Here’s an Italian style recipe for a vegetarian Minestrone Soup Recipe!
Loaded with fresh vegetables, beans, and pasta cooked into a savory broth, this uber-healthy soup packs nutrition, fiber, and flavor! It’s a hearty and filling dish that’s perfect for any meal, any time of the week! This is the last, best minestrone soup recipe you’ll ever need!
Minestrone Soup Recipe
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Best Minestrone Soup Recipe
- This hearty and heartwarming dish is also the perfect meal for a crowd. Keep it warm in a crock pot and let guests help themselves. Serve with a side of grated parmesan cheese and some cheesy breadsticks for dipping.
- Kids love the mild flavor of comforting minestrone soup, and with all of its colorful ingredients, they won’t even know how nutritious it is. Add a side of grilled cheese and make it a full meal deal!
- Budget-friendly, minestrone soup is also a terrific time-saver. It can go from stovetop to table in less than 30 minutes!
Minestrone Soup Ingredients
VEGETABLES: Veggies like onions, carrots, celery, and spinach give minestrone color, texture, and amazing flavor. Minestrone soup is perfect for using up leftover veggies or if time is short, toss in a frozen bag of mixed vegetables. Sliced mushrooms, zucchini, diced sweet potatoes, corn, sliced cabbage, or kale can be added to or used in place of the vegetables.
BEANS: Red kidney beans add a boost of fiber and hold up well. Canned beans are best because they don’t need to be soaked first. Black beans, garbanzo beans, cannellini beans, lima beans, or any combination of beans will add more flavor to the soup.
BROTH: Everything is slow-cooked together in a savory vegetable broth with garlic and a can of diced tomatoes (including the juice).
PASTA: Ditalini are short pieces of tube-shaped pasta that are standard for this recipe. If ditalini isn’t available, small elbow macaroni or orzo will do the trick. Rice is sometimes added to a classic minestrone – white, brown, or long-grain will all work. Be sure rice is ready to use or parboiled.
PROTEIN: This recipe is written as a vegetarian recipe, however, all kinds of meat can be added to minestrone soup if desired. Leftover meat works especially well because it’s already cooked. Ground beef, sliced summer sausage, ham, chicken, turkey, and even frozen mini-meatballs will make this soup extra hearty.
How to make Minestrone Soup
Easy-to-find ingredients are what make this soup such a winner!
- Saute carrots, onions, celery, and garlic in oil until softened.
- Stir in the next 4 ingredients and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.
- Add pasta and cook until tender, then add spinach. Serve hot.
What To Serve with Minestrone Soup?
Bread is the perfect complement to any soup! It’s fun and delicious to dip and dunk Pizza Dough Breadsticks or Easy Dinner Rolls. Round out the meal and make an easy side Tomato Salad or a Spinach and Strawberry Salad while the soup is simmering.
Tips For the Best Soup!
Caramelizing the carrots, onions, and celery (also called a ‘mirepoix’) gives the soup its depth of flavor, so don’t forget this critical first step. Always drain and rinse canned beans before using for a recipe to rinse off salt or preservatives that would affect the flavor.
Other Super Soup recipes!
- Vegetable Soup With Cabbage – another healthy soup.
- Low Carb Hamburger Vegetable Soup – full of hearty flavor.
- Lemon Chicken Rice Soup – a favorite.
- CrockPot Chicken Tortilla Soup – so easy to make.
Minestrone Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large stockpot over medium heat pour in olive oil. Add diced carrots, onions, celery, and minced garlic. Cook for 3 minutes or until vegetables are just tender.
- Stir in kidney beans, vegetable stock, diced tomatoes, and seasoning. Bring to a boil, once boiling turn it down to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes add the pasta and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until pasta is tender.
- With 2 minutes remaining add spinach and heat until warm.
Notes
- Caramelize the carrots, onions, and celery for an increased depth of flavor.
- Drain and rinse canned beans to rinse off salt or preservatives that might affect the flavor.
- Refrigerate cooled leftovers for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Reheat on the stovetop over low heat.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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Absolutely delicious! I needed to add more broth and didn’t use the cheese. Very hearty and tasty!
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Tina!
My husband and I are trying to eat healthier so I made this today with a side of crusty bread. It was perfect! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it, Tracy!
Can you use fresh spinach?
Hi Marcella, yes you can use fresh spinach instead. Simply wash and chop the fresh spinach before adding it to the soup at the same time you would add the frozen spinach. Enjoy!
is is a great recipe ☺
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Wow! That was delicious, altho I didn’t follow the recipe like I should have. I replaced the kidney beans with blackeye peas because I didn’t have any kidney beans, and then I think I put in
to much pasta… Oh well, it was still very good… Thank you for sharing your recipe with us… Cliff
Your version sounds delicious Cliff!
How many ounces in a serving
?
Hi Arlis, for more accurate measurements we recommend using a nutrition app like MyFitnessPal. But a serving is about 2 cups so approximately 16 ounces.
Where is the original recipe? I see it’s missing some of the ingredients on the ingredient list?
Hi Morgan, you likely are looking at the recipe summary. Scroll down or click Jump to Recipe to get the full list of ingredients and instructions. Enjoy the recipe!