Potato and White Bean Puttanesca Soup
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 2tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
- 1medium onion, finely diced (about 2 cups)
- ½cup black olives, roughly chopped
- 2tablespoons capers, roughly chopped
- 3garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1(28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- ½teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1½pound Yukon gold or red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1(15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed
- ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes, or more to taste
- 3cups vegetable stock
- ¼cup fresh parsley leaves and tender stems (or fresh basil leaves)
- 1tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
409 calories; 10 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 71 grams carbohydrates; 15 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 1772 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Place a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the onion, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened.
- Step 2
Reduce heat to medium and add ¼ cup black olives, 1 tablespoon capers and the garlic. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the garlic is lightly golden.
- Step 3
Add the tomatoes and sugar, and cook over medium heat until mixture is bubbling and tomatoes have thickened slightly, 5 minutes.
- Step 4
Add the potatoes, cannellini beans, red-pepper flakes and stock; stir and cover. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.
- Step 5
As potatoes cook, prepare the topping for your soup: Place the remaining ¼ cup olives, 1 tablespoon capers and the parsley on a cutting board, and chop everything together.
- Step 6
Once the potatoes are tender, add the balsamic vinegar. Using the back of a large wooden spoon, roughly crush or mash about a quarter of the potatoes and beans against the side of the pot. This will thicken the soup. Season with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Step 7
To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the caper-olive-parsley topping. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil. This soup can be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator. This will deepen the flavors.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Ian
This often happens when cooking potatoes and tomatoes together. The acidity in the tomatoes can inhibit the breakdown of cell walls in the potatoes. They will break down eventually, but it can take much longer than anticipated depending on tomato acidity and type of potato. To avoid this problem you could partially pre-cook the potatoes before adding to tomatoes.
Gina
This is delicious! I only had dried beans so I put everything but the olives, capers, parsley and balsamic into the Instant Pot for 30 mins on high. Quick released at the end and stirred in the reserved ingredients. We ate it with buttered french bread. I used 1 cup dried beans to replace the canned beans.
Marlena
Add 1/2 can drained and patted dryvanchovies to step 2 or use several splashes of fish sauce. Reduce salt accordingly.
donna siciliani
Add anchovies for more puttanesca flavor
mjm
Added a bag of baby spinach at the end to up the healthy quotient. Delicious.
MCLee
Simple vegetarian soup that received raves from my meat-loving family. We added shredded Asiago/parm as a topping and roasted garlic cloves and crusty bread as a side, along with wine. My husband says this is the best soup he’s ever eaten. Thank you!
Eileen
That's what I'm going with - black olives are tasteless in my opinion but kalamata sounds like they'd be perfect!
Andrea
Brilliant idea! I had to make it today. But I didn’t have potatoes so I doubled the beans. I also added anchovies (because I love them). And I added white wine to the vegetable stock. And tomorrow, when I serve this heavenly scented soup I’ll add a dollop of pesto because I have no parsley or basil. Tastes good now, tomorrow it will be outstanding!
Allison
This was delicious! I made this mostly as directed except used kalamata olives since that's all I had and therefore probably didn't need to add the vinegar at the end. I think I will add more beans next time. I used better than bullion for the broth an fortunately saw the comment about the saltiness, so made a more watered down broth, and it was just right.
NJ cook
So delicious that it inspired my first-ever comment here (and I use this site all the time). Unusual and even better the next day. The balsamic vinegar at the end is key. If anyone @nytimes is looking, I wish there was a “favorites” tab in the Recipe folder.
MaryAnn
I made today and it is delicious! It is a very hearty soup and very flavorful. I made the soup almost exactly except that I substituted green, Spanish olives for the capers. I also add a whole 50g can of anchovy filets in oil mashed so that it like a paste. I also cut the potato into 1/2” chunks. I will make this again same as the above but I will add some paprika as suggested from another comment. I think that will be a nice addition.
Bellaverdi
See my note of 2 days past. Leftovers tonight, garnished with a few ounces of ground Italian sausage. Really, I didn’t think it could be better. Wrong. Elevated to a whole other yummy level. This soup is now on my regular Winter rotation.
Suzanne
This recipe was terrific, loved by all, except for me! The dish is hot, so if you don't like very spicy food that makes your eyes water, tone down the ingredients a bit.
tif
Salty if using better than bullion. Get unsalted olives or capers?
M
LOVE this recipe. Added an extra can of great northern beans and about a cup of rainbow chard at the end (w/out stems). Will make again!
Rob
Prepared a variation on the dish based on other comments - and WOW! Layers of texture and flavor. Added the red pepper flakes in step 2; Doubled the garlic and beans; Added 4 dashes of smoked paprika in Step 3; cut the potatoes smaller to 1/2 inch to facilitate cooking (does take 10-15 min longer than the recipe indicates); Used castelvetrano olives; 6. Layered in and wilted about 2 cups of red chard last 2 min; dusted with fresh Parm before topping. Soul warming.
Colin O'Grady
Probably could add 4 c veg broth. Salt and pepper while potatoes cooking.
Eleanor
This was kind of thin and sour. Good concept, but needs more "oomph."
Kathryn
Fantastic! Perfect follow-up to the indulgent holiday feasting. I omitted the sugar and doubled the broth + the red pepper flakes. Next time I'll double the beans too. I cut up a 1.5 lb bag of the Little Potato Co red & gold potato mix and had absolutely no problem with the pieces cooking thru. No need to pre-cook at all. Usually I freeze the leftovers but we can't wait to have it a second time tonight.
Joan
Love the parsley/caper/olive topping and the olive oil drizzle. Grated parmesan works well, too. On my second attempt with this recipe, I halved the amount of tomato and doubled the beans. I cut the potatoes into 1" cubes, gently simmered them in 3 cups water, then added Better Than Boullion to the potato water. Added broth and potatoes to the onion along with beans, etc. It came together much more quickly and the potatoes cooked beautifully. My picky eater ate 3 bowls!
Dagmar
Delicious made exactly as written! I used red potatoes and they cooked in the allotted time, and basil instead of parsley because it’s what I had, and Greek black olives that are sold in a bag in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods. Next time I might throw in some anchovies, but I appreciate that the recipe uses a relatively few simple ingredients. Why over complicate things?
E
Too much potato
Ann
What a delicious surprise! I love Puttanesca, but did not think the flavors would be as prevalent here. Happily I was wrong. I was rushing to finish this, so I microwaved the potatoes for a few minutes first, then cut into large pieces and added. My beans were pre-cooked, so this all came together quickly, and was devoured!
Jacqueline
Great recipe. Very easy to prepare. I used green olives stuffed with pimentos rather than black olives.
Jerry, in Tokyo
Made it with smoked chipotle peppers instead of red pepper flakes, and that catapulted this already-fine recipe into my top 5 soups of all time. Is it okay if I eat this every day?
Angela
So yummy. As others suggested, I subbed black olives for Kalamata olives. I also pre-cooked the potatoes as others recommended. I did add 1 lb sweet Italian sausage, which introduced a sweet flair to the otherwise tangy taste. I will absolutely make this one again!
Ruth Warner
The potatoes simply do not cook with the tomatoes. I googled it and there are multiple cooking sites that say the potatoes will take a really long time to cook. Mine have been on boil for a very long time and are still hard as rocks. Please amend this recipe or other cooks take note and cook them separately, as suggested below.
GinnyinGeorgia
I made this last night for the second time---Feb. 27, 2023. The first time it was delicious but I did something wrong this time. I believe it was the can of tomatoes that I used (because the bitter, acidic taste overwhelmed the soup--Tuttorosso-crushed & diced. I read that I could salvage by adding some baking soda to neutralize the taste, so will try it but wish I knew exactly how much? If there are other suggestions, please chime in.
Walter
Great recipe/soup which I will make again!Had no basil or parsley so used a handful of italian seasoning. I think I'll use kalamata olives next time.
Joe & Chloe
A new favorite thanks to the comments: we cooked the potatoes separately, added about four anchovies (mashed into a paste), doubled the red pepper flakes (which made it a touch on the spicy side), and subbed kalamata olives (the special black olives are hard to find). It froze well, too.
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