

Of course everyone knows that beans aren’t especially low in carbs. But if you use more zucchini and sausage and only half the amount of beans in this tasty soup, the net carbs per serving will be pretty low.

White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil process shots collage

How to Make White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.

  1. Soak the beans overnight (or all day if you’re making soup in the evening.)
  2. Then rinse beans, pick out loose skins or broken pieces, and put soaked beans in a pot with chicken stock or broth, water, chopped onion, Dried Basil (affiliate link), Dried Marjoram (affiliate link) or oregano, ground fennel (affiliate link), and Minced Garlic (affiliate link) and simmer on low until beans are starting to get tender.
  3. While the beans cook, either roast the sausage in the oven or brown in a pan, then cut into quarter slices.
  4. Add sausage to the soup, deglaze the pan with water, and add that flavorful liquid to the soup pot, and continue to simmer soup.
  5. Cut off the ends of the zucchini and wash if needed; then cut zucchini in half lengthwise and then into half-moon slices.
  6. When the beans are nearly done, add the zucchini to the soup and simmer about 30-45 minutes more.
  7. Add fresh chopped basil (or frozen basil, or chopped basil from a tube) and simmer about 5 minutes more.
  8. Serve hot and wait for your guests to devour this, which they will!

White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil, closer view of soup in white bowl.

More Soup with White Beans:

White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil
Yield: 8 servings

White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Additional Time 12 hours
Total Time 14 hours 40 minutes

This White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil is loaded with flavor, and it's great for a delicious meal.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups dried white beans (see notes)
  • 6 cups chicken broth, plus added water as needed
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1 tsp. dried basil
  • 1 tsp. dried marjoram (or use oregano if you don’t have marjoram)
  • 1 tsp. ground fennel
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 19.5 oz. pkg. Italian Sausage (see notes)
  • 2 cups diced zucchini
  • fresh ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp. hot pepper flakes, or less if you don’t like spicy foods
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (or less, depending on what you have)

Instructions

  1. Soak dried beans overnight, or all day while you’re at work.
  2. Drain soaked beans, rinse, and remove any loose skins or broken pieces.
  3. Place beans in soup pot with chicken stock, chopped onion, dried basil, dried marjoram or oregano, ground fennel, and minced garlic and cook at a low simmer about one hour, or until beans are starting to get tender. (The cooking time of dried beans depends greatly on how old they are, even when the beans have been soaked, so check by tasting.)
  4. While beans cook, preheat oven or toaster oven to 400F/200C and roast turkey sausage about 25-35 minutes, or until well browned and firm, or heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and brown sausage well on all sides.
  5. Remove sausages from roasting pan or frying pan, then deglaze pan with 1/2 cup water, scraping off the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and add to soup.
  6. Cut sausage in half lengthwise, and then into slices and add to soup.
  7. Continue to simmer on low, adding a little water if the soup is starting to get too thick.
  8. Wash zucchini, trim both ends, cut in half lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch this slices.
  9. When beans are beans softened and close to being done, add chopped zucchini, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes and simmer 30-45 minutes more.
  10. When beans are fully softened and cooked, add chopped fresh basil or frozen basil and cook 5 minutes more.
  11. Serve hot. This will keep for several days in the refrigerator and also freezes well.

Notes

You can use about 6 T frozen basil or chopped basil from a tube if you don't have fresh basil.

I used a package that has 5 links of turkey Italian sausage; use pork Italian sausage if you prefer.

Recipe created by Kalyn with inspiration from a new ceramic-coated cast iron dutch oven.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 328Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 43mgSodium 1213mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 4gSugar 4gProtein 20g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

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© Kalyn Denny
Category: Soups & Stews
Square image of White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil shown in soup bowl.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
White Bean Soup with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, and Basil is approved for any phase of the original South Beach Diet if you use turkey Italian Sausage. If you’d like lower carbs, use more sausage and zucchini and a smaller amount of beans, but if you check the nutritional information this soup might be lower in carbs than you think.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe
This tasty soup with white beans and Italian Sausage was first posted for Weekend Herb Blogging in 2007! It was updated with better photos in 2016 and was last updated with more information in 2023.

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