A fantastic weekday dinner or a weekend lunch that makes good use of leftovers and forgotten cupboard ingredients, Tuscan Ribollita is a tasty soup that is both simple and inexpensive to make! A filling, rustic soup is perfect for a cold autumn evening and is great to feed the whole family! Any leftovers can be frozen (before adding the bread) and reheated whenever you need a quick meal!
Tuscan cuisine seems to have a reoccurring theme – using stale bread in their recipes. Think Panzanella salad, Pappa al Pomodoro and the all-important Tuscan staple – Ribollita! For us it only means one thing, using up stale Crusty Sourdough Bread!
There are probably as many different recipes for Ribollita as there are families in Tuscany. Like many family recipes, it uses a range of things that you can simply find in your fridge. We tried to make it simple, by using everyday ingredients that you will likely find in your fridge, garden and cupboards!

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How to Make a Tuscan Ribollita?
Heat the 2 tablespoon of oil in a large pan. Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Stirring, sautee on low heat for 10 minutes until golden brown.
Add the bay leaves, sweet potato chunks, shredded savoy cabbage and tomato paste. Add the stock and stir for a minute.


Roughly mash half of the drained and rinsed cannellini beans. Add both the mashed and whole beans to the pan and leave to simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
Add the kale (stalks removed and leaves roughly chopped) and carry on cooking for a further 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Finally, add the sourdough bread and simmer for a further minute.
Spoon the soup into bowls, and sprinkle with some freshly ground black pepper.
For other wonderful tasty soups, have a look at the recipes below:
- Curried Carrot and Lentil Soup
- Chicken Minestrone Soup (Easy Italian Recipe)
- Pea & Broccoli Soup
- Lithuanian Summer Beetroot Soup a.k.a Pink Soup
- Creamy Mushroom & Blue Cheese Soup
- The Creamiest Vegan Cauliflower & Almond Soup

Ribollita | Rustic Tuscan Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 brown onion finely diced
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 1 celery stick finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sweet potato cubed
- ¼ savoy cabbage shredded
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 800 ml hot vegetable stock
- 1 tin cannellini beans 400g tin, drained and rinsed
- 100 g kale (we used cavolo nero) stalks removed, roughly chopped
- 200 g stale sourdough bread torn into pieces
Instructions
- Heat the 2 tablespoon of oil in a large pan. Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Stirring, sautee on low heat for 10 minutes until golden brown.
- Add the bay leaves, sweet potato chunks, shredded savoy cabbage and tomato paste. Add the stock and stir for a minute.
- Roughly mash half of the drained and rinsed cannellini beans. Add both the mashed and whole beans to the pan and leave to simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
- Add the kale and carry on cooking for a further 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Finally, add the sourdough bread and simmer for a further minute.
- Spoon the soup into bowls, and sprinle with some freshly ground black pepper.
Nutrition

Dannii
Such a hearty and delicious soup. Very warming on a cold day.
Ieva
Thanks, Dannii! Hope it keeps you warm! 🙂
Anjali
This soup was warming, comforting and delicious. A great meal for the cooler evenings we’ve been having!
Ieva
Oh definitely! Nothing like a hearty bowl of soup to warm up with!
Tara
Wonderfully hearty and delicious soup! Bursting with flavor, this recipe will never get old!
Ieva
Thanks so much, Tara! 💗
kushigalu
Love the flavor combination in this soup recipe. So delicious. Thanks for sharing.