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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!
Really good ! Made exactly as recipe said, except no parmesan rind, though added cheese on top after. I will definitely make again !
So if you were going to make this and take it to someone, would you just take dry pasta and fresh spinach…suggesting they cook the pasta then add both as heating? It looks so nutritious and yummy!!
Hi Denise! You could cook and take the pasta in a separate container if you’d like, that way it maintains its shape and texture. The spinach can be added in earlier, it loses a little bit of that bright green color, but still delicious!
Thanks for the recipie!
I substituted a couple things based on what I had- almond butter for pine nuts and kale for spinach. It turned out great.
I love finding vegan recipes that are accidentally vegan, if you know what I mean? Like it was meant to be this way not changed a bunch to make it vegan. Always so tasty and this is no exception. Thanks!
Excellent recipe! I just added pesto.
I’m a lazy cook so I left out a few of the vegetables as well as the parm rind and it was still awesome! I’m actually here because I’m making it a second time :). The only issue I ran into was that my carrots didn’t fully cook in ~3.5 hours on high. So if you’re trying to make it as quickly as possible, I recommend softening those up in the microwave first. Thanks for the great recipe!
This soup is SO delicious! I started making this a few months into the pandemic and I have made it about 5 times so far. It also freezes very well. I’ve also passed it along to family and friends and it’s always been a hit! Thank you for sharing this.
Also a novice cooker here ! ♀️ I am making this as we speak and am so excited to try. If I’m going to freeze some, do I leave the spinach and noodles out or freeze it all once done?
Hi Courtney! I suggest leaving the spinach and noodles out if freezing! It’ll hold up better that way 🙂
This recipe is absolutely delicious and for a novice cook like myself, I’ve perfected the ability to cook this beautiful soup.
As a non meat eater, this is perfect to get your nutritional kick from this soup and for the elderly, like my parents, they’re sure to get that nutritional benefits as well.
Amazing. The only vegetable/minestrone soup I make. And it’s so versatile with whatever you have on hand! Love it!
A tremendous recipe. Made some for my partners parents, they absolutely loved it. The flavor is just incredible, so much nicer than any Minestrone I’ve ever had. Thanks so much for sharing it.
I have made this recipe several times and I just love it. Why look for another one?
I am dying to try this recipe. I live in Florida and it is so hot now, however I’m thinking it would be great for a late weekend evening. A true comfort food.
I absolutely love this recipe! I make two crockpots full and freeze half of it in individual portions, just perfect for lunch or after school snacks.
So glad to hear that, Marci! Love the idea of making larger batches and freezing in portions for quick meals/snacks!
Can this recipe be made on the stovetop if you don’t have a slow cooker?
I love this recipe, & have made it many times! It’s healthy, delicious, & freezes well!
So happy to hear you’ve enjoyed it, Ashley! Appreciate you circling back to leave a review!
I LOVED this recipe! It will definitely be on repeat around here! Thanks!
DELISH
So happy to hear you made it and enjoyed it, Belinda!
absolutely fantastic, easy
Looking very yummy great recipe. wanna try this soup
Absolutely delicious soup ! I omitted the zucchini as we don’t care for it but this is the best minestrone I’ve ever had .