026 / 75 · Soups, beans and broths

Tuna, White Bean and Tomato Broth

2 broth bowls, each with half the beans and 80 g/2¾ oz tuna · Active 13 min · Cook 13 min · Total 30 min

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Tuna flakes are more pleasant when they join a hot broth near the end. The white beans and tomato can take the longer first cook, while the tuna needs only enough final heat to become hot throughout. Lemon and a little dried oregano keep the broth light. This is a spoonable bean-and-fish meal, with no extra starch to cook.

Jump to ingredients

Tuna and white beans in tomato broth.

Start with the liquid ingredients

Use the tomato juice as part of the broth, but drain and weigh the beans and tuna separately. Those states make a difference: a can weight includes liquid that is not necessarily intended for the soup. Gentle stirring after the tuna enters preserves some larger flakes instead of turning the whole bowl cloudy.

Heat the middle as well as the edge

A steaming rim can hide a cooler pocket of tuna in the center. Fold the flakes through the broth, cover loosely and stop halfway through the final stage to stir. A thermometer gives a useful check after the stand. Keep the bowl wide enough that a spoon can reach its bottom comfortably.

Ingredients

  • 160 g (5⅔ oz) tuna canned in spring water, drained weight, from a newly opened ready-to-eat can
  • 160 g (5⅔ oz) canned ready-to-eat cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 200 g (7 oz) canned chopped tomatoes with their juice
  • 40 g (1½ oz) peeled onion, finely chopped
  • 3 g peeled garlic (about 1 small clove), minced
  • 5 ml olive oil (1 tsp)
  • 350 ml (about 1½ US cups) ready-to-use lower-sodium vegetable stock, divided
  • 0.5 g dried oregano (about ½ tsp)
  • 0.3 g ground black pepper (about ⅛ tsp)
  • 10 ml lemon juice (2 tsp), seeds removed

Set out

1000 W microwave with turntable, Kitchen scale and measuring jug, Knife and board, Spoon, Oven mitts, Two serving bowls, Microwave-safe bowl, at least 2.5 L/about 2⅔ US qt measured capacity, about 21 cm/8¼ in inside diameter and 10 cm/4 in deep, Microwave-safe vented cover, Can opener and sieve, Fork, Food thermometer, Citrus juicer

Allergens

Fish. Check labels and substitutions.

Make it

  1. Put the onion, garlic, oil and 15 ml/1 tbsp of the measured stock in the 2.5 L bowl. Cover with the vent open and microwave at 1000 W full power for 3 minutes, stirring halfway, until softened.
  2. Add the drained beans, all the tomatoes and juice, remaining 335 ml stock, oregano and pepper. Stir, cover with a vent and cook at full power for 5–7 minutes, stopping after 3 and 5 minutes to stir, until the base is gently bubbling and thoroughly hot.
  3. Break the drained tuna into bite-size flakes with the fork, checking for any hard fragments. Fold all of it into the hot broth. Cover with a vent and heat at 70% power for 2–3 minutes, stirring gently halfway. If the center remains cool, use additional stirred 30-second bursts.
  4. Stand covered for 2 minutes. Stir and check that several places, including the center, reach 165°F/74°C. If a spot is cooler, heat again in short bursts and repeat the stand and check. Stir in the lemon juice and divide the entire batch equally between two bowls.

Late means late

Keep the drained tuna out until the bean-tomato broth is already hot. It does not need the full first stage.

Use the whole portion

Divide both the liquid and solid ingredients between the bowls; do not ladle one mostly broth and the other mostly fish.

Ingredient labels

Check stock for celery, wheat, milk or soy. This formula uses canned fish, not raw tuna; a raw-fish replacement would require a separate validated cooking route.

A useful detail

The 30-minute plan allows 8 minutes of preparation, up to 13 minutes of sequential heating, a 2-minute stand and 7 minutes for gentle folding, temperature checks and serving. Times start from a 1000 W microwave. Use newly opened canned tuna, not a previously heated fish leftover, for this route.

Another way

  • Use 160 g/5⅔ oz canned pink salmon, drained and with hard skin or bone fragments removed, instead of tuna. Fish remains an allergen; use the same final heating and temperature check.
  • Replace oregano with 0.5 g/about ½ tsp dried thyme. Keep the tomato, lemon and fish quantities unchanged.

Keep it well

Refrigerate reserved soup in shallow portions within 2 hours, or within 1 hour above 90°F/32°C, at 40°F/4°C or below. Use within 2 days or an earlier opened-tuna or stock deadline. Reheat a chilled portion only once under a vented cover with gentle stirs; stand 2 minutes and verify 165°F/74°C throughout. Do not use previously reheated fish as the starting ingredient.