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
- Author:
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 bowls 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
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.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Marianne
Great recipe! I substituted a small fennel bulb for the celery and used zucchini, potatoes, and green beans for the veggies. I added a teaspoon of anchovy paste for flavor. The soup is thick, hearty, and very tasty.
★★★★★
Elaine
So good! I added a little tandoori spice and black beans and fresh corn. Used zucchini, and some riced cauliflower, small penne. Had corn tortillas with it.
★★★★★
Melissa
This soup is 100% perfection. We have been searching for the perfect minestrone soup and finally found it. Perfect balance of umami, acidity, and heartiness. I used zuchhini and yellow squash as the seasonal veg, and did everything else exactly as indicated. YUM. Thank you for this and all of your amazing recipes!!
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear, Melissa! I appreciate your review.
Melissa L Postler
I’ve been making minestrone from The Joy of Cooking for 30+ years. My kids said this recipe was my best version yet! Instead of adding individual herbs, I added an Italian Herb Seasonings; potatoes, green beans and zucchini as the seasonal veggies; and I cook the noodles separately. This feeds me (gluten-free, dairy intolerant), my daughter (Vegetarian, dairy intolerant) and my daughter (no dietary restrictions) and my boyfriend (fructan and oil intolerant)! Love it!
Aloha
Mel
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Melissa! I appreciate your review.
margaret karrel
This Morning I made Classic Minestrone Soup. Delicious!
I did add 1teaspoon of VEGETA to perk up the soup a little more.
Did NOT add BEANS or Spinach. Used corn and potatoes.
Followed the directions carefully using my own home made Tomato
Sauce. It’s a winning recipe. Topped it off with Parmesean Cheese and Did Not Add Lemon …I could have used a little vinegar but it did not need it. I am thrilled to have this recipe. I did cook it slowly for a couple of hours.
★★★★★
Lori
I am not normally a fan of minestrone. I made this today and love it! I will definitely be adding this to my recipe collection.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved this version! Thank you for sharing, Lori. I appreciate your review.
Kerry
This is an easy recipe to follow with a very tasty soup as a result.
I made a few adaptations from what I had available in my pantry, freezer and fresh.
I was in the middle of making it when I realised I needed tinned tomatoes so I used the tomato soup I had in the pantry instead and still ended up with a yummy soup.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved it, Kerry!
Foodie
After having made this soup a few times, I think I know why some reviewers rave about this soup and a couple of reviews say it is too tomato-y. My family loved this recipe when I used a vegetable broth made without tomatoes (Cadia brand), used a more expensive tomato paste called Amore, and used canned diced tomatoes that came with garlic, Italian herbs, etc. The one time I made this soup using a tomato paste brand called Cento, which stated “double concentrate”; used a vegetable broth with tomato listed as an ingredient; and used just plain canned diced tomatoes, the minestrone soup turned out too tomato-y and my family wouldn’t eat it. The difference in the tomato paste brands were remarkable. The Amore brand had a sun-dried tomato richness and darker coloring, whereas the tube I got from Sprouts called Cento was a bright red, too tomato-y. Both were imported from Italy, but I’ve learned to select the ingredient brands more carefully for a home-run delicious minestrone soup. The recipe itself is awesome. It’s just a matter of where these ingredients are sourced. Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for your feedback. I’m glad you are enjoying it!
Janaki
The minestrone soup is delicious, and it’s a complete meal.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m excited you love it, Janaki!
Cheryl
This is the best minestrone recipe I’ve made. The layers of flavor are so delicious, and the addition of lemon juice is the perfect finishing touch. We enjoy this with a spoon of pesto and drizzle of olive oil and serve with ciabatta. :)
David
Good but for the sour note of the lemon juice.
★★★★
Kate
I’m sorry you didn’t love the addition. You can always omit it next time.
Susan
It’s kind of tart?? Wonder why? I made it identical to recipe but left out lemon. Was afraid to add it.
★★★★
Kate
I’m not sure. It could be the brand of tomatoes you used.
Arlene
This is my favorite soup recipe. We love it! Thank you. I use whatever veggies I have on hand; carrots, potatoes, green beans, spinach. I have used Navy beans but prefer the Great Northern or Cannellini. The fresh lemon juice makes it sing! It’s a full meal with a piece of toasted spelt bread.
Lolo
Been following this recipe for a year. Love it! I add one non- vegetarian item that takes it up a notch — spicy sausage!!!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great to hear, Lolo! I appreciate your review.
Sherry
Super flavorful , great recipe. I did use 2 boxes of chicken stock in place of the beef stock and water, only because I prefer chicken stock. I also added browned and crumbled hot italian sausage for my husbands sake. No meat, no eat hahaha.
Fabulous soup and easy to follow your recipe.
Thanks for sharing!!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you love it, Sherry! Thank you for your review.
Ruth Mahoney
I just finished making your Minestrone soup
I just finished a bowl . It is healthy & delicious
And a keeper. My friend borouthme pea soup
I will return the bowll with minestrone
Ty Ruth Mahoney
Aditi
Lovely recipe
★★★★★
Rob Normand
This was a really good recipe but for some reason, every time I make a soup recipe with pasta, even following the directions, it ends up with very little broth. I think I’ll fry up a little more tomato paste and veggie broth and add to the mixed pasta and veggies I have left over LOL
★★★★★
Crystal
This is a very good recipe. For the seasonal veggies I used potato and canned green beans. I used homemade kidney and pinto beans and had no spinach or kale. Also I used beef broth instead of vegetable broth. This was the best minestrone soup I have ever had! Thank you for posting this recipe.
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear, Crystal! Thank you for your review.
Emma Taylor
This is the best minestrone recipe I have come across ( I try a new one everytime, I can stop looking now) I used butter beans, only potato’s as the seasonal veg and no lemon. P E R F E C T
Melanie
Hi Kate! I wondered how would this recipe be changed if it was to be cooked in a slow cooker?
Thank you!
Kate
I haven’t made it in a slow cooker, so I can’t say for sure. However, I know other have tried it and put their experience in the comments.
AB
Sooo good. Just trust the recipe. Super easy!
★★★★★
Simone
I love this recipe. It’s a winner in my house every time I cook it. But what I love most is that I don’t need to prep anything – I finish one stage then move to the next. It’s such an easy and delicious recipe.
★★★★★
Kate
I love to hear that, Simone! Thank you for your review.
Peter
Delicious, easy to vary the vege additions. I added a teaspoon of Vegeta instead of vegetable broth and fresh basil.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing how you made it, Peter! I appreciate your review.
Michelle Brady
Really enjoyed this . Even better the next day so suggest making a day in advance of when you want to eat it.
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear, Michelle! I appreciate your review.
Janeen
Absolutely LOVE this recipe! Just barely used any salt and added a little more red pepper flakes
★★★★★
Terri
I think 1/4 cup of tomato paste is way too much. This recipe would be much tastier without that much tomato flavor. Appreciate your website and your thoughts!
★★
Kate
I’m sorry you don’t love this recipe. I appreciate your feedback, Terri.
Jeanne Taylor
This was such a hit with my meat-loving family and newly-declared vegetarian daughter. The flavors were terrific, it was hearty enough for a meal and everyone wanted more. I used 2 types of zucchini and butternut squash and it was delicious. I’m not a huge fan of potatoes but the squash made it seem like they were there in terms of consistency. I would add more spinach next time, it seemed to disappear in all the other vegetables and I love spinach in soup so I’ll probably add a cup or two more next time. Great recipe!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Jeanne! I appreciate your review.