These Tuscan Stewed Beans are the ultimate rustic Italian comfort food! Made with simple pantry-friendly ingredients like onions, garlic, tomato paste and white beans, but big on gourmet Italian flavor. It's cozy and indulgent yet wholesome, vegan, and gluten-free.
Prep time: PT15M
Cook time: PT60M
Total time: PT75M
Rating
4.96 stars (163 reviews)
Keywords
italian beans, italian white bean stew, stewed beans, tuscan beans
Ingredients
1/4 cup (56 mL) extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, (chopped)
2 medium or large carrots, (peeled and finely chopped)
2 celery ribs, (diced)
4 garlic cloves, (finely chopped)
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup (4g) flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems, (minced)
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
4 1/2 tablespoons (67g) tomato paste ((in a tube, not a can)*)
¾ cup (180 mL) dry white wine**
1 28-ounce (800g) can whole peeled tomatoes, ( crushed by hand)
1 teaspoon kosher salt, (plus more to taste)
Freshly cracked black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups (360 mL) vegetable broth, plus more as desired
2 (15-ounce/425g) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup (8g) fresh basil, (slivered***)
Categories
Dinner
Cuisine
Italian
Steps
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, and season with a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, until golden, stirring occasionally. Add in the carrot, celery, and garlic, with another pinch of salt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes, parsley, and sage and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring almost continuously, for 1 to 2 minutes, until it's a bit darker in color.
Pour the white wine in and deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Allow wine to simmer rapidly for 3 minutes, or until mostly evaporated and it no longer smells like wine, stirring often.
Add tomatoes along with their juices, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and several cracks of black pepper. Cook at a rapid simmer, stirring fairly often, until the tomatoes are fully broken down and most of the liquid has evaporated, 12 to 13 minutes.
Add the veggie broth and 2 cans of beans. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and maintain a decent simmer for 30 minutes, stirring once in a while. If you want the stew to be thicker, towards the end of cooking, use the back of a wooden spoon or a spatula to gently smash a small portion of the beans.
Taste, adding a pinch of sugar if needed (if your tomatoes are good-quality, it should not be necessary). Remove the bay leaf. Finish with chopped basil. Season to taste, adding salt and pepper as needed.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 472 kcal
Carbohydrates: 59 g
Protein: 18 g
Fat: 16 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Sodium: 1117 mg
Sugar: 7 g
Unsaturated Fat: 13 g
Reviews
Rowan on 2026-03-31 (5 stars): Pretty good! I made this x5 for my living community in the dorm. The only change I made was using Better Than Bouillon instead of vegetable stock, and therefore I used the beans with the juice rather than drained. The steps took longer when cooking in bulk, which is expected. We served with rice and bread and salad. Overall it was a hit!
Emma on 2026-03-14 (5 stars): Loved it! Dishes like these could be bland but never with Nisha!
Serena Geake on 2026-02-16 (5 stars): I made this for 8 of us for lunch and it did take me longer than 15 minutes to prepare but it is so worth it. Smooth and so tasty everyone, vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters enjoyed it. I made it the night before and reheated in a saucepan on the hob (as suggested) and served with homemade focaccia and a green salad. Delicious! I will be making more of your recipes!
Kaushik on 2026-02-13 (5 stars): I always thought dishes won't be good enough without the need for adding all my Indian spices to make it into a curry, but this was very satisfying to have!
Michelle Cherrier on 2026-01-24 (5 stars): 01/25/26. Delicious bean dish! I made this as a side dish for avocado cheese toast - more protein and flavors. It was outstanding. I will make this again.
Zarah on 2026-01-09 (5 stars): Made this today, as part of my personalised meal plan, and absolutely LOVE it!
I am a big believer in ”going with the flow” and rarely follow recipes very closely but apart from tossing in some spinach that needed to be used up, I DID follow this and it needs no changes, at all.
We had it with some sourdough bread and ”The Bird Cage” on Netflix. Perfect combo. :)
Thanks for yet another favourite, Nisha!
Katie on 2026-01-09 (5 stars): These are so SATURATED with flavor! I used 8 oz dried Rancho Gordo cassoulet beans that I made in the Instant Pot instead of store bough canned beand, and I think that did this dish huge favors . Easy to make, uses up the celery I can never think of what to do with past the first recipe I buy it for, and has been great on its own as a quick breakfast, as a lunch with a hunk o' bread, or with some vegan alfredo pasta + garlic bread for dinner. Writing this one down and putting it in my recipe binder!!!
Liz on 2026-01-05 (5 stars): This was a winner with the family. Absolutely delicious and very easy to make.
Nigel on 2026-01-01 (5 stars): Delicious!
It's practically a store cupboard recipe, and it's very easy to halve everything for two portions.
I used dried sage, and a can of high quality chopped tomatoes (checked ingredients: tomatoes and tomato juice, end).
Keep the oily measuring tablespoon for measuring the tomato puree (paste). The oil stops the tomato sticking to the spoon.
Olivia on 2025-11-18 (5 stars): Just made it, it was absolutely delicious and heart warming. Only thing I did differently was do half veg stock, half chicken, and added parmasean cheese as a thickener. Really enjoyed it and will make again. Took me about 2.5 hours from start to finish. Ate with some toasted bread, so tasty! 🥖
