This post may include affiliate links; for details, see our disclosure policy.
This ribollita recipe is a hearty Tuscan vegetable stew, loaded with veggies and thickened with bread. A flavor-packed vegetarian dinner idea!
My first trip outside the country to Austria and Italy at age 17 left me changed. Committed to exploring the world, in college I studied abroad in Spain and traveled across Europe with my best friend. Alex and I honeymooned in Italy, vacationed in Paris and Greece, and volunteered in Cambodia. Travelling exposes you to so many perspectives and sights…but the ultimate for us has always been the food! Here’s a delicious Italian soup from a cookbook all about food inspired by travel: Green Kitchen Travels. This traditional Tuscan ribollita will have you wow’d from the first bite! Here’s how to make it.
What’s ribollita?
Ribollita is an Italian vegetable stew traditionally thickened by bread as a way to use up old crusts going stale. The word means “reboiled” in Italian, referring to how it was originally made: reheating leftover minestrone or vegetable soup with old bread. It can have lots of different vegetables in it, but usually white beans and Tuscan kale. And always, always: bread!
It might look like just a humble stew, but honestly, the flavors in this ribollita blew us away. It’s gently simmered so that the flavors meld together beautifully. The crusty bread cubes are almost like dumplings when soaked in the savory broth. I had to stop between spoonfuls to proclaim to Alex how much I loved it.
What type of bread to use
The most important part about making ribollita: the bread! Traditionally it was made with stale leftover bread from a few days before. Since Alex and I bake bread on the regular, we always have random rock-hard ends of bread around. But you don’t need that for this recipe! Just use high quality artisan bread from the store. If you are into making your own bread, here are a few bread recipes we’d recommend:
- Easy No Knead Bread Our easiest artisan bread! It’s simple to make and has a crusty exterior and soft interior.
- Artisan Bread This bread has incredible robust flavor! It’s beautiful and like an easy version of sourdough.
- Best Sourdough Bread It’s a definite project, but the flavor of this bread is incredible. We’ve got a video tutorial and downloadable checklist!
What to serve with ribollita
This ribollita makes a delicious plant based dinner recipe that’s perfect for company or a night in! What to serve alongside it? Here are a few ideas:
- Green salad. A green salad is the easiest choice. Try our favorite chopped salad or easy arugula salad.
- Citrus salad. A citrus-based salad brings a delightful tangy note! Try our Italian-style Fennel Orange Salad or Simple Citrus Salad.
- Garlic toast. These garlic toasts have big garlic flavor and are so easy to make!
About the book: Green Kitchen Travels
There’s something about travel that’s addicting: meeting new people, learning new things, tasting exotic flavors, the thrill of adventure. If you’re a fellow travel lover, the new cookbook Green Kitchen Travels might be up your alley.
Vegetarian food bloggers David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl from Green Kitchen Stories took a year out of their life to travel around the globe with their 7-month old. The photographs and recipes are out of this world! If you read cookbooks like picture books like we do, you’ll love paging through the gorgeous snapshots and flavor ideas (like this ribollita!).
Get the book! Green Kitchen Travels by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl
This ribollita recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based and dairy free (without the Parmesan cheese garnish).
Ribollita (Tuscan Vegetable Stew)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This ribollita recipe is a hearty Tuscan vegetable stew, loaded with veggies and thickened with bread. A flavor-packed vegan and vegetarian dinner idea!
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots
- 1 zucchini
- 1 tomato
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale
- 1 handful parsley
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 10 sage leaves
- 15-ounce can cannellini beans (or 1 ½ cups cooked)
- 1 quart vegetable stock
- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
- Multigrain or wholegrain sourdough bread
- Parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Dice the onion. Peel and dice the carrot and zucchini. Dice the tomato. Mince the garlic. Roughly chop the kale. Remove the leaves from the parsley.
- In a large saucepan or pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onion garlic, carrots, red pepper flakes, and sage and cook over low heat for 20 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the parsley, tomato, and zucchini and cook for a few minutes.
- Add the kale and beans (drained if canned), and cover with vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.
- Chop the bread into cubes. To serve, arrange the bread cubes in the soup and add Parmesan cheese shavings and a drizzle of olive oil.
Notes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
More vegan and vegetarian Italian recipes
We love vegan Italian and vegetarian Italian recipes! Outside of ribollita, here are some of our favorites:
- Simple Calzone Recipe
- Tomato Basil Gnocchi Soup
- Vegan Italian Pasta Salad
- Perfect Neapolitan Style Pizza Recipe
- Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe
- Tomato & Grilled Eggplant Stacked Sandwich
- “Can’t Believe It’s Vegan” Spaghetti & Meatballs
- 5 Minute Romesco Gnocchi Sauce Recipe
- Creamy Vegan Pasta Marinara
- Parmesan Black Truffle Risotto
- Orecchiette Pasta with Tomatoes
- Tuscan Soup with White Beans
- Skillet Eggplant Marinara
- Tomato Soup Recipe
Last updated: April 2020
The only thing wrong with this recipe is it doesn’t make enough. I can’t wait to make this again. Delicious !! I added petite potatoes and a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes. Next time I want to try adding cut okra.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I got distracted and left this soup on the stove for about 15 minutes too long, however it just turned into a delicious stew! I love recipes that are forgiving!
Parmesan is not vegetarian
My thirteen year old fussy eater claimed it was the first time he liked kale.
Just made this – so good! Added green peppers & we only wish there was more soup leftover!
Made this last night and it was amazing! Made some slight modifications – added chopped turkey cutlets, used chicken broth and a mixture of kale and spinach and my family loved it. This will be a stew/soup we’ll be making again and again!
I absolutely love this recipe! So perfect for snuggly cold nights!
This was amazingly delicious! I so wished I had doubled the recipe, but now I know better. The only thing I added was a rind from a wedge of Parmesan that became an extra bit of decadence. Thanks so much for this recipe!
I loved the freshness of this soup (and this soup calls for finding the freshest veggies possible), but I do have a few suggestions for those who are looking for a blast of flavor in the broth. The Louisiana chef Paul Prudhomme is a master of starting a dish with onions and sauteing and sealing the flavor into the onions first before adding anything else. Get those spices in the onions and saute them for at least seven minutes alone. (I used 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper, salt and pepper, a bit of basil. I call this onion step “building a nest”). Once that nest is softened and flavorful, then add the other veggies and spices, etc. I think this works well because adding flavor to liquid isn’t as good a process as getting the flavors in the solids first. Anyway, lovely stew!
I made this last week and it was delicious! What a great recipe! It was a huge hit in my house. We had leftovers but they didn’t last for very long.
I love soups and stews and I’ll be making this stew. It looks delicious!
I cannot wait to try this…we do regular soup nights, and I am quite sure this will be a hit! Especially with Miss Leah back home! I particularly am intrigues with the use of the sage leaves….and fresh twist to a traditional almost minnestrone type base soup!
Thanks
How many does this recipe serve? I am hosting a dinner with 5 guests tomorrow night.
I would say it serves 4. Make a double batch!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was so soul-warmy and sensational! Topped my bowl with a ridiculous amount of parmesan.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I made this a few nights ago. It was fabulous!! Thank you.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed
I love soups and stews like this, especially during this time of year. There is something wildly comforting about it all. Love to hear about all the inspirations that traveling provides! This soup looks comforting, warm, and pure. Love it!
Looks amazing – so tasty and comforting!
So good! I always find that cannellini beans taste a bit bland but they work really well in soups with lots of veg. I make something similar but use bay leaves instead of sage – I will have to try this version!
There’s something so honest about a simple soup. This sounds lovely! Like you, I love to travel and gain insight from other places…it helps inspire me in the kitchen too!
What a hearty and delicious looking bowl of soup! Perfect for dunking crusty bread.
Yummy! I am dying to get my hands on a copy, having enjoyed their first book so much.
Now you’ve given me another reason to go and get it – tomorrow.
Thanks for sharing
Kimberly
Your pictures are out of this world! If your stew tastes HALF as good as it looks, it will be incredible. I love that you guys cook, blog, etc. together. My husband and I just started our blog together…it’s such a fun thing to share with your spouse! Can’t wait to keep cooking together and trying this :)
Thanks! It is a fun thing to do together — glad you’ve joined the party :)
This stew looks incredible. The book sounds amazing. Adding both to my lists!
I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of their new book. The first one is delightful and their blog is stellar. Very very inspiring. Spring has turned back to winter and I have cavolo nero from a friend’s garden and half a loaf of sourdough hanging about, dinner tonight is sorted!
Okay, now I have to go buy this book. I agree, travel is addicting but it isn’t always easy for a vegetarian so I’m curious to see the recipes they found along the way.
It looks like you did this one justice…I’m ready to dive right into that bowl!
Yep, I agree, traveling is one of the greatest forms of inspiration for me too. I cannot wait to get my hands on their book and make this soup. I love when a recipe is simple and the flavors are out of this world, as I’m sure this one will be.
Seems like so many of my favorite meals were eaten abroad. So many things to learn, sites to see, and flavors to absorb. This Tuscan stew is one of my staples during the fall/winter. Thanks for featuring this beautiful dish — just in time for the chilly weather!
Travelling through Florence when I was 15 is what sparked my love for dishes thickened with bread (most notably, panzanella salad and ribollita stew). Then came the discovery of Caesar salad when I went to New York, and my life was transformed by the notion of adding bread and croutons to seemingly innocent and healthy dishes, and making them so much more special. You do this soup justice – thanks for sharing!
this looks amazing! Thanks!