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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!
Freezing and raining cats and dogs in Cape Town today. Have your recipe simmering in the slow cooker and it smells divine. Super excited to see how it turns out.
Thanks for the recipe.
This soup is delicious and easy to make. I did have a little trouble finding the sun-dried tomato pesto, so the first batch I made did not have it, but tasted great anyway! The 2nd and subsequent batches I did have it and was also delish! One of my new favs!
Oh I’m a lucky girl my husband for the first time in 20 years found this recipe and it’s now cooking in the crock pot my house smells amazing I can’t wait to try it ❤
Hi! Any chance you can make an instant pot variation to this recipe?
Thanks!
I make it as directed in the IP for 25 minutes for the fist step, manual release, 6 minutes for the beans/pasta step, manual release, and then put the green beans/spinach in for 5 minutes and close the lid but I don’t bring it to pressure for that last step. It also FILLS the dang pot, there is no extra room so don’t double anything lol.
I don’t have a crock pot, but have an instant pot. Any time recommendations for an instant pot ?
By far, the best minestrone recipe ever!
Made this today with a couple very minor changes based on what I had available, but it turned out great! Just like my mom used to make when I was a kid.
This has been my go to for some time now, it’s delicious! I just finished making another one, I use hot pot on my slow cooker so only takes an hour. The pesto really takes it to another level, thank you for sharing.
Just love this recipe, delicious, easy to make and has so much flavour.
Will be making this often
Hi Keen to taste this, sounds great, am cooking in my new crockpot tonight. Thanks for great recipe!
Love this recipe, the pesto makes it! I always add about 2 tablespoons of fish sauce to my minestrone! Another game changer!
This soup has everything I love: healthy ingredients, tons of flavor, lots of veggies…and I can throw everything in the crockpot first thing in the morning and enjoy the scent as it cooks all day. The tomato pesto is a wonderful addition. I have made this recipe twice in a month’s time, and it’s even better the day after it cooks. Love, love! Thank you for this recipe–it’s on my Pinterest board under “Favorites”!
Amazing minestrone! The whole rainbow in one bowl ❤️
This is such a wonderful soup! I’m making it for a second time today. I couldn’t find the sundried tomato pesto so I just used sliced sundried tomatoes and it worked great. This time I also added 5 small potatoes. Such a hearty soup! Thank you for the recipe!
This is DELICIOUS but I have a caution: do not use chickpea pasta, thinking you’ll get more protein/nutrition. If you follow the directions with this substitution, the “pasta” disintegrates!
Can I freeze this?
Delicious and filling!
Really flavorful and easy recipe!! I have made it many times and we really love it!
How many servings do you think this will serve and can I add beef to it?
Can we freeze this soup? This soup is incredible and may make for post partum if you have any more recipes for pregnancy let me know protein and veg and carbs