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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!
This recipe really delicious, and for a novice cook like me.. I’ve the ability to cook this lovely soup.
I loved this hearty minestrone! My husband was so happy and thinks it’s the best he’s ever had . I used kale instead of spinach, which made it one step less since kale is rough and can use the extra cook time. I omitted the green beans too, since the crock pot was so full. I subbed a cup of homemade chicken broth for the water.
A perfect rainy day meal!
Hi There! If I wanted to add some meat such as chicken would I just add at the beginning to coom for 4 hours?
I made this last weekend and it is SO good! I added a few rashers of grilled bacon, and got about 8 serves out of it (more than I expected so bunged some in the freezer).
The past seems to hold its own OK when reheating.
Also it’s super nutrient dense, it’s filling without any need for a bread rolls or salads (but nice with bread roll)…the perfect easy dinner when you get home and just can’t adult anymore!
I found it tricky to find Parmesan rind, I got a 200g block and cut about 1cm around the outside and threw it in. It dissolved, unsure if that was supposed to happen but it added to the falvour!
For Australians, Great Northern Beans are “white beans”.
For WeightWatchers members, 8 serves is 10 points on Green (if you add 6 rashers short-cut bacon).
Wonderful way better than Olive garden
VERY GOOD!
I have been looking for the perfect minestrone recipe for almost ten years, and with this one, I finally found it! It’s so flavorful, so tasty, so great!
What size slow cooker did you make it in? I have a 3.5 quart one and am afraid it will be too small. I thought I would ask before making that mistake again as I’ve done with other recipes! Thanks. Looking forward to trying it out.
Whoa, I made it in a six quart and it was to the top, maybe split it in half
Best minestrone soup I’ve every made (or had). So easy and so delicious!
Easy and delicious. I only had olive pesto and sundried tomatoes so that is what I used.
If I wanted to add cabbage, when would you add it?
Why can’t I just put in everything at the beginning of the day on low 6-8 hrs? Rather than the beans and pasta at the end? Thanks for your recipe I want to try.
Adding the macaroni too early will turn them to mush by the end of the 6-8 hours
This is one of my favorite recipes. I have made this in the slow cooker and instant pot. My brother and I made an Italian dinner for my Dad’s birthday and they loved this soup. I have also made it for co-workers. I also like to make it for meal prep for lunch for the week.
I made this last night for company and it was very yummy. Used elbow macaroni because that is what I had on hand.
This has become my go to recipe for minestrone. I have made it many times over the years, but this recipe is my favorite of all time!
The best minestrone soup I have ever had! It is now in our regular rotation of dinners. So easy and so good!
I hope this is not a silly question, doing this first time. The kidney beans are you using canned or can I use fresh soaked overnight beans? Also pasta, was it cooked separately then you added to slow cooker and summer for 30mins?
I am going to make this next week.
I normally use fresh soaked beans as the canned ones tend to get too mushy after a while. Pasta can be put in raw as well as it will cook with the broth.
I made this a few years back in a crockpot. I know an instant pot’s slow cooking feature works differently than a true slow cooker. I should be able to do this just fine in my IP though, right?
It’s the best minestrone I’ve made, and I need it back in my life!
I love this recipe so much, it’s always a go to for me. I am making it for a Friendsgiving as a side dish, how many people do you think this would serve as a side? I am wondering if I will need to double it. Thank you!!
This was easy and great! I’ll definitely make it again.
I left out the pasta and added an extra can of beans–that will help me rationalize serving this delicious soup with homemade bread. The addition of pesto is genius–definitely something I’ll apply to future soup making endeavors. Thanks for the great recipe and inspiration!