Minestrone Soup
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A hearty mix of vegetables, beans, and pasta in a rich tomato broth, this classic minestrone soup is as comforting as it is simple to make. Perfect any night of the week, it’s a cozy go-to that works in any season.
Minestrone is the ultimate clean-out-the-fridge soup—hearty, comforting, and endlessly adaptable based on what you have on hand. At its core, it’s an Italian vegetable soup, often with beans, pasta, and a tomato-based broth, but no two recipes are exactly alike. This minestrone soup recipe, sent to me by longtime reader Carol Winkelman (thank you, Carol!), has a few standout touches: a bit of butter in the base for extra richness, a quick blitz of beans and veggies to add body to the broth, and a final swirl of olive oil and cheese to bring everything together.
Feel free to swap in any vegetables you need to use up—fennel, green beans, spinach, or cabbage would all work well. You can also use grains instead of pasta for a different spin. For a cozy meal, serve this soup with homemade garlic bread.
If you’re a fan of hearty Italian soups, you might also enjoy Italian wedding soup or pasta fagioli—both are packed with flavor and just as comforting.
What You’ll Need To Make Minestrone Soup
- Butter And Olive Oil: Create a flavorful base for sautéing the vegetables, adding richness to the soup.
- Yellow Onion And Garlic: Provide a savory, aromatic foundation that enhances the overall depth of flavor.
- Celery, Carrots & Zucchini: These veggies add natural sweetness and a hearty texture to the soup.
- Chicken Stock: Forms the backbone of the broth, giving the soup a deep, savory richness. Make sure to purchase stock rather than broth. Stock has a deeper, more robust flavor because it’s made using bones.
- Canned Diced Tomatoes And Tomato Paste: Provide acidity, sweetness, and a rich tomato base that gives the soup its classic flavor.
- Cannellini Beans: Add heartiness and a creamy texture while boosting the protein and fiber content.
- Russet Potato: Breaks down slightly as it cooks, helping to naturally thicken the soup while adding a comforting, starchy bite.
- Dried Thyme and Oregano: Infuse the broth with warm, earthy notes.
- Small Pasta: Absorbs the flavorful broth and adds a satisfying, hearty texture to the soup. Ditalini, shells, or elbow macaroni are all good options.
- Grated Pecorino Romano Or Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese: Adds savory, umami-rich depth to the broth.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions For Minestrone Soup
In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, heat the butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.
Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant. Pour in the chicken stock, then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, beans, potatoes, salt, sugar, thyme, oregano, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Ladle out about a cup of beans, veggies, and broth and transfer to a blender. Remove the center knob to vent steam, cover with a towel, and purée until smooth. Set aside—you’ll use this mixture to thicken the soup later.
Add the pasta and zucchini to the pot and stir. Bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente and the zucchini is tender. Stir in the reserved purée, remaining tablespoon of olive oil, cheese, and basil (if using). Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Ladle into bowls and top with more cheese, if desired.
This soup is best fresh since the pasta absorbs the broth over time, but leftovers will keep well in the fridge for up to 4 days. If you’d like to make the soup ahead of time, I recommend cooking the pasta pasta separately and adding it when serving. Or you can skip the pasta and use extra beans or veggies for a version that holds up better.
Video Tutorial
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Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 medium stalks celery, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups chicken stock (see note)
- 1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 (15-oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ cup small pasta, such as ditalini, shells, or elbow macaroni
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- ⅓ cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (optional)
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, heat the butter and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant; do not brown.
- Pour in the chicken stock, then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, cannellini beans, potatoes, salt, sugar, thyme, oregano, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer gently for about 20 minutes.
- Use a ladle to scoop out about one cup of the beans, veggies, and a bit of broth and transfer it to a blender. Remove the center knob to let the steam escape, and cover the opening with a paper towel or kitchen towel to avoid splatters. Purée until smooth and set aside.
- Add the pasta and zucchini to the pot and stir to combine. Bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, covered and stirring occasionally so the pasta doesn’t stick to the pot, for about 15 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente and the zucchini is tender.
- Add the reserved purée back to the pot, then stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, the cheese, and basil (if using). Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary (I usually add at least ¼ teaspoon more salt, but it will depend on the saltiness of your chicken stock). Ladle the soup into bowls and top with more cheese, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Love it! Question: is there anything I can replace the cheese with if I’m making this as a totally vegan dish? I appreciate the thickness of this soup and I know it will be thin without the dairy. Thank you in advance!
Hi Maria, I’d just omit the cheese. If you’d like, you can increase the amount of soup you blend to 1.5 to 2 cups; that will add a bit more thickness.
This will replace all of my previous minestrone soup recipes, we really loved it! Just like in your Pasta Fagiole soup recipe, blending a cup of the mixture to add as a thickener is key, so many recipes are too watery. I love the combo of pasta and russet potato. I used a tiny Delallo elbow macaroni which was perfect, and also added some rough chop cabbage at the end with the zucchini since we had some left over from St. Patrick’s Day. This is a wonderful recipe Jenn, thank you for continuing to develop delicious recipes to add to our home! Really appreciate you!
This is so good! I didn’t have zucchini so I used some frozen corn
I threw in a parm reg rind in as well and served with garlic bread and Jenns Caesar salad recipe So So good
Thank you for another great recipe