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French · Mediterranean

Soupe au pistou

Vegetarian

A summer Provençal vegetable and bean soup with green beans, courgettes and small pasta, finished at the table with a pungent basil, garlic and olive oil pistou.

Soupe au pistou is a French soup from France, ready in about 1 hour 5 minutes and made with white beans (canned), basil and olive oil. It serves 6 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
Bowl of soupe au pistou, vegetable and bean soup topped with green pistou
Photo: 120 / V. Mourre / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-3.0
Prep
25 min
Cook
40 min
Total
1 h 5 min
Serves
6
Level
Easy
Calories
350

Ingredients

6 servings

For the soup

For the pistou

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oil in a large pot and soften the onion (opens in a new tab) and leek (opens in a new tab) for 5 minutes. Add the carrots (opens in a new tab), potatoes (opens in a new tab), water and salt, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Add the white beans (opens in a new tab), green beans (opens in a new tab), courgettes (opens in a new tab) and tomatoes (opens in a new tab) and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the pasta (opens in a new tab) and cook until tender, about 10 minutes more.

    • 20 min
    • medium heat
    A sauce simmering in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Nanda Mends on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile pound the garlic (opens in a new tab) with a pinch of salt in a mortar, add the basil (opens in a new tab) leaves a handful at a time and pound to a paste, then work in the olive oil (opens in a new tab) and cheese.

    A small food processor works too; pulse briefly so the basil does not darken.

  4. Step 4

    Take the soup off the heat once the pasta (opens in a new tab) is tender and let it stop bubbling. Stir in half the pistou and serve the rest at the table for each person to add to taste.

    • 2 min

About this dish

Origin
Provence, France · Well documentedMore food from France
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Soups · Main courses
Cooking method
Simmered, Boiled
Taste
herby, garlicky, fresh, savoury
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-fat
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
One-pot · Budget-friendly · Batch cooking
Cook more with
White beans (canned) · Basil · Onion · Leek · Carrot · Potato
Techniques
Boiling · Simmering

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom parmesan
  • May contain: Eggsfrom dried pasta
  • Contains: Wheatfrom dried pasta
  • Contains: Glutenfrom dried pasta

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

350 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 621 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 12%
  • Carbohydrate 43%
  • Fat 46%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy350 kcal56 kcal
Protein10.6 g1.7 g
Carbohydrate38.5 g6.2 g
Net carbohydrate31.9 g5.1 g
Sugars7 g1.1 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre6.6 g1.1 g
Fat18.3 g2.9 g
Saturated fat3.3 g0.5 g
Trans fat0 g0 g
Cholesterol5 mg1 mg
Sodium834 mg134 mg
Salt equivalent2.1 g0.3 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
879 mg
Calcium
209 mg
Iron
3.5 mg
Magnesium
84 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
246 µg
Vitamin C
36 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0.1 µg
Folate (DFE)
139 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Never boil the soup after adding pistou — the basil turns dull and bitter.

Common mistakes

  • Cutting the vegetables in different sizes — dice them all small (about 1 cm) so they cook evenly and fit on a spoon.

Serve with

  • Good warm or at room temperature on a hot day.

Storage

  • Soup keeps 3 days chilled (pasta will soften); keep pistou separately covered with a film of oil.

Reheating

  • Reheat the soup, then add fresh pistou off the heat.

Variations

  • Minestrone alla genovese (Italy): The Ligurian cousin, finished with pesto that often includes pine nuts.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

The liquid foundation

For the soup

Used in steps 1, 2, 3

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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