This minestrone soup recipe is a delicious version of the classic Italian vegetable soup. Serve it with crusty bread for an easy vegetarian meal!
Today, I have two goals: to bake a batch of Christmas cookies and to make a pot of minestrone soup. To me, the two go hand-in-hand. After I spend an afternoon baking (and eating!) something sweet, I want nothing more than a warming, nourishing pot of soup for dinner at night.
I love this minestrone soup recipe in particular because it’s so satisfying, but still light and fresh. Onions, carrots, and celery add depth of flavor to its herb-flecked tomato broth, and starchy beans and pasta make it nice and thick. I toss in green beans for texture, and, as a final finishing touch, I top it off with fresh parsley and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. It’s super easy and flavorful, and all you need is crusty bread to make it a meal. Cookies for dessert are optional, but highly recommended.
Minestrone Soup Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this minestrone soup recipe:
- Onion, carrot, and celery – These vegetables create the aromatic base of the soup, known as a soffritto in Italian. You’ll sauté them in olive oil before adding the other ingredients.
- Garlic – It adds additional depth of flavor to the soup. You’ll stir it in after cooking the onions, carrots, and celery so that it doesn’t burn.
- Diced tomatoes – For sweet, tangy flavor.
- Green beans – They add vibrant color and crisp-tender texture to the soup.
- White or kidney beans – Navy beans, cannellini beans, and red kidney beans all work great!
- Vegetable broth – Use store-bought, or make your own.
- Bay leaves, oregano, and thyme – My easy version of a homemade Italian seasoning! These dried herbs add so much complexity to this simple minestrone soup.
- Small pasta – Think elbows, little shells, orecchiette, or ditalini. I like to cook it right in the soup so that it releases its starches into the broth.
- Fresh parsley – For garnish! Fresh basil would be excellent here too.
- Red pepper flakes – Optional, for heat.
- And Parmesan cheese – This salty, umami garnish takes the soup over the top.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Variations
If you don’t have these exact ingredients on hand, don’t worry. As Alice Waters writes in The Art of Simple Food, minestrone soup is endlessly customizable. Part of the beauty of this recipe is that you can change it up to use what’s in season or what you have on hand. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Substitute chopped fennel for the celery.
- Replace the green beans with diced zucchini or yellow squash, or use a mix of all three.
- In the summer, use diced fresh Roma tomatoes instead of canned ones.
- Stir in fresh greens, like spinach or kale, near the end of the cooking time.
- No pasta? Swap in a quick-cooking grain like pearled farro or barley.
- Instead of using canned beans, cook your own! Then, use the aromatic cooking liquid in place of some or all of the vegetable broth in this soup.
Let me know what variations you try!
Minestrone Soup Serving Suggestions
This recipe is best right after it’s made, as the pasta absorbs the broth as it sits in the leftover soup. If you want to make it ahead of time, I recommend cooking the pasta separately and stirring it into the soup as you’re ready to eat. Alternatively, you can skip the pasta and add an extra cup of beans to the soup. Prepared this way, the soup will keep well for up to four days in the fridge.
When you’re ready to eat, top each bowl with a sprinkle of parsley, red pepper flakes, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. If you’re vegan, feel free to skip the cheese, or garnish your bowl with a scoop of vegan pesto instead. (Non-vegans take note: regular pesto is also a great topping for minestrone soup!).
Serve the soup with good crusty bread and call it a day, or round out the meal with a side salad. This arugula salad, this beet salad, and this pear salad would all be fantastic with this minestrone soup. Enjoy!
More Favorite Soup Recipes
If you love this minestrone soup, try one of these delicious soup recipes next:
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Tortellini Soup
- Cabbage Soup
- Many-Veggie Vegetable Soup
- Best Lentil Soup
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- Tomato Basil Soup
- Or any of these 33 Best Soup Recipes!
Minestrone Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1½ cups cooked white beans or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¾ cup small pasta, elbows, shells, orecchiette
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- Red pepper flakes
- Grated Parmesan cheese, optional, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, salt, and several grinds of black pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften.
- Add the garlic, tomatoes, beans, green beans, broth, bay leaves, oregano, and thyme. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the pasta and cook, uncovered, for 10 more minutes, until the pasta is cooked through.
- Season to taste and serve with parsley, red pepper flakes, and parmesan, if desired.
Great recipe, very satisfying. I used orrechiete pasta which was perfect. The green beans are a fantastic addition, I used flat stringless ones, they give a nice fresh flavour, and also cavallo nero for the dark green colour.
I used tinned beans, a combination of canelloni and borlotti.
I made ahead but stopped before adding the pasta. Then it was just 15 minutes cooking time before the meal with pasta cooked perfectly.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup!
This soup was delicious. I had some extra spinach and a zucchini, so I added those as well. I used kidney beans and chicken stock (because thats what I had). I also used a parm rind. Husband has asked for it to be on the weekly schedule!
I’m so glad it was a hit!
This soup is delicious!! I made a double batch and I’m so glad I did. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I can’t wait to have it again tomorrow.
Great recipe and super easy to make. The only change I made was using italian seasoning blend instead of the oregano and thyme, and I added a little bit of parmesan rind during cooking.
I’m so glad you loved it!
I am excited to make this, but I want to add ground beef. What do you think? Can I add ground beef and substitute the veg broth for beef broth?
Also how would you go about freezing this soup?
well my hubby loved it but I thought it was missing something. that particular
spice that screams minestroni.
you could add a half teaspoon of spinach pesto. my italian friend does this and adds spinach to it in the final half hour (steamed and wilted).
I love this soup. I received so many compliments from family, friends and neighbors. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I will definitely make this again.
Hi Leslie, I’m so happy to hear that!
Great Recipe! Wanted an easy soup for dinner tonight and this fit the bill. I had everything on hand plus a bit of red cabbage that I shredded and about 1/2 of red bell pepper that I chopped and added to the soup. Garnished with freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano and a splash of EVOO. Served with cheese toast. Will make again and again!
Yum! I’m glad you enjoyed!
This was very tasty ! Try big to incorporate more meatless meals & this was a hit ! Thanks
Hi Maureen, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
mmmmmmm. cozy season. made this at the end of a day when I was ‘a little bit all over the place’. Cooking usually grounds me anyway but the fact that it was easy and very delicious and warm = aces. I admit I used chicken broth and chopped the garlic instead of grating. Oh and I had fresh thyme around so used that. Anyway itsdelicious.
Hi Rebecca, I’m so glad you loved it!
Same reason I made this soup as well, it was exactly what i needed.!
So glad you loved it!
Made it today replaced vegetable broth for beef broth and added small pieces of cooked steak and used kidney beans ! A success, my husband add 3bols lol
I made this soup yesterday a cool rainy day in New Jersey. It was so delicious. I always add extra broth whenever I make soup. I just add little more spices. I also added about a tsp. of store bought pesto even though I used pasta. I noticed Ina Garten uses it in her minestrone soup. This was very easy recipe for beginners. I also made your pear salad to go with it. Another great dish.
Hi Donna, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I loved this soup, it cooks up so fast & is filled with veggie goodness. I topped mine with cotija cheese so good
I’m so glad you loved it!
I just made this and it was really good! I forgot the green beans so I threw in asparagus and it was great 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you loved it!
i am waiting for more new recipe.
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I have never made a soup that I was in love with until now. I am OBSESSED with this delicious soup. I’ve made it twice now and the combo of spices is just perfect. I took another’s suggestion and cooked it with a Parmesan rind and wow, great tip. I also sub out the green beans for zucchini. It’s just totally perfect as is but also easy to customize with what you have on hand. Thank you for sharing!! I’ll be making this again and again.
Hi Candice, thank you for your comment! I’m so glad you love the soup. A Parm rind is such a great addition!
Totally delicious and so healthy. I’m on a special diet to try and help with tummy issues and these are all of the ingredients I CAN have (except garlic…which I must forgo, for now). Nom! Nom! Nom! Thank you for sharing this with us!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Delicious! I followed the recipe , but used fire roasted diced tomatoes, and add pinch of sugar . I did not use the Parmesan cheese . I will make it again , and next time just use canned navy beans instead of pasta , just because perhaps it is a little healthier that way . Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Can I use beef broth instead of vegetable broth?
Hi Grace, yes, you can.
This looks so good and simple. I’ve always thought minestrone would be high calorie, but I can see with thr options you mention, it can be extremely low calorie and healthy. I’ve always wondered which spiced. Thank you for sharing this.
How many calories per serving? And how much would constitute one serving?
Hi Angel, we don’t calculate nutrition info for our recipes, but you could use an online nutrition calculator like MyFitnessPal to get the nutrition facts for this one. We estimate that this soup would serve 4 to 6. The exact serving size is up to you.
Hi Angel
It seems you could estimate calories by checking calories of ingredients. The raw vegetables are extremely low calorie, really the only ingredient that might pose a problem is the pasta. You could leave it out or opt for a healthier whole grain or chick pea pasta. I can’t wait to try it. I’m pretty confident that the bulk of calories will come from added optional cheese and the sourdough bread that I will serve. Good luck!