Classic Minestrone Soup
Warm up with this vegetarian minestrone soup! This classic minestrone soup recipe is healthy, easy to make, and tastes incredible. It's vegan, too, if you don't top it with cheese.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
Finally! It’s about time this blog offered a traditional minestrone soup recipe. Minestrone is a hearty Italian vegetable soup made with tomato-y broth and pasta or rice. I’ve been working hard on this recipe and I’m so excited to share it with you.
Minestrone was traditionally made to use up leftover vegetables, so feel free to use any seasonal vegetables and greens you have on hand. I used potatoes and spinach for the soup you see here, and it was absolutely delicious.
I listed some alternatives in the recipe, including yellow squash, zucchini, butternut squash, green beans or peas. That means that you can make seasonal minestrone on cool days from fall through spring!
I used canned beans here instead of cooking my own, which cuts the cooking time down to a reasonable weeknight level. The remaining ingredients are basic pantry items, including canned tomatoes, pasta, basic spices and onions.
Why is this the best minestrone soup?
- This hearty minestrone is easy to make and totally worth the effort.
- The recipe calls for seasonal vegetables and affordable pantry ingredients.
- The soup packs great for lunch, and tastes even better the next day.
- It freezes and defrosts well, too.
- This homemade minestrone is infinitely better than the Olive Garden or store-bought varieties!
I adapted this recipe from the lentil minestrone in my cookbook, which was based on my lentil soup. For this classic minestrone, I omitted the lentils, added white beans, upped the tomato paste, and reserved the final tablespoon of olive oil to mix in at the end.
Please let me know how you like this soup in the comments! I always love reading your feedback and I’m eager to hear which veggies you use in your soup.
If you’re looking for more soup recipes, definitely check out the two mentioned above, and I have even more soups here.
Watch how to make Minestrone Soup
Classic Minestrone Soup
Warm up with this vegetarian minestrone soup! This classic minestrone soup recipe is healthy, easy to make, and tastes incredible. It’s vegan, too, if you don’t top it with cheese. Recipe yields 6 bowls or 8 cups of soup.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 medium ribs celery, chopped
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 2 cups chopped seasonal vegetables (potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, butternut squash, green beans or peas all work)
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 large can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, with their liquid (or 2 small 15-ounce cans)
- 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 bay leaves
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup whole grain orecchiette, elbow or small shell pasta
- 1 can (15 ounces) Great Northern beans or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked beans
- 2 cups baby spinach, chopped kale or chopped collard greens
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnishing (optional)
Instructions
- Warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, tomato paste and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened and the onions are turning translucent, about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Add the seasonal vegetables, garlic, oregano and thyme. Cook until fragrant while stirring frequently, about 2 minutes.
- Pour in the diced tomatoes and their juices, broth and water. Add the salt, bay leaves and red pepper flakes. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper.
- Raise heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil, then partially cover the pot with the lid, leaving about a 1” gap for steam to escape. Reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.
- Cook for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and add the pasta, beans and greens. Continue simmering, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until the the pasta is cooked al dente and the greens are tender.
- Remove the pot from the heat, then remove the bay leaves. Stir in the lemon juice and remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Taste and season with more salt (I usually add about ¼ teaspoon more) and pepper until the flavors really sing. Garnish bowls of soup with grated Parmesan, if you’d like.
Notes
Make it dairy free/vegan: Don’t garnish with Parmesan, or use homemade vegan Parmesan.
Make it gluten free: Substitute your favorite sturdy gluten-free noodle. I used DeLallo’s Whole-Grain Rice Shells and they worked great.
Parmesan note: Most Parmesans are not technically vegetarian (they contain animal rennet), but Whole Foods 365 and BelGioioso brands offer vegetarian Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I followed the directions exactly. Use squash and zucchini as my veg and collards as my greens. It turned out very sour for some reason, even though I did not add very much lemon juice. Any idea how to reduce the sourness? More water?
Hi Vika! Did you add any salt?
I just had your minestrone soup, I used cut spaghetti for the pasta.
The recipe is a keeper!
It took me longer to cook it than you list, but it was very well worth it.
My husband gave it a double thumbs up.
YUM! Summer veggies from the garden!!
it may have been the thyme that caused the sourness.
Can I used chicken broth instead of vegetable?
Hi Celine, sure other readers have and said it still worked.
Omg the best soup ever! Was a big hit with my family of 5 kids and even the fussiest kids ate. I’ll be making this again and again, thank you!
Oh my. This is good. I’ve made many, many pots of minestrone soup in my life, and this one wins, hands down. I made it exactly as written (except for subbing ditalini in for the pasta), and it was absolutely delicious. The lemon juice and olive oil at the end bring it in for the win!
Love to hear that, Lina! Thank you for sharing.
My husband craves this recipe and 4 my kids love it too. Such a warming flavoursome dish. Love that it is full of nutrients and greens that my kids won’t fuss about because the the soup hides the veggie taste.. LOVE IT
Gave this a go earlier on in the week and it was delish. I’m not usually one for soup but this was very hearty.
I have organized a soup night family dinner for Friday night and will be making this again!
I did find mine a little bitter, I think I put too much tomato paste if. I added a sprinkle of sugar to tone it down and it worked well.
I’m happy you loved it, Alicia! I appreciate your review.
Such a great soup! I used zucchini as my veg and red kale as my greens. Didn’t have diced tomatoes so I used crushed Absolutely delicious!! Will definitely make this again. Great that you can switch up the veg and greens and use what you’ve got on hand. Thank you! Love it!
This was a superb Minestrone and so easy! Will be on high rotation in this house!
Made this last night. Fantastic!
I’m rarely lost for words when it comes to food. OMG! It was so good! Kids loved it. And they even ate spinach! Thank you so much..
Omg! So good…
I was a bit distracted when I made this and accidentally included a full 500g packet of pasta instead of a cup.
It was delicious and actually turned out to be a fantastic pasta recipe.
I’ll call it a successful failure.
Hi! What is usually served with minestrone soup?
It makes a great main dish, but you could serve with a simple salad and crusty bread!
Great recipe- thank you!. I used butternut squash, potatoes, zucchini, and green beans. Ended up using double the veggie stock. Probably needed to cook the veggies a bit longer before adding beans, pasta, and spinach as well. Loved it so much!!
This could possibly be the best soup I have ever made. So flavorful! I did have to cook the vegetables about three times as long as was in the recipe but that was fine. Thank you so much for making my family so happy! And we have tons left for tomorrow night’s dinner!
I never rate recipes, but this soup is SO good that I had to! I have made it many times and it never fails to impress. Highly recommend. Thanks for another fantastic recipe, Kate!
Best minestrone soup recipe ever!
Absolutely amazing…I added chopped up pieces of cooked sausage to it once it was cooked.. just to fill everyone that little bit extra ..yummo
Thank you for your review, Erin.
This was SO GOOD. I had leftover roasted rosemary veg that I added to the broth at the end with cooked shell noodles. It was so fast and came out better than the original dish! So yummy with Parmesan cheese and garlic toast! So glad I have a great big pot! Thanks for the great recipe!
Excellent to see a traditional minestrone that isn’t skewed by the idea of the genralised idea of this dish. As a chef I was rebuked by the head chef because I made something similar to this and was told it wasn’t minestrone!
He didn’t take kindly to me telling him that it should actually be made from seasonally available items as it is traditionally made in Italy. ( btw my soup sold out with customers asking for more whereas the ones he made always ended up with quite a bit left over)
My family is part Italian and recipes like this have been passed down through the generations.
Thank you for this.
I’m glad this one measures up! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Thank you. This is the fourth time I have used your recipe and I have been very happy with the results. At the moment I am experimenting with putting some vegetables in a bit later (e.g. zucchini) so as to stop them going mushy. And I try not to let it get too tomato-y. Only other variant is that for me lemon juice at the end does not enhance. Anyway many thanks. Leaves me with a real Italian-tasting minestrone which gets better as the days roll by
Just made this today and it is delicious!!! I followed to a T but didn’t have spinach. Its really really good!
My first attempt at making Minestrone soup. It was fantastic. Thank you for the recipe.
My first attempt at making Minestrone soup. It was fantastic. Thank you for the recipe. We will used potato, zucchini, fennel and green beans. Didn’t add any lemon just parmesan cheese
I have made this soup twice now and it is AMAZING! I will be making this a lot on my meal rotation. It is hearty and delicious with tons of flavour. I followed the directions completely except I added double the vegetable broth because I lost a lot in the simmering of vegetables. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe.
Wow, looks amazing. Is there a way to cut down on the salt?
Hi David! You can always omit the salt and ensure no or low sodium broth and other canned components.
Hi Kate, wondering what “shimmering oil” means?
Hi Michaela, good question! As oil warms up, you’ll see it start to shimmer, if you’re looking at the pan from a side angle. It kind of moves around on its own. You never want to heat it to the point that it’s smoking, just warm enough that the ingredients sizzle a little when they’re added. Hope that makes sense.
Great receipe base! You can change the veggies and even herbs (I add fresh basil and parsley) serve with freshly baked bread and it’s a winner!
Delicious and easy! I loved using the garden vegetables given to me by gardening-savvy friends in this yummy soup.
This was so good! I wonder if it can be freezed, do you know?
Hi Anne! I believe other readers have froze this and liked the result. Thanks for your review!
I loved this recipe and have made it multiple times now. I have a rosemary bush so I added some fresh rosemary too. Best served with butter toast and some avocado. Thank you Kate! I don’t think I’ve ever tried a recipe of yours that didn’t turn out amazing! :)
I always taste as I cook. I wasn’t really impressed toward the end, it seemed to be missing something. Then I added the lemon juice and oil – wow! That made all the difference. I’ve tried many minestrone recipes but my search is now over. Thank you!
I absolutely loved it. I made it for my sick husband (who is usually a big meat eater) and we were both in heaven. We both also love lemons, so I added more lemon juice. Man I love a good Minestrone, and this was wonderful! Yum!
I’m glad you loved it, Jessie!
i’ve made this recipe Many times and when i finally added some balsamic at the end and it was perfect. Thanks!
Probably the best soup I’ve ever made! So many veg – so hearty and so tasty – definitely making again
This minestrone soup was absolutely delicious, followed the recipe exactly and it exceeded all expectations. A definite 5 star!!
Really excited to give this ago. I’m wondering if I could make it in the slow cooker? Would that be possible, if so, how would I go about it?
Hi Carly! I personally love this one stovetop. I do know others who have made it in the slow cooker, so I would check the comments. Don’t skip the sauté step though, as that is where you get the amazing flavor!
Love to make this the day before grocery day, using up all my vegies left in the fridge. Any vegies work, super versatile! I don’t add the beans, cos they disagree with me, but follow everything else to a T. Sometimes mine comes out a little sour too, but i think it depends on the size of my zucchini (the bigger, the more sour?).. i just add a little sugar, and it’s amazing again. Thanks so much for the recipe!!
This soup is so yummy I followed the recipe and used potato, zucchini and spinach ❤️
I have tried many minestrone recipes over the years and this is – hands down – the best. I love it am make it regularly. It is rich and so well balanced – even my cousin a highly experienced chef was impressed. Thanks Kate :)
Made this today, despite it being 90 degrees out, but thats why we have AC right? I used Zucchini and Yellow squash, as well as fresh corn, green beans and peas. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any spinach in the stores, fresh or frozen. Because I added about 1-1/2 cups of extra veggies, I added an extra cup of tomato stock. I will admit to forgetting about the lemon juice till I read the first comment, when I went to post my review. But that’s okay, it was still handsdown the best Minestrone I ever made. Forgive me Nonna! Served it with fresh baked French baguette and cream cheese. Definitely going to try more of your recipes ❤
I like how you got creative and were still able to enjoy it! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Kate! I followed your directions and made minor changes to it. Used zucchini instead of potatoes and garnished with chopped fresh basil. Also cooked my pasta separately. It was my first time making Classic Minestrone Soup and thanks to you it turn up pretty good!
My husband craves this recipe and 4 my kids love it too. Such a warming flavoursome dish. Love that it is full of nutrients and greens that my kids won’t fuss about because the the soup hides the veggie taste.. LOVE IT
Absolutely delicious! My husband keeps requesting this recipe and always calls it “a warm hug for my insides”. It is so flavorful and filling, a definite keeper!
Delicious!!! Easy and fun to make… I had all the ingredients in my pantry and left over produce box delivery!
I’m glad it was delicious with the produce you received! Thanks for sharing, Jill.
Made it today. Turned out really well, but I skipped the lemon juice. Did add lots of Parmesan. Thanks!
The best minestrone that I’ve ever eaten. My partner is always skeptical about soups, and he loved it so much that he has taken the leftovers to work with him today. We used pumpkin and sweet potato as the seasonal veg, and leek instead of onion.
Hi, Kate! Ok- I’m a vegetable lover too and was on your website discovering other recipes to use up my garden produce when I came across Classic Minestrone Soup. Well, I am 71 years old and have never made minestrone soup, so it seemed like it was time! I loved it, and will certainly make it again. I was generous with the veggies- probably 4 cups total: sweet potatoes, green beans, zucchini, with some sweet red pepper strips added along with the baby spinach. Yummo! I read the lemon juice wrong and put in 2 tablespoons- but it was wonderful. I cooked the pasta separately so I can freeze soup leftovers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
That’s great, Lynn! I’m so excited you loved it. Thank you for taking the time to comment and review.
This soup was just what the doctor ordered! I added 3c of vegetables, rather than two (zucchini, potatoe and frozen cubed butternut squash). The soup has a beautiful robust flavour and is chock-full of healthy ingredients. YUM. Thank you! Will be making this again.
Really good but the flavors were too mild. I used italian seasoning 1tbsp and chili flakes 2 tsp. Also added a pinch of sugar to balance out the sourness of the tomatoes.
Absolutely delicious! I love minestrone & followed this recipe as I introduced my husband to homemade minestrone.
We both love Italian food and he was won over. I added 2 small Parmesan rinds to the broth, and essentially both sautéed and finished cooking the soup in my Instant Pot! Super easy and will be making this again. Thanks for a terrific recipe.
This has been my go-to minestrone recipe for years. Love it so much, especially with some parmesan grated on top
Yes :-) it’s awesome. Made it just like the recipe used a vinegar fancy vinegar as I did not have a lemon. This minestrone is delicious. Thank you very much for the recipe. Kind regards MIke
Such a big hit! Both of my children loved it and it had great flavor. Used a lot of superfresh garden veggies from our garden which always helps with the goodness. Turnips, zuchinni, first young blue corn of the season, kale, tomatoes, used chick peas instead of white beans and whole wheat orzo. Sooo yummy. Thanks so much for sharing all your recipes. I use a lot of them.
The recipe doesn’t say when to add the tomato paste.
Tomato paste is added in step 1 of the instructions :)