Minestrone Soup is one of the easiest and most inexpensive meals you can make for your family and it’s filling enough to serve with bread for a complete meal. This recipe can also be made vegetarian as well as gluten free!
I love a good bowl of minestrone soup! I’m not a huge fan of meat, so I don’t usually miss it when I make main dish meals such as Spaghetti Margherita, Mac and Cheese or even pizza. This recipe for minestrone soup is so good, you’ll never miss the meat! The ingredients are simple and straightforward.
You can alter the recipe according to what you like best! If you’re more of a red bean fan, you may use kidney beans instead of white beans. If you love kale (or just have a bag on hand), it can be substituted for the spinach. I don’t add celery to the recipe, but many people love chopped celery in their minestrone soup. If you’re a celery lover, add a cup of chopped celery. Seriously, almost anything goes with minestrone soup ingredients!
If you want to make this dish vegetarian, make sure to purchase vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. If you’re looking for gluten free recipes, this minestrone soup can be made with gluten free pasta. I’ve had great luck with the Barilla brand gluten free pasta. Barilla has egg free pasta as well.
Chopping the veggies is the biggest part of the labor when making homemade minestrone soup! It’s a fun recipe to throw together when people are gathered at your home because they can jump in and help with the preparation. Chop a few veggies, saute, boil and dinner is ready. If you want to serve it with homemade bread, No Fail French Bread is a great option!
I highly recommend serving this soup with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese on top. It’s the perfect accompaniment and in my opinion, mandatory for a good bowl of minestrone! Hope you love this easy to prepare home made soup!
Vegetarian Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, about 1 1/2 cups chopped (yellow or sweet)
- 2 cups chopped carrots
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon each , salt and fresh ground pepper
- 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes or one 28 oz can chopped tomatoes tomates picados in Europe
- 32 oz vegetable OR chicken broth/stock, or 4 bullion cubes and 4 cups water if you aren’t concerned about going meatless (check to make sure it’s MSG free)
- 1 cup water this is in addition to stock
- 1 cup “ditalini” pasta or other small pasta shape
- 2 cups chopped zucchini or fresh spinach
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste tomato concentrato in Europe
- 1- 15 oz can Great Northern beans, or other white bean cooked drained
- 1 tablespoon basil dried
- additional water if needed
Instructions
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Using a large, heavy stock pot, saute onion and carrots in olive oil on medium heat about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Don't turn the heat up too high or the garlic will burn!
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Season with salt and pepper.
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Add tomatoes, fresh zucchini or spinach, vegetable or chicken stock, and water. Bring to boil. Add pasta and cook for 7-9 minutes until al dente.
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Stir in tomato paste, beans and basil. Cook just until heated through.
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If needed, add a little more water to the soup for extra broth.
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Serve immediately with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
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My family and I love this recipe! We usually have all these ingredients on hand and it is a quick recipe to make, both things I look for in a meal. We left out the pepper and garlic for my little kids the second time we made it and they thought it was delicious (one is vegetarian). This is one for the books!
This soup was delicious. My picky kids even liked it. I made it with your naan bread. What a great meal. Thank you!
You’re welcome Cindy, great idea to pair it with the Naan! It’s such a fun change, especially if the kids like it. Thank you for sharing,
xo
Si
This is my go to Minestrone soup recipe, so easy and we love it!