My 1-Ingredient Tomato Soup Upgrade Is Already In Your Pantry

This simple trick upgrades any canned tomato soup.

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As fall rolls around, I’m slowly starting to stock my pantry with a variety of canned soups—one of my favorite quick comfort foods. After a long day, a warm bowl of canned soup and toasted bread makes for the perfect fast, nourishing meal. 

Of all the canned soup options, tomato is one of my top picks. It’s nostalgic, has the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity, and works well as either a side dish or the star of the meal.

While canned tomato soup is pretty perfect on its own, I can’t help but get creative with ingredient upgrades after all these years of enjoying it. One of my most delicious additions is canned beans—specifically white beans like cannellini or navy beans. Now I never heat up canned tomato soup without this upgrade.

Read More: I Asked 3 Food Pros To Name the Best Store-Bought Tomato Soup—They All Said the Same Brand

Why I Love This Canned Tomato Soup Upgrade

When it comes to tomato soup, my one complaint is that it doesn’t always leave me feeling very full afterwards, as most brands are typically just tomatoes and seasonings with few other ingredients.

This is where my hack for adding white beans to the mix was born. Canned white beans are not only high in protein and fiber—majorly adding to the satisfaction and fullness factor of the dish—but add so much taste and texture. They bring a creamy bite to the soup, along with a perfectly nutty, buttery flavor, resulting in a much more interesting experience.

It’s an added bonus that canned white beans are inexpensive and often already sitting in my pantry, frequently forgotten about, collecting cobwebs at the back of the cupboard.

I simply drain my canned beans and add them to my tomato soup while it’s heating in a pot over medium heat. Once the beans and soup are heated through, I’m ready to serve!

Read More: I Asked 5 Food Pros To Name the Best Canned Beans—They All Said the Same Thing

Simply Recipes / Adobe Stock

Tips for Adding Beans to Your Soup

• Rinse the beans: Most canned (or boxed) beans come in a thick, salty, sometimes slimy liquid to increase shelf-life and preserve freshness. I strain and rinse the beans before adding them to my soup. This prevents too much salt from making its way into the soup and helps maintain the consistency of the tomato base I start with.
• Heat carefully: Keep a close eye on your bean-enriched tomato soup as it warms on the stove. Stir too much, and the beans may break down, leaving you with a mushy final result. Stir too little, and they can stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
• Pick a high-quality brand: And finally, brand matters—both for the tomato soup and the canned beans. My favorite tomato soup brands are Rao’s and Pacific Foods (jarred or boxed), while Eden Foods and S&W are my go-to picks for white beans.
• An extra upgrade: If you don’t want to stop at white beans, hearty leafy greens also meld beautifully into this upgraded tomato soup. Thinly sliced kale, spinach, and Swiss chard are some of my favorites. Add them in along with the beans, letting them wilt as the soup heats.

Read More: Gordon Ramsay's Secret for Better Store-Bought Tomato Soup

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