Serious Eats / Melati Citrawireja

Why It Works

• Toasting unpeeled garlic cloves directly in the pot quickly develops a mellow roasted garlic flavor without turning on the oven.
• Simmering beans with their canning liquid adds body and natural starches, creating a creamy texture without dairy.
• A final hit of lemon juice and fresh herbs brightens the soup and balances its rich base.

This white bean and garlic soup is the meal I make when I want comfort but not commitment. It’s for those nights when the idea of chopping an onion feels like too much for me, when my fridge is half-empty, but I want something warm and creamy and grounding now, not after an hour of simmering. Enter this five-ingredient soup—a one-pot, weeknight-friendly situation that tastes far more luxurious than the effort it demands.

The problem with most quick, minimalist soups is that they’re polite to a fault: perfectly fine, but flat, one-note, and not too memorable. This is because when you strip a recipe down to just a handful of ingredients, there’s nowhere to hide—no layers of flavor built from long cooking times, no sneaky umami, no parade of garnishes doing damage control at the end. If it’s going to taste good, the technique has to pull its weight.

Serious Eats / Melati Citrawireja

This soup does just that. The key to its rich flavor is the garlic. Instead of starting with chopped raw garlic sautéed in oil (which can easily turn sharp or bitter if cooked too quickly and aggressively), the flavor foundation comes from whole, unpeeled garlic cloves toasted directly in a dry saucepan. It’s a fast, slightly unconventional move that pays off. In just a few minutes, the skins blister and brown, and the cloves inside turn fragrant and mellow, with a sweetness that reads as slow-roasted rather than last-minute. Once peeled, roughly chopped, and gently warmed in olive oil, that garlic becomes the flavor base for the entire soup.

From there, the rest of the recipe is intentionally unfussy. A can of white beans—cannellini are ideal because of thin skins and creamy texture—goes in, liquid and all. That starchy bean liquid thickens the soup and helps it emulsify into something creamy without cream. Chicken or vegetable stock (your choice) and good olive oil fill in the gaps, turning the dish silky and rich without tipping into heaviness. A small hit of lemon juice and fresh herbs at the end cuts through the richness and sharpens all those rounded, garlicky flavors.

Like most five-ingredient recipes, this one is best viewed as a technique launching pad. Add shredded cooked chicken if you’ve got it. Finish with a dollop of yogurt or a drizzle of chili oil. A teaspoon of minced rosemary or sage plays especially well with the garlic and beans. But even in its simplest form, this soup delivers exactly what I want on a low-effort day.

Keep Screen Awake

4 cloves garlic, unpeeled

3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

1 (15-ounce) can white beans, such as cannelini

1 1/2 cups (260 ml) homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, plus extra as needed

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley, tarragon, or chives

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

Kosher salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

In an empty medium saucepan, toast whole unpeeled garlic cloves over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and skins are just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer garlic to a cutting board and let cool in skins until cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes.

Serious Eats / Melati Citrawireja 1.

Once cool enough to handle, peel garlic and roughly chop. In now-empty saucepan, heat oil and chopped garlic over medium heat until edges of garlic bubble and just begin to turn golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add beans with their liquid, along with chicken or vegetable stock/broth. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until beans begin to break down, 5 to 7 minutes.

Serious Eats / Melati Citrawireja 1.

Use a potato masher or immersion blender to mash soup until mostly smooth. (Alternatively, process soup in a traditional blender until mostly smooth, about 2 minutes, then return to saucepan.) Adjust consistency with additional broth as needed. Off heat, stir in parsley and lemon juice, and season with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Serious Eats / Melati Citrawireja

Special Equipment

Medium saucepan, potato mash or blender

Make-Ahead and Storage

Leftover soup can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
242	Calories
11g	Fat
27g	Carbs
10g	Protein

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Nutrition Facts Servings: 2 to 4 Amount per serving Calories 242 % Daily Value* 11g 15% Saturated Fat 2g 9% 2mg 1% 534mg 23% 27g 10% Dietary Fiber 6g 22% Total Sugars 1g 10g Vitamin C 2mg 11% Calcium 99mg 8% Iron 4mg 21% Potassium 588mg 13% *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)