Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Ribollita
A thick Tuscan "reboiled" soup of cannellini beans, cavolo nero, and day-old bread.
Tuscan · easy · serves 6
prep 25 min · cook 70 min
~178 cal · 9g protein · 35g carbs · 0g fat · 8g fiber · 4g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Ribollita is Tuscan thrift turned into something wonderful. Its name means "reboiled", and that is exactly its origin: yesterday's vegetable minestrone brought back to the stove with layers of stale bread stirred in, cooked down until the bread dissolves and the whole thing thickens into a pottage dense enough to eat with a fork rather than a spoon.
It belongs to the cucina povera, the poor kitchen of Tuscany, where wasting bread was close to a sin. The backbone of a proper ribollita is cavolo nero, the dark, blistered Tuscan kale, along with cannellini beans, and it is built to be humble and filling above all.
The finish is what lifts it: a raw thread of good new-pressed olive oil poured over each bowl at the table, its green, peppery bite waking up the soft, savoury base. Made a day ahead and reheated, as it is meant to be, it only gets better, that Tuscan frugality and Tuscan pleasure are the same thing.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
4 thick slices stale country bread, torn
3 cups cooked cannellini beans (half mashed)
1 large bunch cavolo nero (Tuscan kale), shredded
Hard to find? curly kale - softer and less mineral than cavolo nero; strip the stems the same way and give it the same long cook
1 small bunch chard, shredded
1/4 head savoy cabbage, shredded
2 potatoes, diced
1 carrot, diced (soffritto)
1 stalk celery, diced (soffritto)
1 onion, diced (soffritto)
1 cup canned peeled tomatoes
for finishing good olive oil
Instructions
1
Sweat the carrot, celery, and onion in olive oil until soft and sweet, about 12 minutes.
2
Add the tomatoes, potatoes, and the greens (cavolo nero, chard, and savoy cabbage) and cook 15 minutes, until the greens collapse.
✎ Chef’s note
A traditional ribollita layers several greens, cavolo nero, chard, and savoy cabbage, plus potato for a creamier body, not kale alone.
3
Stir in the whole and mashed beans with enough water to make a loose soup, and simmer 20 minutes.
4
Fold in the torn stale bread and cook gently until it dissolves and the soup turns thick enough to stand a spoon in.
✎ Chef’s note
The name ribollita means "reboiled". The stale bread melting into the soup is what gives it its signature thick, porridge-like body.
5
Rest off the heat 30 minutes, then reheat to serve, finishing each bowl with a raw swirl of good olive oil.
Tuscan cucina povera.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tuscany. Tuscany cooks rustic and bread-based, ribollita, bean soups, and the mighty bistecca alla fiorentina. Olive oil, beans, and unsalted bread reflect a proud 'cucina povera' tradition.
🗺️
Italy. A good deal of the Italian pantry is younger than the Renaissance. Tomatoes, peppers, beans, maize and squash all crossed from the Americas after 1500 and took generations to be trusted, which is why the earliest printed Neapolitan pizza was a sweet one. The older divide is fat: butter and lard through the north, olive oil down the length of the peninsula.
🌍
Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Italy
Pasta alla NormaFried eggplant, tomato, basil, and salted ricotta over pasta, Catania's tribute to its favorite opera.
Tagliatelle al RagùBologna’s slow-simmered meat sauce folded through fresh ribbon pasta, the dish the world calls "bolognese," done right.
Spaghetti alle VongoleSpaghetti tossed with clams, garlic, white wine, and parsley, the Bay of Naples in eight ingredients.
Browse all Italy recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Italy meal
TiramisùDessert
Pizza MargheritaLunch
Similar dishes from around the world
Soupe au PistouMonaco
Ash-e ReshtehIran
Gazpacho AndaluzSpain
SpasArmenia
DovgaAzerbaijan
KholodnikBelarus
Cuisine
Diet
Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World
Vegan Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Nut-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Pork-Free Recipes from Around the World
Vegan Dinners from Around the World
Vegetarian Dinners from Around the World
Dairy-Free Dinners from Around the World
Nut-Free Dinners from Around the World
Egg-Free Dinners from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Ribollita?
A thick Tuscan "reboiled" soup of cannellini beans, cavolo nero, and day-old bread.
Where does Ribollita come from?
Ribollita is a Tuscan dish from Tuscany, Italy.
Can Ribollita be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ribollita recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Ribollita safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Ribollita take to make?
About 95 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 70 minutes cooking), serving 6.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.