Minestrone Soup

 

This hearty Minestrone Soup is loaded with tender pasta, creamy cannellini beans, and a medley of fresh vegetables (kale, carrots, and green beans) simmered in a rich tomato broth. Perfect for a cozy vegetarian dinner!

What is Minestrone Soup?

Minestrone soup is a traditional Italian vegetable soup typically made with a mix of vegetables, beans, and pasta or rice in a tomato-based broth. There's no single "authentic" version-it varies by region and ingredients, often including things like carrots, celery, zucchini, spinach, potatoes, and borlotti or cannellini beans. While it's usually vegetable-based, you can easily adapt it with meat or different broths depending on your taste.

My Version of Minestrone Soup

• One-pot wonder: I love how everything simmers together in a single pot, making clean-up a breeze-perfect for busy weeknights. It's also great for meal prep!
• Perfect for seasonal produce: This is the soup I crave in late summer or fall, when garden veggies like green beans, carrots, and kale are at their best! And, you can make minestrone soup in the winter with veggies like butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, or pantry staples like canned veggies.
• Full meal: Between the kale, green beans, and cannellini beans, this is way more than just a light soup-it's a full meal that will actually keep you satisfied. It makes an amazing vegetarian dinner that you can complete with a slice of crusty bread and a fresh salad.
• Use any pasta you like: I always grab whatever small pasta shape I have on hand-ditalini, elbows, or even orzo. It's a great way to use up bits and pieces from the pantry. My other 2 favorite Italian-inspired pasta soups are lemon chicken orzo soup and Italian sausage tortellini soup.

The Ingredients You'll Need

• Vegetables: onion, carrots, celery (soffritto), garlic, green beans, and kale. This soup is lterally packed with veggies!
• Canned cannellini beans: I drain and rinse canned beans to reduce excess sodium and improve texture.
• Canned diced tomatoes: Super convenient!
• Pasta: Use small shapes like elbow or ditalini. I used elbow macaroni and cooked it right in the broth. Always add pasta toward the end-cooking it too early makes it mushy.
• Vegetable broth: high-quality, flavor-packed broth is essential!
• Garnish: fresh basil, shaved Parmesan - I add those just before serving.
• Everyday essentials: olive oil, salt, and pepper-staples that help build flavor in almost any dish.
• Tip: The below photo shows every single ingredient you need. Take a screenshot for your shopping list!

Variations

• Add Protein: Add cooked Italian chicken sausage, turkey sausage, or rotisserie chicken if you want extra protein (just skip the parmesan to keep it dairy-free if needed). My other favorite protein-packed soups are sausage potato soup and white lasagna chicken soup.
• Vegan Version: Skip the parmesan or swap for a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, and make sure your veggie broth is vegan. You might also like my vegan creamy tomato coconut soup.
• Gluten-Free Minestrone: Use your favorite gluten-free small pasta or swap pasta entirely for diced potatoes or cooked rice.
• Creamy Minestrone: Stir in a splash of heavy cream, coconut milk, or even a swirl of cashew cream at the end.
• Use Other Kinds of Beans: Try using kidney beans, chickpeas, or navy beans if you're out of cannellini. I love mixing two kinds for extra variety. If you love beans, try my sausage white bean soup.
• Add More Veggies: Toss in zucchini, spinach, corn, peas, or diced bell pepper-just add them in the last 10 minutes of simmering.
• Winter Version: For cold months, add cubed butternut squash, sweet potato, or even chopped Brussels sprouts instead of green beans. Or, try my butternut squash and sausage orzo soup.

Serve with

• Classic Italian Salad (with sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and a mix of baby spinach + baby arugula) 
• Apple Spinach Salad (with feta, pistachios, and honey-mustard lemon dressing)
• Tomato Cucumber Avocado Salad with Mozzarella and Basil Pesto
• Greek Salad
• Garlic Butter Dinner Rolls
• Spinach & Ricotta Flatbread
• Bacon Cheddar Scones

How to Make Minestrone Soup (Step-by-Step + Tips & Tricks)

• Cook soffritto: Heat olive oil in a large pot over low heat. Once hot, add the onion, carrots, and celery, and cook gently for about 10 minutes until softened.
• Tip: I cook the soffritto (onion, carrot, celery) low and slow-rushing this step can lead to bland soup. As with most good soups a Minestrone begins with a sofritto which is a flavourful base made by gently sautéing finely chopped vegetables usually onion, celery and carrot in olive oil. It forms the foundation of Minestrone soup by adding depth and richness.

• Add the garlic and green beans, and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Garlic burns quickly, so I add it after the vegetables have softened, not with the soffritto.
• Tip: I dice the vegetables evenly so they cook at the same rate and give a consistent texture in every bite.

• Stir in the diced tomatoes and vegetable broth, bring to a simmer, and let the soup cook gently for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

• I simmer the soup gently, not at a rapid boil, to keep the vegetables from breaking down too much.

• Add the cannellini beans, kale, and pasta, then stir to combine and simmer for another 10-12 minutes, until the pasta is cooked through. I like to chop the kale into small, bite-sized pieces so it wilts quickly and evenly in the soup.
• Tip: I add the pasta and the beans toward the end to prevent them from overcooking and going mushy.

• Season to taste with salt and pepper. I always do it at the end-broth and canned beans can vary in saltiness.
• Garnish with fresh basil and shaved Parmesan.

More Italian-Inspired Soups

• Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup
• Italian Sausage Potato Soup
• White Lasagna Chicken Soup
• Italian Sausage White Bean Soup