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.
This soup was delicious. I like the use f vegetable broth for a lighter taste. I just added diced zucchini and yellow squash with a bit of grated parmesan cheese.
Great recipe. Very tasty. Enjoyed by all 5 of us. Added a big stalk of Rosemary, some fresh thyme, marjoram & oregano. Definitely the best minestrone recipe that I’ve used.
I’m so glad you loved it, Karel!
I’m definitely going to make this. Wondering what I can swap in for the pasta. ( yes, I know, minestrone isn’t minestrone without it but I discovered I’m one of the unfortunate T2Ds that can’t have ANY pasta -even wholewheat which I love- because it just shoots my bg level too high -and keeps it there (even after those two hours recommended!)
I’m thinking maybe radishes or extra beans.
? Any ideas?
Hi Moya, extra beans would work well!
Any tips on how to make this in the slow cooker cooker?
Hi Christina, unfortunately, we don’t have much slow cooker experience!
Best homemade minestrone I have ever made!
Yay! So glad you loved it!
Hi I’m in the UK . Ive just made this minestrone to your exact recipe( apart from one extra big clove of garlic because I love it!)
This is the most delicious minestrone I’ve ever made and I will use your recipe again and again.
P.s I made this for the freezer, so left the the pasta out until I eat it.
Hi Karen, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
I have made this recipe and love it. The only change I have made so far is using low sodium chicken broth instead of vegetable broth. I’m thinking about adding a little more broth so I can add some half moon cut zucchini and maybe 1/2 inch chopped up asparagus to use it up. Although I don’t cook with those often (and have never added them to soup) I know that they don’t need much time to cook. At what point do you think I should add them to the soup? I was thinking at maybe the last five minutes while uncovered and pasta is cooking, however, I’m not sure if that’s correct…any suggestions?
My husband doesn’t like green beans (he says they squeak on his teeth) – I omit them and use a zucchini, yellow squash and 1/2 bunch of asparagus. We like it a lot! I cut the squashes in 1/4ths the long way and then slice into chunks (roughly bean size), and cut the asparagus into roughly 1/2″ – 1″ pieces. At that size, I toss everything in at the same time as the broth/tomatoes/etc. Works out that the veggies are no longer raw/crunchy, but also not mushy.
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the other vegetables, ha ha 🙂
Yes, I think the last 5 minutes would be good!
Delicious! Followed the recipe exactly as stated. So easy, no fuss. Paired it with your crusty no-Knead bread and a glass of red wine….YUM… is there anything else needed in life during the Blizzard of ’26? Thank you!
Hi Nancy, I’m glad it was the perfect blizzard meal!
Can this be frozen?
yes!
Delicious and healthy. Family loved it. Thank you for sharing
I followed your recipe and my my family loved it. This recipe is so easy, full of flavor and definitely a keeper.
I’m so glad it was a hit, Joanne!
Wow, absolutely delicious! I never write reviews, but I tried four minestrone recipes in two weeks after loving one at a restaurant, and this one is hands-down the best—better than the original. I followed the recipe exactly, just added peas at the end. I will be making and freezing this recipe for years to come! Thank you!
Hi Jennifer, I’m so glad you loved the soup!
Delicious! I made it very similarly. I only substituted chickpeas for the beans. Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved it, Otto!
I made this soup today with all the ingredients and I added some cubes of sweet potato and Yukon Gold as well. It’s very tasty and simple to make. I’ll be making this soup again!
I’m so glad you loved it!
This is literally so good, my toddler and my baby both crushed it lol!
Aww I love that! So glad you enjoyed. 🙂
Looking for the Nutritional information for this recipe. Thank you.
Fantastic easy recipe, way better than I was expecting. Would make again, 10/10
Hi Emery, I’m so glad you loved it!
I love this recipe. Whenever I work late I’m able to come home, take a serving of it from the fridge and heat it up. I also have the option of adding some cooked meat to it if preferred.
I’m glad you’ve loved it!