Authentic Italian Minestrone Soup

Name: Hearty Italian Minestrone Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Ingredients: 2 Tablespoon oil; 1 medium yellow onion; 3 garlic cloves; 2 celery stalks; 2-3 medium carrots ((skin on or off)); 1-2 yukon gold potatoes; 1 28 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes ((or 2 small 14 oz cans)); 2 Tablespoon tomato paste; 6 cups vegetable broth; 1 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed; 1 cup dried pasta; 2 cups chopped kale or spinach; 1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped (or 1 teaspoon of dried basil); 2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 teaspoon of dried oregano); bay leaf; pinch of red pepper flakes (*optional); 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon salt ((plus salt to taste))

Updated: Jan 16th, 2022

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Warm-up with a bowl of this satisfying authentic Italian minestrone soup! It’s filled with hearty vegetables, noodles, and is super easy to make. The whole family will love this soup for any occasion!

Two gray bowls with Italian minestrone soup in them. The bowls are arranged on a gray napkin with a wooden background too, with herbs and spoons placed around them.

The coziest vegetable minestrone soup. If you’ve never had it before, minestrone is a hearty Italian vegetable soup with pasta noodles and herbs. Depending on what region of Italy, this soup might be served with different vegetables depending on the season. Sometimes pasta and squash, or sometimes root vegetables and greens!

Traditionally, this soup was made with leftover vegetables and dried pasta noodles to make things easy, so you can use almost any vegetable you like in it. For this recipe, I used potatoes, carrots, celery, and kale!

I’ve made this soup on several different occasions and I’ve used either a slow cooker/crockpot or have simmered it on the stovetop. Both ways have successful and tasty results – so you can pick which way you fancy more!

I’ll always remember making this soup for my dad not too long ago and him saying minestrone is one of his favorite soups. So, with that in mind – Dad, this one is for you. ❤️

Ingredients You Need

To make this cozy soup you’ll need a handful of fresh produce and some pantry staples. Here’s the full list you’ll need: carrots, celery, potatoes, bay leaves, diced tomatoes, yellow onion, basil & oregano, garlic, tomato paste, oil, broth, dried pasta, white beans, and kale.

How to Make Italian Minestrone Soup

First, sauté onions and garlic until soft. Then add carrots and celery – cook for several minutes.
Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, and diced potatoes – simmer for 15-20 minutes. Potatoes should be soft when tested with a fork.

A wooden spoon in red vegetable soup in a white pot with a dark napkin beside it. — 22

Then add dried pasta, cook until pasta is “al dente” – pasta should be soft/cooked but still has a bite to it (about 10 minutes).
Before serving soup, taste and season with salt & black pepper as needed. Top with fresh chopped basil and serve!

Extra Soup Tips

Best small pasta for soup: when it comes to soups, we like to use smaller pastas such as small shell pasta, macaroni, ditalini, and orzo. If you don’t have any of these on hand you can break pieces of rotini, fussili, or any pasta noodle into smaller pieces to make it work!
Make it gluten free: to make this recipe gluten-free friendly, I recommend using chickpea pasta (one of our favorites) or your favorite brown rice pasta.
Leave carrot peels on: My mom always taught me to leave the skin on because that’s where a lot of the nutritional value is. It not only saves time but adds more flavor to the soup too!
Use fresh herbs for the best flavor – for this soup I really recommend using fresh herbs to get the most flavor in your soup. Dried herbs do work, but fresh will always be more vibrant in flavor!
Add more vegetables: this soup can be made with just about any vegetables you like! You can also use zucchini, string beans, spinach, sweet potatoes, shallot, and leeks.
The secret ingredient for flavor! A famous Italian trick for flavor in soups and stews is adding a parmesan rind to simer with the soup! The rind won’t melt, but will soften while it cooks and infuse the richest flavors into your soup. When the soup is finished cooking, dicard the rind before serving!

Slow Cooker Method

Add all of your ingredients to a slow cooker (minus pasta noodles and greens). Cover and set on LOW for 3+ hours. 15-20 minutes before serving, add pasta and chopped kale. Serve when pasta noodles are cooked through or when the texture of noodles is al dente.

Sprinkle with fresh basil, season to taste with salt & black pepper if needed before serving.

How to Store & Freeze Leftover Soup

Keep leftovers fresh: refrigerate leftover soup in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

Freezing tips: store cooled soup in an airtight glass container or freezer-friendly bag, freeze for 2-3 months. When ready to reheat, thaw soup at room temperature and then empty into pot and simmer.

What to Serve it With

Complete your meal by serving your soup with some crusty bread like our cranberry walnut or cinnamon raisin bread! If you’re looking for a salad, you can serve it with our Tuscan artichoke salad or this Italian salad. My family is also a big fan of serving soup with pizza! So if you fancy that idea, you can try our 10-minute naan pizzas, tortilla pizzas, or our crispy cast iron pizza.

More Cozy Vegetable Soups to Try:

If you tried this Hearty Italian Minestrone Soup recipe or any other recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you! You can also follow me on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM, and FACEBOOK for more crave-worthy content.

Hearty Italian Minestrone Soup

5 from 3 votes

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Warm up with a bowl of this satisfying Italian minestrone soup! It's filled with hearty vegetables, noodles, and is super easy to make. The whole family will love this soup for any occasion!

Servings 6

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 35 mins

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American, Italian

Tags: Italian minestrone soup, vegan minestrone soup, vegetarian minestrone soup

Freezer Friendly: Yes

Calories: 280 kcal

Author: Bethany Kramer

Ingredients

2 Tablespoon oil
1 medium yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
2 celery stalks
2-3 medium carrots (skin on or off)
1-2 yukon gold potatoes
1 28 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes (or 2 small 14 oz cans)
2 Tablespoon tomato paste
6 cups vegetable broth
1 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup dried pasta
2 cups chopped kale or spinach

Seasonings

1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped or 1 teaspoon of dried basil
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped or 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
bay leaf
pinch of red pepper flakes *optional
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt (plus salt to taste)

Instructions

Prepare vegetables: Peel skin off onions and garlic. Mince the garlic into small pieces and chop onions, carrots, and celery into diced pieces. Then peel potatoes and cube into 1-inch thick pieces.
Sauté onions and garlic: In large heavy pot or dutch oven, sauté onions and minced garlic in oil. Cook until soft (about 3 minutes).
Sauté the vegetables: Add diced carrots and celery with pinch of salt. Sauté for 2-3 minutes with onions. Add potatoes and stir for another minute.
Simmer with broth, tomatoes, and seasoning: In the same pot as vegetables, add broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, white beans, a pinch of red pepper flakes, salt & black pepper, and bay leaf. Stir and let simmer until potatoes are soft – about 15-20 minutes. Tip: if you would like to add a parmesan rind to infuse flavor into the soup, add it in this step!
Cook pasta: Add pasta and cook for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Stir in chopped kale and fresh basil & oregano. Taste, and adjust with seasoning (salt & black pepper) if needed until the flavor is just right. Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkle of fresh parmesan if desired!

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Bethany Kramer

Bethany Kramer is a home cook, recipe developer, and dog mom. She found a deep love for food and nutrition after learning to cook from her mom at eight years old. Since then she’s been developing and sharing recipes from her own kitchen that are bold in flavor and nourishing to the body!