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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!
The soup was great! Added some cooked, crumbled sausage, because my husband is a carnivore, and then threw in some cubed sweet potatoes and a little red pepper flakes. Had that slow cooker going while I Christmas decorated. Was so great to have dinner cooking while I worked and so easy!
Best Minestrone we’ve ever eaten I love making it and sharing with friends.
Made many soups and several Minestrone Soups, but this one is the best one yet. Flavorful and filling to the point I’ll use an old expression “Sticks to Your Ribs”. Multiple veggies, beans, and the perfect amount of seasoning. I even made it a few times using chicken broth (no vegetable available in my pantry) and it was delicious with a slightly different flavor for a change. Thank-you.
Delicious! We really enjoyed this recipe and will make it again. Thank you, :))
I’m making this for the 2nd time in under a month. It’s SO good. The first time I made it, it was like 75 degrees outside.. Today it’s only going up to 60, yay! ? That pesto really does take it up a notch!
Only thing I am going to do differently is cook pasta separately because we had a TON of leftovers and my pasta got a little soggy. Still yummy though!
Happy fall! ???
Wow its Looking nice recipe
Im very fond of soups
This looks so good but I only have a 4 quart crock pot. How could I adjust the recipe so I could make it??
I suggest using half the quantity of everything that’s listed, and it should all fit perfectly in your 4 quart. Hope you enjoy the soup!
Hi! I am making your recipe right now as my first ever slow cooker meal I am using a 3.5ltr pot so have halved the ingredients… Do I also need to adjust the cooking time? I am doing on high as started late…
Best minestrone soup I’ve ever made! I was generous with the spices and added just a little salt the sun-dried tomato pesto was the key! Added quartered baby potatoes instead of pasta.
Awesome dish and looking great..
I have made this recipe several times and it’s one of the family favorites. Thank you for such a delicious and easy recipe.
A great minestrone recipe!!! Enjoyed by the whole family. I didn’t have a jar of marinara sauce so used a jar of basilico instead. Also used fresh thyme sprigs as had run out of dried/ground thyme.. I always add a few rashers of finely chopped bacon lightly sautéed first. Not vegetarian, but adds a depth of flavour. Thanks for this delish recipe.
Dammmnnnn I just turned a roasted chicken carcass into stock this weekend! This would’ve been way better.
Can we add all the veg in at the same time minus spinach?
Yes you can as long as you don’t mind the green beans and zucchini being on the softer side. I prefer them al dente so I waited to add them towards the end.
This is a 5-star winner of a recipe. I made it on top of the stove because my slow cooker insert had a big crack in it. I use the Better Than Bouillon vegetable stock for my base. It’s far better than any other vegetarian brand I’ve ever used. The recipe is rich and flavorful and was a perfect meal on this unusually cold day in central Texas. I served it with warm cornbread with butter and honey. This recipe won’t disappoint.
This is one of the best minestrone soups that I’ve ever made
Have you made this in an instant pot?
I haven’t, unfortunately!
This was an awesome recipe! Thank you. I read in the comments that you fish out your parmesan rind – mine melted into the soup – does that mean it wasn’t big enough or it really wasn’t the rind?
Happy to hear you enjoyed it, Amy! If yours melted completely, it may not have been the rind. Mine became super soft (almost like a melty cheese) and I was able to fish it out. But I wouldn’t worry too much, a hunk of parmesan will never do you wrong 🙂
Made this tonight (it’s about 10 degrees here in Michigan!). It was delicious! I cooked the noodles separate so I can add as needed for leftovers so they don’t get mushy. Made enough to freeze! Thanks for such a great healthy meal!!! I will be making this again!
I make this recipe all the time. It has become a favorite in our house. Hubby loves it and asks for it often. Not only is it delicious and packed with great nutrition, but we have come to call it poop soup for, well, obvious reasons.
I don’t make it in a slow cooker, but on top of the stove. I usually add a bit more veggie broth or less veggies as we find too much liquid is absorbed into the veggies when we have it as leftovers. I make a huge pot because we always want leftovers.
This soup is easy to make and delicious. The first time I made it, I did it stove top because I did’t read the recipe properly. It was still wonderful. Just finished putting the ingredients in my Ninja Pot and can’t wait to taste the finished product.