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An easy to make, Minestrone soup recipe that tastes 1000 times better than the Olive Garden’s version! My minestrone soup is loaded with good for you veggies, like spinach and zucchini. It’s also protein packed with red kidney beans and great northern beans. You’ll be full for hours from this healthy, nutritious soup!
How about I throw a bunch of ingredients (say, veggies, beans, and pasta) into a crockpot and call it dinner? This slower cooker minestrone soup is probably going to be the easiest thing you’re ever going to cook. And the best part? You didn’t even need to turn on the stove!
I wonder if it’s even legal for me to call this a minestrone soup recipe? It’s ingredients that get tossed into the slow cooker and a few hours later, they come out in the form of a soup. Don’t you just love lunches and dinners like that? This gal right here is a big fan of those kinda meals.
This minestrone soup was one of the very best I have ever tasted. The sun-dried tomato pesto absolutely made this soup truly “over the top”.
Minestrone Soup Recipe Video:
So guys, I have news. I ♥ vegetables. And you already knew that. And now you know it even more.
My hope for you with this soup → that you make this on a really chilly and busy October night. It’s absolutely perfect for those days/nights when you have only 3,018,857 things to get done, and the fact that the crockpot is adulting for you and taking on the dinner responsibilities for the evening means you have the 30 minutes you would’ve spent making dinner to do what. ever. you. like.
Real excitement right there. Ideally, that would happen in a big, comfy chair with a good book and a warm blanket. These oh so rare, picture-perfect moments are brought to you by my slow cooker minestrone soup recipe.
Why this is the best minestrone soup recipe:
Shall I dare say my minestrone soup recipe is better than the Olive Garden’s version? Yes, I think I will. Don’t get me wrong; I first fell in love with Minestrone soup at the Olive Garden. It actually set the expectation of what a minestrone should be for me. The canned stuff was absolutely no good at all. And after researching the interweb until there weren’t any more recipes left to research, I decided to develop my own recipe.
So what makes my recipe unique and so much better? Well, I’ve got a secret ingredient. Any guesses? Okay, I’ll give you a hint. It’s in the picture above. And it’s a red blob. No, not the diced tomatoes, the other red blob.
*Shhh* I’m only sharing this with you because we’re friends. Ready for it?
Homemade Sun-dried tomato pesto!
That super concentrated flavor of tomato pesto is exactly what minestrone soup needs. Plus, the basil, parmesan, and pine nuts in the pesto add such a great, full-bodied flavor to the soup.
Also, since we’re sharing secret ingredients and all, toss in a few parmesan rinds into the minestrone soup. For herbs, I used dried oregano, fresh rosemary (because I had fresh on hand, dried is fine too), and a few bay leaves.
Recipe Tip
I should mention that this does make quite a batch of soup. So if you’re planning on making this for weekly lunches, I suggest cooking and keeping the pasta separately. Then you can add some to each serving before reheating.
This slower cooker minestrone soup is exactly what you need to warm up on a chilly evening. I served it with a few slices of baguette, toasted and rubbed down with a garlic clove.
We dipped, we dunked, and sipped, slurped soup (say that 3x fast) like it was our job. Garlic bread pairs beautifully with minestrone soup! It was a good evening. 🙂
Homemade Minestrone Soup (Slow Cooker)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomato pesto homemade or store-bought
- 1 parmesan rind
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 1 1/4 cup celery diced
- 1 1/2 cup white onion diced
- 4 – 5 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 sprig rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) great northern beans drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups zucchini diced
- 1 1/2 cups ditalini pasta or other small shapes
- 1 cup frozen green beans thawed
- 2 1/2 cups baby spinach chopped
- Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato pesto, parmesan rind, vegetable stock, water, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves to a slow cooker.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook on low heat 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
- Add in red kidney beans, great northern beans, zucchini, and pasta and cook on high heat for an additional 20- 25 minutes until pasta is tender.
- Stir in the spinach and green beans and cook for an additional 5 minutes until heated through.
- Serve warm topped with parmesan cheese and garlic toasts.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Hiii. We’re getting a snow storm tomorrow so I plan on making this first thing in the morning, looks and sounds delish. Can I freeze the soup, if so how long will it last, and how would you defrost in the fridge?
Made it! Loved it! When shared with my neighbors, I got rave reviews. “Best minestrone soup I EVER had!! Told them all, sadly I’m not a great cook, it was not my creation..BUT! Directed all of them to your website to get the recipe themselves.. then I got many thanks for this website!!
Made the minestrone soup yesterday. It is D-E-LICIOUS! All the kids love it, I have 4 of em. And the picky 18 month old is running around dancing with it in her mouth, comes back for another bite, then runs off dancing again. Plus, it made enough to last a few nights..such a bonus. I made the homemade sundried tomato pesto for it as well and served it with the olive oil bread rubbed with garlic as suggested. Yummmy! Will definitely be coming back for more recipes off this site. Thanks again
Sincerely, a happy mom!
I just made sure to just take my time. When my carrots were still crunchy, I just let it cook longer. Simple! I also added salt and pepper to my taste. I really believe making the homemade pesto really jam packed the flavor for me. Comforting and delicious
Put this in the crockpot on high for 5 hours. Carrots and celery were still crunchy. I put it in a large pot on the stove to speed things up. It required another half hour or so. Cooked the pasta separately. I can’t say it had a rich flavor, but it sure is healthy! Perhaps it will be better tomorrow when flavors meld more. ? Btw I have been cooking for 50 years and my crockpot works fine for everything else.
Made this a few weeks ago and making it avain for a trip to the cabin with friends. We add bacon because we love bacon lol. But it is very good without as well. I recommend a strong flavor cube or blend to add in. It gives it a smoother flavor.
For the past 5 years, I have been sending a crock pot recipe with my Christmas cards. I tried this and decided to use this recipe this year!! I try to find a recipe that is a hearty complete meal as the holidays are usually busy for everyone. This was very tasty and easy to make. Also the ingredients were also easy to find at Aldi and Save A Lot (if I don’t have to go to a bigger store I choose not to).
Hi. I am making this soup tomorrow!! I can not wait . I do have question regarding the pasta.
Is it okay to cook and keep separate from the soup? I usually do that with my soups to keep the pasta firm and for freezing purpose as well.
Thank you and thank you for you wonderful recipes ❤️
This is a freaking delicious way to make myself eat a ton of vegetables. It was really easy. The only problem was this didn’t fit in my crock pot! I had to skip the 2 cups of water due to the sheer volume of ingredients – it turned out fine, but next time I will scale down the recipe. I’ll definitely be making this again soon!
Making my first batch as I type this…so excited to have it for dinner tonight!!!
What size crockpot do I need?
I’m learning to cook as a 37 year old man after dad has gotten older and I’ve started taking care of him. This recipe is perfect! Something he really enjoys and its on the healthier side. It’s sometimes hard to get him to eat healthy options but this one took no convincing! Thank you for the recipe. I know this is an old post but if you ever see this… I just wanted you to know that it turned out fantastic and people are still enjoying it!
Hi,
Help please.
What are great northern beans ?
Thx
I hosted 27 people for a three course meal and served this soup as the starter. Everyone raved about the dish, and some had two serves! Thank you so much for the beautiful recipe xox
Super excited to try this! Just one question. I have a bunch of canned green beans laying around. Can I use them rather then frozen! Maybe add them later? What are your thoughts. Thank you!
Hi Savannah, that would work! I’d just add them in when adding the spinach!
What a great recipe! Made this tonight and it was wonderful! And your secret ingredient so good with bread too. Thank you for sharing ❤️
OMG Cannot wait to make this . I do not have a slow cooker any longer how would you make this on the stove top please.
Thank You
Nanci
So delicious! I will never make minestrone another way again. I had sun dried tomatoes and pesto so I just used them separately. Cutting off the rind of the Parmesan and using it during the slow cooking process is a game changer. I’ve made plenty of okay minestrone recipes before but this one was so much better!
This is the best minestrone recipe I have ever made.
Wow! This is an AMAZING soup! Even the kids love it . I used bruised kale instead of spinach, and put frozen corn I instead of the zucchini for more kid friendly color and texture. I’ve shared this recipe over and over again and it’s the best minestrone soup I’ve ever had ♥️♥️♥️♥️
I halved this recipe but it turned out too dense – needed a bit more liquid. Otherwise worked out well.