A true cucina povera meal, Ribollita Soup is a hearty and comforting kale and bean soup made with day-old bread. The bread thickens the soup, yielding a rich, porridge-like consistency, and is especially good on cool nights.
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Tuscan-style cucina povera
I’m constantly on the lookout for budget-friendly meals that allow us to use up pantry or leftover ingredients, such as pasta e patate, pasta e lenticchie, and this Tuscan Ribollita Soup.
Ribollita, which translates to “reboiled,” is a Tuscan stew that relies on day-old bread for its wonderful consistency, along with beans, kale, carrots, celery, and onions. It’s one of my favorite cucina povera meals!
The best part is that Ribollita really lends itself to being eaten over several days as the flavors intensify and the soup gets even better.
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Bread. Ribollita is referred to as Tuscan bread soup for a reason – it’s reliant on the use of bread, preferably 1-2 day old crusty bread, such as ciabatta. If all you have is fresh bread, you can dry it out by cutting into pieces and toasting in a 300°F oven until hard.
- Pancetta. This adds great flavor to the ribollita, but if you prefer to not use it, you can omit it and add more olive oil.
- Vegetables. Tuscan kale, onion, celery, carrots, and zucchini are my go-to vegetables for ribollita. Feel free to substitute as needed; for example, if you can only find green curly kale, use that.
- Beans. I’m using cannellini beans, but you can use other white beans if preferred.
- Stock. Use a low-sodium chicken stock, or for best results, use homemade chicken stock. You can also use vegetable stock if making vegetarian.
- Parm rind. I love adding a rind of Parmigiano Reggiano to soups like ribollita, pasta e fagioli, and so many others! If you don’t have rinds, ask a grocery store employee or cheesemonger if they have any rinds. They’ll often sell them to you at a very reasonable price.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
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How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Cook the pancetta in a large heavy pot over medium heat until it’s crisp and the fat renders.
- Add the olive oil, carrot, celery, and onion, and cook until soft.
- Add the zucchini and cook for another 5 minutes. If the vegetables start to burn at all, add a splash of water or lower the heat. Add the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes, then add the hot red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to combine, adding water as needed if the paste starts to burn.
- Add the stock, kale, cannellini beans, parmesan rind, and rosemary to the pot, then bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat and allow the ribollita to simmer with the lid cracked for at least 30 minutes.
- Taste test the soup and adjust salt and pepper as needed, then add the parsley.
- Place the day-old bread in bowls and ladle the soup over the bread. Serve with more bread, grated Parmigiano, and extra-virgin olive oil. Enjoy!
Top tips
- Make ahead. The ribollita soup keeps well for a few days and is great to freeze for a make-ahead meal. It tastes even better the next day and will have a more robust flavor and thicker consistency.
- Serving. While ribollita is a very simple soup, I love to serve it with extra bread, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, crushed red pepper, and plenty of grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
More budget-friendly soups
There’s nothing better than soup that’s easy on your wallet, but nourishing and hearty – here are a few of my favorites!
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Ribollita Soup (Tuscan Bread Stew)
Ingredients
- 1/4 pound pancetta diced
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- 1 large carrot chopped
- 1 medium zucchini chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale stems removed, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper flakes
- 5 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 16-ounce cans can cannellini beans drained
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken stock plus more as needed
- 1 rind Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1/4 cup minced flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 1 loaf day old bread see notes below
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Instructions
- Heat a large heavy pot to medium heat then add the pancetta and cook until crisp and the fat renders (about 5-7 minutes).
- Next, add the olive oil carrot, celery, and onion along with a pinch of salt. Cook until soft (about 10 minutes) then add the zucchini and cook for another 5 minutes. If the vegetables start to burn add a splash of water and/or turn down the heat.
- Add the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. Add the hot red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to coombine. If the paste begins to burn add a splash of water.
- Add the stock, kale, cannellini beans, parmesan rind, and rosemary to the pot. Bring to a boil then lower heat to low and let simmer with the lid cracked for at least 30 minutes.
- Taste test the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in the parsley. Ladle the soup over pieces of day old bread in individual bowls. Serve with more bread, grated parmigiano and extra virgin olive oil on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
- Servings. Makes 6 large bowls or 8-10 cups of soup
- Bread. I love to use a loaf of 1-2 day old ciabatta though any bread will work. If using fresh bread, simply cut into pieces and toast in a 300°F oven until hard.
- Parmesan rind. Use a 1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano in place of rind if required.
- Make it vegetarian. Simply omit the pancetta and add a bit more olive oil, and sub vegetable stock for the chicken stock.
- Serve with extras. Serve with plenty of bread to thicken, extra virgin olive oil, crushed red pepper, black pepper, and grated cheese on the side.
- Leftovers. Ribollita soup is even better the next day. If too thick, just add some water or stock to thin it out when reheating.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally published on April 12, 2019. It was completely updated on November 7, 2025.
Everything, always awesome!!!
So happy to hear that!
I like almost all of your recipe’s. Looking foward to see older and new dishes. I can relate to many of the food choices as being Sicilian heritage. Thanks
Already ordered your COOK BOOK awhile ago just waiting for to come, I love your authentic recipes. I can relate to them I’m 100 % Sicilian . Congratulations on your accomplishment of your
COOK BOOK . Already following you for a long time.
We’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe and appreciate you ordering the cookbook!
Great
I don’t know shy I waited so long to make this. It is so delicious and absolutely perfect for the sub-freezing winter days. I am not a big kale fan, but this recipe transforms it into a delight. Like every recipe that I have tried from Sip and Feast, this is a winner. I am slowly trying to cook my way through your many dishes. I cannot wait to try the cocktails! Thank you for all you do. I send everyone I know to your youtube channel. P.S. I live in Dublin, Ireland and just found a treat called Pocket Coffee in an Italian Grocery. It is chocolate with a liquid espresso center and is addictive. If you see it at one of your Italian shops, I highly recommend trying it.
Thanks for the comment and review, Zoe. So happy you enjoyed the soup and other recipes. If I can find the Pocket Coffee I’ll definitely try it out, thanks!
Haven’t had this since I was in Italy. Question….do you add any of the bread to the soup? I don’t see mention of it only serve with bread. Love watching all your recipes.
Hi Donna, thanks for the comment. Great question – the way I’ve written it here is to place the bread in bowls and then ladle the soup over the bread. See the section in the post on Soup Consistency which gives an alternative to cook the bread in the soup for 10 minutes or even longer. It’s really up to personal preference.
Super delicious. I dont even like kale and gobbled it down anyway. 😀 Thanks always, youtube legend!
Hi Fiona, I’m so happy you liked it! And thank you! 🙂
can you use spinach or escarole in place of kale
Yes, for sure!
Jim this looks amazing as always. I know it was to stretch the buck, but bread in soup is just such a brilliant flavor move IMO.
Thank you Jo! It definitely does save money, but in the end I think it just adds so much great flavor.
This sounds and looks absolutely amazing!
Thanks a lot Valentina!