Minestrone soup is packed with vegetables and hearty beans. This recipe may look simple, but there’s something about the flavor combination that is homey and perfect. I first had homemade minestrone when my sister in law brought it to my house for dinner and shared the recipe. I tweaked it a little and it’s one of my family’s favorite dinners. This meatless soup is still filling and makes a great main dish or side dish. Pair it with fresh crusty bread or your favorite sandwich!
Ingredients and Equipment Needed
- Heavy Soup Pot – this recipe makes a large batch, so you’ll want a nice large soup pot. My favorite is an enamel-coated cast iron pan, like this one.
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Carrot
- Celery
- Zucchini
- Fresh Garlic
- Frozen or canned green beans
- Red kidney beans
- Great Northern beans
- Diced, canned tomatoes
- Dried oregano, basil, and thyme
- Salt and pepper
- Vegetable broth
- Ditalini or other small shell pasta
- Fresh spinach leaves
- Fresh parsley
How to Make Minestrone Soup
- Sauté chopped carrots, celery, and onion.
- Add zucchini and garlic.
- Add the beans and seasonings, as well as a can of tomatoes.
- Add vegetable broth and simmer these ingredients for about 30 minutes. During this time the beans break down a little and help add body to the soup.
- Add the pasta until cooked through.
- At the very end, turn off heat and add fresh spinach and parsley.
Storing and Other Notes
- This a thick soup, which is how my family likes it. You can easily add a little more broth or water at the end to make it the perfect consistency for you!
- Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
- This soup freezes beautifully. Freeze individual portions for a quick weekday lunch!
Frequently Asked Questions
Totally! This soup works great to freeze in portions to heat up later. Sometimes pasta isn’t the best to freeze, but in this soup, the small amount of pasta is almost hidden- it blends in with the veggies so that works great.
Feel free to omit the pasta if you need to, minestrone is still super delicious.
Yes! This soup might even taste better when reheated the next day. Feel free to whip up a batch and enjoy for several days.
Veggie-Packed Minestrone Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion medium, diced
- 1 carrot, large thinly sliced or finely diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 1 zucchini, small diced or shredded
- 4-5 cloves garlic finely minced or pressed
- 1 cup French cut green beans frozen, or used canned if preferred
- 2 15-ounce cans red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 2 15-ounce cans white beans like Great Northern or Cannellini
- 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes drained
- 1 ½ teaspoons oregano dried
- 1 teaspoon basil dried
- ½ teaspoon thyme dried
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 32 ounces vegetable broth (4 cups)
- 3 cups hot water
- ½ cup ditalini or other small shell pasta
- 4-6 cups spinach leaves fresh, loosely packed
- ¼ cup parsley fresh, minced
Instructions
- Heat a large stock pot to medium heat. Add olive oil to coat bottom of pan. Add onions, carrot, and celery. Saute 4-5 minutes, until onions start to look translucent.
- Add zucchini and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes longer, stirring until garlic is fragrant. Add green beans, kidney and white beans, tomatoes, and seasonings and stir to combine.
- Add broth and water and bring soup to a simmer. Cover pot and simmer on low for 20-25 minutes, until carrots and celery are tender.
- Add pasta and cook until pasta is soft, 8-10 minutes.
- Remove pot from heat and stir in spinach and parsley. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Feel free to add additional broth or water for a thinner consistency.
- Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
Questions & Reviews
Wow you take some great photos!
Made this tonight and it was good! I was cooking using my kindle and missed that there were 4 cans of beans and I ended up just using one of each type. It didn’t seem to have an impact. I was happy to see a vegetarian recipe. Especially one that didn’t include dairy!
This looks delicious, but I am on weight watchers right now and it costs 10 points per serving, using the nutritional values you provided. When I calculated the point value it asked for the fiber count, but you don’t have that listed, do you know what that might be, it could possibly lower the points per serving. Thanks
Thanks for this recipe! I made it the other day, and my 7 yr old daughter was hanging out with me in the kitchen playing with all the veggie scraps as I was chopping. Then, the whole family (including my 7 yr old daughter and 8 yr old son) finished their bowl of this yummy soup for dinner that evening. Such a great way for all of us to eat our veggies! Thanks for sharing, and please keep these healthy recipes coming!
Anyone else with the flu?
Sorry, somehow my fever riddled fingers somehow posted before I finished! My point was, count this soup as your new favorite for soothing your coughing demolished throat. This filled my dutch oven, and we have been super happy to eat it as leftovers!
I made this for my boyfriend and I last night and it is delicious with much to spare to have for lunch the next few days 🙂
Made this tonight for dinner. I used beef stock to make it a little richer and it was great! The only vegetable my kids had a problem with was the spinach. May crush or chop it next time to make it less noticeable. May also add some ground sausage as I have meat loving men in my house.
So are you going to show us the rest of your kitchen??? I would love to see a post on building your house!
I know my kids would love minestrone if they could just get past those visible veggies…I’m impressed your kids eat it anyway 🙂 Definitely need the grilled sandwich on the side – perfect combo!
could this all the thrown in the crock on a low heat for 8 hours while at work???
I was wondering that too. This soup kind of reminded me of this recipe, which can handle 8 hours on low (read the comments for tips):
http://www.thekitchn.com/slowcooker-recipe-curried-vege-67520
I am all about vegetarian food in the slow cooker!
did you try this in the crock pot??