Last updated on July 28th, 2024
If you have been to Tuscany then you probably remember trying or seeing the regional bread and vegetable soup – ribollita.
This hearty dish was one of my all-time favorite winter dishes we have here in Tuscany, and I love making it for my family at home.
And now you can too! This recipe for ribollita is straight forward, authentic and vegan, and it’s perfect for entertaining and serving large crowds.
Don’t spend your next Italian dinner night slaving over the stovetop – choose ribollita, make it ahead and enjoy your company, just as the Italians do!
Read more about Traditional Tuscan Food and Delicious Dinner Recipes That We Make in Italy.
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Ribollita Pronunciation
Ribollita is pronounced ree-bohl-lee-tah in Italian, literally translating to “reboiled”.
Listen to the pronunciation of ribollita:
What is Ribollita?
Ribollita is an ancient Tuscan vegetable soup thickened with stale bread and bulked up with cannellini beans.
This, like many other Tuscan recipes, is born from the idea of not letting a single thing go to waste. Similar to pappa al pomodoro and panzanella, ribollita is just another way to use up day-old bread.
This hearty vegetable stew is born from the cucina povera, the Italian concept of creating nourishing and delicious foods with local, seasonal ingredients. And that is exactly what ribollita does by incorporating the finest of Tuscany’s winter crops such as kale, swiss chard, cabbage, olive oil and cannellini beans.
Fact: Ribollita is a vegan recipe. Learn more about Eating Vegan in Italy.
Beloved throughout Tuscany, you will find this dish under the primo (first courses) section of the menu at any trattoria or osteria, especially in Florence, where the locals are particularly fond of it.
Learn More: Read about the Different Types of Italian Eateries – From Trattorie to Osterie and more!
Ingredients for Tuscan Ribollita
serves 4-6 as a main course
prep time 25 min
cook time 40 min
rest time 1 hr
- 12.5 oz (350 grams) drained and cooked cannellini beans, either homemade cannellini beans or canned
- 1 small onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- ½ cup olive oil + more for serving
- 3.5 oz (100 grams) canned tomatoes (either whole peeled tomatoes or crushed)
- 1 ½ cups (125 grams) savoy cabbage, about ¼ head, depending on the size.
- 4 cups (125 grams) swiss chard
- 4 cups (125 grams) dinosaur kale
- 1 large potato
- 5 oz (145 grams) stale white bread, about two large, thick slices.
- ¾ tablespoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Step-By-Step Instructions for Making Authentic Tuscan Ribollita
- Finely chop the onion and celery. Add to a large pot with the olive oil. Chop the carrot and add. Sautee for about 10 minutes until the onions are translucent.
- Meanwhile, wash and chop the kale, chard and savoy cabbage and add to the pot with about 4 cups (1 liter) of water. Roughly dice the potato and add along with the canned tomatoes. If using whole peeled tomatoes, crush them with your hands as you add them.
- Puree about half the beans with ½ cup of the bean cooking liquid (or water is fine if using canned beans). Add to the pot.
- Bring the pot of vegetables to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until everything is tender, about 20-30 minutes. Test at 20 minutes with a fork.
- Add the remaining beans and gently simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Cut the bread into pieces and add to the soup. Turn off the heat, cover and let sit for at least an hour. Stir the soup from time to time to break up the bread – it will end up like a thick stew.
- Reheat, if desired, before serving with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Substitutions For Tuscan Ribollita
- Add a parmesan rind that you are looking to use up in with the green veggies for extra flavor.
- When making traditional Tuscan ribollita, common mistakenly added ingredients include:
- Lots of tomato, like a whole can
- Zucchini
- Squash
- Herbs such as thyme, bay leaf, or rosemary
- Garlic
- Authentic ribollita does not call for toasted croutons as garnish on top of the soup before serving.
- Use whole wheat bread instead of white.
Tuscan Ribollita Notes and Tips
- Sometimes, the ribollita is a little more watery than it should be: just add a bit more bread to thicken it up.
- This soup is even better the next day so plan on making it ahead, if possible.
- Eat either warmed or at room temperature.
- Ribollita is considered un piatto unico (a complete meal) on its own without anything else because it’s full of vegetables, beans and bread. A big bowl of this is very filling but there is nothing wrong with starting your meal with cured meats and cheeses, just as many local Florentines might do.
- If you don’t have stale bread, lightly toast it before cutting it up and adding it.
More Veg Please: Check out my list of Vegetarian Dishes to Try in Italy.
More Italian Soups: If you love Italian soups, consider making:
Pappa al Pomodoro
Ribollita
Italian Minestrone
Creamy Italian Kale Soup
Italian Greens and Beans
Italian Lentil Soup
Authentic Tuscan Ribollita
Ingredients
- 12.5 oz cannellini beans (350 g), either homemade or canned
- 1 onion small
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1/2 cup olive oil + more for serving
- 3.5 oz canned tomatoes (100 g), either whole peeled tomatoes or crushed
- 1.5 cups savoy cabbage (125 g), about ¼ head, depending on size
- 4 cups swiss chard (125 g)
- 4 cups dinosaur kale
- 1 potato large
- 5 oz stale white bread about 2 large, thick slices
- 3/4 Tbsp salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion and celery. Add to a large pot with the olive oil. Chop the carrot and add. Sautee for about 10 minutes until the onions are translucent.
- Meanwhile, wash and chop the kale, chard and savoy cabbage and add to the pot with about 4 cups (1 liter) of water. Roughly dice the potato and add along with the canned tomatoes. If using whole peeled tomatoes, crush them with your hands as you add them.
- Puree about half the beans with ½ cup of the bean cooking liquid (or water is fine if using canned beans). Add to the pot.
- Bring the pot of vegetables to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until everything is tender, about 20-30 minutes. Test at 20 minutes with a fork.
- Add the remaining beans and gently simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Cut the bread into pieces and add to the soup. Turn off the heat, cover and let sit for at least an hour. Stir the soup from time to time to break up the bread – it will end up like a thick stew.
- Reheat, if desired, before serving with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Notes
- Add a parmesan rind that you are looking to use up in with the green veggies for extra flavor.
- When making traditional Tuscan ribollita, common mistakenly added ingredients include:
- Lots of tomato, like a whole can
- Zucchini
- Squash
- Herbs such as thyme, bay leaf, or rosemary
- Garlic
- Authentic ribollita does not call for toasted croutons as garnish on top of the soup before serving.
- Use whole wheat bread instead of white.
- Sometimes, the ribollita is a little more watery than it should be: just add a bit more bread to thicken it up.
- This soup is even better the next day so plan on making it ahead, if possible.
- Eat either warmed or at room temperature.
- Ribollita is considered un piatto unico (a complete meal) on its own without anything else because it’s full of vegetables, beans and bread. A big bowl of this is very filling but there is nothing wrong with starting your meal with cured meats and cheeses, just as many local Florentines might do.
- If you don’t have stale bread, lightly toast it before cutting it up and adding it.
Authentic Tuscan Ribollita Recipe FAQ
Yes, you can really use any bread you want but it will slightly affect the flavor. White bread is flavorless but a darker bread has a nutty undertone that will also carry over into the soup.
You can freeze it as long as all the ingredients you were using from the start were not previously frozen.
You could use chickpeas (ceci in Italian), but that is not what the original recipe calls for. Cannellini beans are used because they are a large part of the Tuscan diet.
Ribollita is best stored in an airtight container for 3 days in the refrigerator.
Yes, ribollita is a naturally vegan dish from Tuscany.
