Minestrone Soup
Updated Nov 02, 2025
Minestrone soup made with fresh vegetables, beans, pasta, and herbs simmered in a tomato broth for an easy one-pot meal.
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Minestrone Soup is soo good!
I make this minestrone soup whenever I’ve got a bunch of veggies that need to get used up. It’s one of those throw-it-all-in-the-pot kinds of soups that somehow always turn out amazing. The mix of beans, pasta, and veggies makes minestrone soup great for dinner, but it’s still light and fresh.
What I love about this minestrone soup recipe is how flexible it is. If I’m out of zucchini, I’ll toss in spinach or kale; if there are no kidney beans, I’ll just double up on cannellini. It’s simple, budget-friendly, and makes enough to have lunch ready for the next couple of days, too.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Minestrone Soup Ingredients
- Olive oil: Or any high–smoke point oil like avocado oil.
- Vegetables: Use a mix of onion, celery, carrot, zucchini, and green beans. Frozen or fresh, both work.
- Seasonings: Dried thyme and oregano are classic, but Italian seasoning works fine if that’s what you have.
- Garlic & tomato paste: Jarred minced garlic or tomato purée can be used.
- Crushed tomatoes: Swap with diced tomatoes or canned tomato sauce if needed.
- Vegetable broth: Chicken broth works too if you’re not keeping it vegetarian.
- Parmesan rind (optional): Skip it or stir in grated Parmesan at the end instead.
- Beans: Any canned beans will do. Chickpeas or navy beans are good substitutes.
- Pasta: Ditalini, elbow, or any small pasta shape works here.
- Parmesan cheese: Optional for serving, or try pecorino for a sharper flavor.
How to Make Minestrone Soup
Minestrone Soup Recipe
Minestrone Soup made with carrots, green beans, onions, zucchini, and celery simmered in a tomato-based broth with beans and pasta.
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for serving
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 2 large carrots chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 zucchini diced
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 2-inch Parmesan rind optional
- 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- ¾ cup ditalini pasta or other short cut pasta
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the zucchini, green beans, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes with their juices, vegetable broth, and the parmesan rind if using. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in the kidney beans, white beans, and pasta. Simmer until pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes or according to package instructions.
- Remove the bay leaves and parmesan rind before serving.
- Ladle into bowls and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and olive oil.
Notes
- My Top Tip: Add pasta at the end: Don’t toss it in too early, or it’ll soak up too much broth and get mushy.
- Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container. They will last about 4-5 days in the fridge.
- Freezing Instructions: You can also freeze the soup in for up to 3 months. I recommend freezing it individual portions for easier thawing and leaving the pasta out so that it doesn’t get mushy. To re-heat, thaw in the fridge overnight and microwave until heated through. Or simply microwave straight from the freezer until heated through.
Nutrition
Serving: 1.5cups, Calories: 373kcal, Carbohydrates: 64g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 2mg, Sodium: 1107mg, Potassium: 1312mg, Fiber: 14g, Sugar: 14g, Vitamin A: 4704IU, Vitamin C: 27mg, Calcium: 208mg, Iron: 6mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
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Recipe Tips
- Cut even-sized vegetables: This helps everything cook at the same rate, especially since some veggies (like carrots) take longer than others.
- Add pasta at the end: Don’t toss it in too early, or it’ll soak up too much broth and get mushy.
- Season at the end: The broth reduces as it cooks, so wait until the end to adjust salt and pepper to avoid over-salting.
Serving Ideas
Comments
Fantastic cannot get enough of this soup 🍲
So glad you like it, Paul! Thanks!!
Great soup have to try
Hope you like it!
I love your Mediterranean White bean soup recipe, and this one looks like it may be delicious and healthy as well. I would like to know what is a serving; 1 cup, 2 cups, instead of a bowl. Monitoring carb intake.
Hi Connie! The exact amount will vary slightly depending on the exact ingredients you use, so I don’t like to give a specific measurement. Instead, I recommend making the soup and splitting it up into 6 servings to make sure you’re getting accurate nutrition facts. I like to meal prep this soup and divide into 6 separate containers to freeze or eat throughout the week. Hope you enjoy!!
I absolutely love your recipes and will be making this soon. I just have a quick question. Could I swap out the beans for shredded chicken instead?
Yes, I think that sounds very good! I hope it turns out amazing!!
I am a fan of ALL your recipes Thank you!
Also ~ can you share where you buy your cute Tshirts?
Thank you, that is so kind! I have an outfit highlight on instagram where you can get an idea of where some of them are from!
This recipe is the reason that i started making meals in the kitchen. It is the perfect comfort food, also healthy! It has a very special place in my heart, thank you Yumna 🙂
That is such a compliment! I am so happy to hear it. Yay!! You’re so welcome.
This is so amazing! I followed it to the letter with some minor exceptions..didn’t have all the herbs so just used oregano and some finely chopped fresh basil stalks. Only had kidney beans and used Orzo as my pasta. Added loads of black pepper (personal fave) and a couple of drops of red wine vinegar! Husband and kids cannot get enough of this! Thank you 😊
Thank you! I’m glad you made it work with what you had on hand and enjoyed. Hope you and your family continue to love the soup!
This is the best minestrone soup recipe! I make it at monthly! Thank you for all your lovely recipes❤️
Wow, thank you so much! Of course!!
Love , love , love , this recipe !
So flavorful and delicious. I will be making it in a regular basis for now on.
Thank you so much! Hope you continue to enjoy!
A very tasty soup, that I will definitely make again
Thank you so much! I’m so glad to hear that!
I really enjoyed this simple and healthy soup- I have tried minestrone recipes before and I never thought the flavor was just right. This minestrone recipie gave me all the flavors I was missing in previous recipes. Definitely a keeper and would recommend!
I’m so glad you came across this recipe! Thank you so much!
So delicious! I crave it so frequently but don’t want to get sick of it, so I try to save it as a treat! Also perfect for leftovers for a busy week. Thanks Yumna!
I know what you mean! It’s one of my favorites!!
As a Med student spending a lot of time in surgery, I look for easy, fast recipes with staple ingredients. This recipe is great, even for heating up the next day. Love it.
So glad to hear it! I love making a big batch of this for a few days!
Hi I made this soup and it was a bit acidic.. what can I do to cut this down? Otherwise soup was great! Just found you after listening to So Money podcast and I’m excited to try your recipes for the fam jam!
So glad you found me through the podcast! I recommend adding a tablespoon of sugar. It will cut through the acidity. Hope that helps!
Just started meatless Monday and this was my first meatless dish.
The soup is amazing ! So balanced, so fresh, so clean and filling !
Looking forward to my next meatless Monday !
Thanks Yumna 😃😃
So happy to hear it!! Thanks so much for sharing!
Made this soup yesterday and it was AMAZING!! So easy and SO GOOD! Even my 5 year old niece had two bowls of it hehe. Thank you for the amazing recipe:)
Yay! That’s awesome. Love when the kiddos enjoy the recipes too!
WOW! So easy, so flavorful, so yummy!! Definitely going to add this into the rotation!!
Yay, so glad to hear that you liked it!! Thank you for sharing your feedback 🙂
Thank you for this recipe!! So delicious!!
So glad to hear it. Thanks so much!!
This was incredible and super easy. We only had orzo pasta on hand but it worked great. I took your recommendation to use whatever veggies I had on hand and it was such a tasty soup. My husband had made some bread and with this recipe, that was all we needed for a delicious meal! Thank you!
So glad to hear that it worked well for you with whatever veggies you had on hand. It’s such a great forgiving soup. Thank you!!
Delish! Super easy and very, very tasty ?
So glad to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing!
I actually tried the recipe for dinner last night! It was my first time that i cook a soup like that and i was not disappointed at all! It was freaking good… the pot is actually big, so we’re gonna have it for lunch today and i also packed some for my friends to try it!
I recommend it..
So glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much and shared with your friends! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Awesome!
Thank you!
Flavorful, filling and healthy. Best of soups.Thanks for all the tips.
I’m in love with your recipes!!! But always gets complicated with measurments (live in Europe) any chance to have European version? 🙂
I’m loving all the soup content! My 6 year old gave the thumbs up, it was delicious!
Made your minestrone recipe this morning!! Super simple and smells just like my Nonna’s ? Added a little twist with some spinach and it is amazing!
Oh wow, that’s the biggest compliment if the soup smells like your Nonna’s! Thanks so much for sharing!!