Minestrone soup is so hearty it can stand on its own as the main dish! I fell in love with minestrone at the Olive Garden, so this is a pretty darn close attempt at copying the classic Italian soup.
If you want a few more Olive garden Copycats, here is the Best Alfredo Sauce and Zuppa Toscana recipe.
Minestrone soup is not just tasty, it’s healthy as well! The delicious tomato-y broth is chock-full of vegetables and beans. It’s the perfect dish to serve to kids who are finicky with eating produce.
Made in one-pot, healthy minestrone is a great option for a quick weeknight dinner as the weather starts to cool off and the kids gear up to go back to school. Sometimes knowing that I will have a quick clean-up is enough to motivate me to make a homemade dinner… just sayin’.
What is Minestrone Soup?
Minestrone is an Italian soup known for its thick tomato-based broth. It can be made with pasta or rice, and typically contains carrots, tomato chunks, kidney beans, celery, onions and potatoes. However, the creation of this soup came from a need to use up leftover vegetables. So, feel free to use any veggies that are taking up space in your refrigerator. Or, alter the recipe to whatever is fresh and in season. Seriously, you can’t go wrong!
Tips for Minestrone Soup
- Make Gluten-Free Minestrone Soup – Have gluten allergy? No problem! Substitute the pasta for wild or white rice.
- Make Minestrone Soup Spicy – Like it spicy? Add some red pepper flakes to your minestrone for the perfect touch of heat.
- Make Minestrone Soup Vegan – Easily make your minestrone vegan by using egg-free noodles (or rice!) and a vegetable-based broth. One of my new favorite products is Better Than Bouillon’s No Beef Base broth concentrate.
- Switch up the Vegetables You Use – Minestrone is extremely versatile. If you don’t have the exact ingredients this recipe calls for, don’t worry! You can use red or yellow zucchini, sweet potatoes, kale, spinach, butternut squash, broccoli, cauliflower… I mean, anything! The broth compliments any vegetable. Use what you have and don’t let anything go to waste.
- Noodles Make Broth Disappear! – Noodles are notorious for sucking up liquid. As your leftover minestrone sits in the fridge, you may notice that your noodles are slowly absorbing your broth. If this is a problem for you, add more broth to the soup.
Storing Minestrone Soup
- Keeping Minestrone Soup Fresh – Store your minestrone soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. The kicker? Minestrone gets tastier as it marinates in the fridge. That’s right…each bowl you reheat will taste richer and richer.
- Freezing Minestrone Soup – You probably know by now that I am the queen of having frozen, homemade food on hand. However, I would discourage you from freezing minestrone. The reason is that this soup contains fresh vegetables.
Serving the Minestrone Soup
Some freshly grated parmesan cheese is the perfect garnish for minestrone. After all, that’s what they do at Olive Garden! It wouldn’t hurt to add some chopped basil or cracked pepper to the mix.
Like I said before, minestrone is a stand-alone kind of soup. However, there is nothing like sopping up that hearty broth with nice piece of bread. Try making my Parmesan Garlic Flatbread Recipe or No Knead Bread.
Other Soup Recipes to Make
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 medium carrots (diced into small cubes)
- 2 small zucchinis (diced into small cubes)
- 1/2 large onion (diced into small cubes)
- 6 celery sticks (diced into small cubes)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 28 oz canned diced tomatoes
- 32 oz vegetable broth
- 15 oz canned great Northen beans (drained)
- 15 oz canned Kidney beans (drained)
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp dry basil
- 1/2 cup noodles
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Preheat the pot with olive oil, add zucchini, carrots, celery and onions. Sautee for about 10 minutes, until vegetables soften.
- To the pot, add canned diced tomatoes. Season with Italian seasoning and dry basil.
- Add vegetable broth, noodles, kidney and Great Northen beans. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Depending on the thickness of the soup, you can add 2 more cups of water to the mix.
- Press garlic into the mixture and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Serve while the minestrone soup is still warm.
Didn't have zucchini, put in cubes potatoes instead, made it thicker by adding extra onions,celery, carrots.
Can't wait to try it for dinner tonite.
By the way , recipe didn't say to drain both beans or not, but we drained and rinsed the beans.
The recipe should be changed to note that fact.
Thanks for sharing that tip. I will make a note. Thanks
The recipe should list if Both types of beans should be drained and or rinsed. We are making the soup now, and did both.
Hi Claude, we do drain the beans, but do not typically rinse them.
Putting this together in my crockpot since I have a sauté setting in it will add noodles at the table so the Keto people in my house can eat it. Made enough to freeze for another day. Can’t wait to try it. Also used a can of Italian tomatoes and some that I froze fresh this summer.
I love the idea of making the pasta separate so that everyone can enjoy the soup. I hope you love the recipe!
It came out very yummy. Both kids and husband loved it 😊
I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thank you for commenting, I love hearing back!
Im going to make this tonight and add a chunk of parmesan rind mmmm
Hey Amber, that sounds pretty amazing! Enjoy
I made this soup and my family loved it am making tomorrow for dinner
Hi Cindy, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe thank you for your feedback!
Let me start by saying that I don’t like zucchini, squash or celery and I am allergic to onions.! That being said, I decided to make this for dinner Monday night, omitting the onions and adding spinach. It would be an understatement to say that I am OBSESSED with this soup!! The flavor is incredible and I loved the vegetables!! So much so that I am making a second batch today just for me!!! Thank you so much for sharing this. It makes the new year so happy already!!
Molly, I'm so glad you were able to adapt the recipe for yourself and that you loved the recipe. Thank you for your wonderful feedback 🙂
Are you supposed to rinse and drain your beans before adding it to the soup?
Hi Kimberly, Typically we just drain beans, no need to rinse them unless you want to.
I have made this about 100 times and love it. In the picture where you have all of the ingredients laid out above, what is the red sauce (tomato sauce or paste?) in the dish?
Hey Sam, it's a tomato sauce that I was adding to the soup. Now I add mainly diced tomatoes.
Excellent recipe! Not only did our family love it, I shared with a friend and her family loved it as well. I added a little lemon juice and pesto- DELISH! Love that you can mix up the veggies. I will use this recipe often this winter. Going to check out your other recipes also 🙂
I love the twist you made on the recipe! I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe. I hope you find may more recipes you love 🙂
Do you drain the canned tomatoes before putting it in the soup? It didn’t specify, and it’s hard to tell from the picture! I can’t wait to make this!
Hey Roz, I do keep the liquids, add them with tomatoes to the soup. Enjoy
Made this for a rainy day. It’s delicious! I added more water because it was on the thicker side as is. I also added some salt. Will be making this again! The family enjoyed it. Thank you!
I am so happy to hear. Thank you for sharing the tips. Hope you get to try other soups as well.
Delicious! I modified slightly adding more garlic and using fresh basil, baby spinach and baby kale. Perfect dinner on a cold day!
Those sound like delicious additions, thank you for your feedback!
Proportions are way off. Too many veggies (especially celery), not enough pasta, and no salt!
Seasoning will depend on the canned tomatoes you use. This soup is meant to have a lot of veggies. Sorry it didn’t turn out the way you expected.
Hi! Before I was able to put the leftovers in the fridge, pretty much all of the liquid had soaked up. How can I add liquid to it tomorrow without losing any flavor?
You can add some broth to the soup. It will be good.
Hello! What type of pot do you recommend I cook this in and what size ?
Hey Victoria, you can sue a 4 or 5-quart pot. Enjoy
JUST made this, placed 4/5 into dishes to enjoy later. Enjoying my first tastes of deliciousness!!! Thank you SO much for this recipe!!!
This soup is proof there is good in 2020. 🙂
Sarah, you MADE my day! I will keep blogging because I get comments like this. I am glad to bring happiness in 2020! 🙂
Can I leave the tomatoes out all together?
Hey Carrie, yes but the flavors may be different. I think it will still be delicious soup.
Are you supposed to peel the zucchini before dicing it.
No need to peel it. 🙂
What step is the garlic added?
Hey, see step 4 for details. Enjoy
I tried making this soup it was amazing! Taste just like Olive Gardens. However only difference was left out the pasta and added Kale. Delish!
Rebecca, I love the idea of kale, I have seen a lot of people add it. I am glad you enjoyed the recipe.
I love this meal. It was good but as others have said, the noodles will soak up all the broth. Next time I will definitely cook the noodles in a separate and add them with the broth.
Love this recipe! A crowd pleaser. I add some chopped, deveined kale near the end.
I love it, the more veggies the better! I'm happy to hear you enjoy the recipe.
What’s a good substitute for canned tomatoes? Can I use fresh ones?
Hey Karla, you can use fresh tomatoes but add more seasoning. Most of the canned tomatoes come with a bit of seasoning.
I added some red chili flakes for some heat, and I do put mine in a slow cooker for a few hours on low so the flavors can marry. I also add the pasta 30 min before we eat so it doesn't get too tender. This soup is excellent the next day! Very balanced and delicious recipe. Thank you!
Nick, those sounds like delicious and amazing alterations, I am glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for all the tips.
😋 I tweaked recipe after reading the reviews and cooked pasta on side. My first time to cook zucchini and surprised how it picks up the taste of the soup. It will definitely be in my winter soup rotation. Super easy to make.
Yea I wish I cooked the noodles first because if you don’t then you’ll have crunchy uncooked noodles in your soup.
Hi Lucy, normally noodles take about 10 minutes to cook. You would be simmering them for 20 in this recipe. What type of noodles did you use that were still crunchy?
I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe, thank you for sharing your tips.
How long do you cook the soup, after adding the vegetable broth, but before adding the beans and noodles?
If you look at step 3, add them all together at the same time. Enjoy
Can this be made in a crock pot?
I had it in the crock pot for 7 hours on high and the veggies were still really hard. I would definitely cook them in the pan for like 20 minutes first and then throw it in the crock pot
Ashley, I dont use crockpot enough to make a suggestion. I would think that after 7 hours on high they should be cooked.
Hey Jane, it totally can but you would have to keep an eye on it. I am not sure how long it will take.
I assume that one of the "carrots" in the first step should actually be "onions"? Thank you--
Oh my, thanks for pointing that out. I need people like you in my life!
What type of tomatoes can we add ? I dont like to use canned ones . Confused between the types of tomatoes . Please give me the quantity for fresh tomatoes.
Hey Ramya, I would add the same amount of fresh tomatoes but you would need to season the soup. Enjoy!