Incredibly flavorful and rich, this minestrone soup is every bit as hearty as it is beautiful. Made easily in the slow cooker, this soup is perfect for a busy weeknight!
Made with minimal effort, this minestrone soup is one of the most flavorful soups I’ve ever made! Full of protein and fiber rich beans, nutritious vegetables and filling pasta, it’s a complete meal in a bowl!
How’s your Spring going so far? Ours has been absolutely crazy, with snow storms hitting us several times within the last two weeks. Now this week it’s cold and rainy. BLAH!! The good news is, it’s still soup weather!
Honestly though, I still make soup year round… it’s just great comfort food. Especially this minestrone soup.
I’ve made a lot of soups over the years… some of our favorites are tomato basil, zuppa toscana, and beef barley… but this one, it might just be my absolute FAVORITE!! Normally vegetable soups always leave me feeling hungry about an hour after. But this one doesn’t do that to me; it’s hearty, rich, and FULL of flavor.
WHAT IS IN A MINESTRONE SOUP
Minestrone is typically a vegetable soup, usually with beans, and pasta. Traditionally ditalini (the small little tubes) is used, but mini shells, mini penne, or any other really short pasta will work.
IS MINESTRONE SOUP GOOD FOR YOU
In many ways yes! It’s low in fat and calories and loaded with healthy vegetables. If you’re following a low-carb way of eating, the beans and pasta will make this higher in carbohydrates.
HOW DO YOU MAKE MINESTRONE
This recipe is super easy to make… the slow cooker does the work for you! The only “work” involved is chopping the carrot, celery, onion and zucchini and most of that can be prepped ahead of time. Just add the ingredients in the crockpot, cover, and switch it on! There’s a trick to the timing of adding certain ingredients, but it’s all detailed in the recipe at the end of the post 😉
IS THIS AN OLIVE GARDEN COPYCAT RECIPE
Not technically, but from looking at other copycat recipes, it has extremely similar ingredients, so it will probably taste pretty close. I’ve never actually had the minestrone soup from Olive Garden, so I can’t say with certainty how close the flavors are. Try it and let me know!
Even though we may be heading into warmer weather, I hope you give this hearty and comforting minestrone soup recipe a try… I know you’ll love it!!
Try this soup with my no-knead artisan bread or semi-homemade garlic bread for a great treat!
HELPFUL TOOLS
- Large slow cooker – I have the 6 and 8 quart version of this slow cooker and it works amazingly well. I love that the lid latches down.
- Vegetable base – this is what I mean when I say vegetable base, it adds SUCH flavor to soups and stews. Your grocery store might have it in stock, but in case it doesn’t, this link is to the exact version I use.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 cup carrots, sliced
- 1 cup celery, sliced
- 1 1/2 cups yellow onion, diced
- 28 oz can diced tomatoes, with juices
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- parmesan rind, or 1" chunk of parmesan
- 2-3 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/4 Tbsp dried Italian seasoning
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 4 cups fat free vegetable stock or broth
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tbsp vegetable base
- 15 oz can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
ADD 20-25 MINUTES BEFORE SERVING
- 1 cup diced zucchini
- 1 1/2 cups dried ditalini or other small pasta
ADD 5 MINUTES BEFORE SERVING
- 1 cup frozen cut green beans
- 1 1/2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Add first 15 ingredients to 6 quart or larger slow cooker. Stir to combine, cover, and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or HIGH for 3-4 hours.
- 30 minutes before you want to serve the soup, add zucchini and ditalini pasta, stir, cover and cook on HIGH for 20-25 minutes.
- 5 minutes before serving, add in frozen green beans and baby spinach, stir, cover and cook on HIGH for 5 minutes.
- When serving, if desired, grate parmesan cheese over the soup and enjoy!
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
Video
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Colleen Bauer says
I plan to make this soup and am wondering if barley can be substituted for pasta.
It looks so good!
The Chunky Chef says
I’m sure it could, but I would definitely cook it separately, since it’ll likely have a different cooking time than the pasta 🙂
Jennifer A says
Made this today and it was delicious even my 10 year old loved it.
Rebecca says
Good hearty soup recipe. Great seasoned tomato soup base. I add more veggie broth as the soup tends to thicken quite a bit.
Denise says
Best minestrone I have made and tasted. I don’t use the vegetable base, Italian seasoning, and use low sodium vegetable broth. Not quite as spicy.
Leslie Nester says
I’m making the crockpot minestrone and am unsure if I boil the pasta before adding it in near the end
The Chunky Chef says
It’s dried, and uncooked.
Kristi V. says
Excellent thank you !
Barbara Bradley says
This soup is not only easy but super delicious. Made according to the recipe, I didn’t need to add anything. I will definitely make again. Thank you
Janet K. says
As a cook, for a less “starchy” soup, cook your pasta separately, rinse under cool water to completely remove the starch, then add it to the soup. Minestrone is pretty thick with all those veggies and beans, but cooking the pasta in the soup will make your broth thicker, almost like a stew. When I make my minestrone (close to same recipe), I cook the pasta separately keeping the starch released to a minimum.
Bon Appetit!
Jodi Brown says
I also do the same thing but keep the noodles separate from the soup. That way everyone can choose how much pasta they want to add if any.
Vee says
Delicious soup. Smells good while cooking and tastes superb. We keep the ditalini separate since we have leftovers for the 2 of us for at least 2 days and I freeze some.
Lexi says
This was my first time making Minestrone soup and it was 10/10 AMAZING! It was super easy to make, and everyone loved it. It didn’t even last 2 full days at my house because the leftovers were so good. I agree with others that the second day it tasted even better! I served with a baguette and salad and it was so yummy. I forgot to do the parmesan rind- I’m sure it would’ve tasted even better with that but we sprinkled parm on top and it was still delicious. I would ignore the “Karen” comment about sodium, i felt this was pretty healthy and I didn’t feel it was too much at all and I’m pretty sensitive to that! Looking forward to more recipes from you!
Coraline Jones says
Yikes, that is a lot of sodium. Almost 10,000mg. The broth & ‘vegetable base’ are loaded with sodium, & even if you rinse the beans, it only gets rid of about 30% of the sodium. If you break it down, for each serving you are getting over half of the DV of sodium. I personally would cut the veg base & use low or no-sodium versions of the others (with a cup of a good red wine). I make minestrone frequently with the versions I mentioned & it is yummy.
Your version looks yummy but…?
The Chunky Chef says
This isn’t a health-focused or diet recipe website, and the sodium content will vary depending on the brands used. Feel free to adjust per your tastes, or stick to your recipe 🙂
Amy M Krycinski says
I’m not sure why you think anyone would care what you would “personally” do since this is not your website and it is not your recipe!
Vee says
I used low sodium vegetable broth and only 2 cups instead of 4. Substituted with water the other 2 cups since the vegetable base added more taste and sodium. And yes, I agree sodium content is important. I would probably cut the base in half next time too.
Sharon says
I made this for guests on a busy weekend. They loved it. One comment was that it was even better the second day. It made a lot, perfect for those days you don’t have time to make dinner. Paired with salad and bread, it was a great meal.
David L says
I just bought the fixings for my 2nd batch ——loved the recipe but added baby potatoes and mushrooms. I is so very nice and thick and completely healthy. David
Lakota says
I just made this recipe and I can saw this was delicious. I had two bowls and I am now full. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I am definitely going to be making this in the feature and try other recipes of yours!
Robin says
Thank you! Love the heartiness and loads of veggies – you made me leave my old well-loved minestrone recipe behind! I invested in the better than bouillon vegetable base you suggested and liked the additional depth of flavor. I don’t have a crock pot so I did this on the stove and used diced tomatoes with basil garlic and oregano because that is what I had but those were minor changes. This is the second recipe in a row that I have tried of yours that was a big family hit (other was your instant pot chicken and dumplings) so I am looking forward to trying more. I usually am disappointed with so many online recipes. Thank you for sharing these!
Carol says
Amazing! Outstanding! Delicious! Shared it with my friends and then shared the recipe with them.