Creamy Tuscan Lemon Artichoke Soup

This creamy Tuscan lemon artichoke soup is bright, cozy, and ready in just 30 minutes-perfect for when you're craving comfort food but spring is calling.

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Recipe

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5 from 2 votes

Creamy Tuscan Lemon Artichoke Soup

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: vegetarian

Servings: 6

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• ½ cup diced carrot
• ½ cup diced celery
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
• 14 ounces canned cannellini beans with liquid
• 14 ounces canned quartered artichokes drained
• ½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup grated parmesan
• freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute until vegetables soften, about 5-6 minutes. Add garlic and red chili flakes and saute for 30 more seconds.
• Add beans, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, chicken broth, and lemon juice, stirring to combine. Season soup with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
• Add spinach and heavy cream, stirring until combined. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes or until is tender. Adjust seasoning as needed.
• Portion soup into bowls and sprinkle parmesan. Finish with freshly cracked black pepper and serve.

Notes

Use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil.

If fresh artichokes are available, you can substitute them for canned.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Saute vegetables

Like most great soups, this creamy Tuscan lemon artichoke soup starts with the holy trinity of aromatics: onions, carrots, and celery. When I was in culinary school, we used this trio, also known as mirepoix, for almost every sauce and soup.

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and toss in the diced vegetables. Try to cut them all the same size to allow them to cook evenly.

Let them hang out for about 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they've softened and the onions turn translucent. This is where you're building your foundation of flavor, so don't rush it.

Once the veggies are tender, add minced garlic and red chili flakes. Give everything a good stir and let it cook for just 30 seconds, just long enough for the garlic to become fragrant and the chili flakes to bloom.

Any longer and you risk burning the garlic, which can turn bitter.

Feel free to omit the red chili flakes if you want to omit that mild heat.

Step 2: Add key ingredients

Now comes the fun part, where everything gets dumped into the pot. Add the cannellini beans, drained artichoke hearts, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chicken or vegetable broth, and lemon juice.

I prefer to add beans with their starchy liquid because the liquid helps thicken the soup naturally.

Give everything a good stir to combine, then season with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

This is when all those flavors get to know each other and meld together into something really special.

Step 3: Simmer

After the soup has simmered, stir in the fresh baby spinach and heavy cream. Keep the heat on low and continue to simmer for about 2-3 minutes or until the spinach wilts.

Taste and adjust your seasoning. You might want more salt, pepper, or even an extra squeeze of lemon for brightness.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top each serving with a generous sprinkle of grated parmesan and freshly cracked black pepper. The parmesan adds a salty, nutty depth that really makes this soup sing.

Serve the creamy Tuscan lemon artichoke soup with crusty bread for dipping, and you've got yourself a bowl of springtime comfort that's worth making on repeat.

Make-ahead and storage tips

• Make-ahead: You can cook the soup the night before and let it sit overnight in the refridgerator to help the flavors meld together further.
• Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refridgerator for up to 4 days. You can also freeze the soup for up to 3 months.

More vegetarian soup recipes

Looking for more vegetarian soup ideas? Try these: