A simple but delicious hearty Italian vegetable soup featuring fresh vegetables, pasta, and beans. Serve with rustic Italian bread and garnish with vegan parmesan cheese.
With the weather as cold as it’s been, I’ve really enjoyed making soups, chilis, and stews. And this Classic Minestrone Soup is no exception. This recipe contains six groups of ingredients – fresh vegetables, tomatoes, beans, broth, seasonings, and pasta.
Let’s start with my favorite part – loads of fresh vegetables! This minestrone boasts so many fresh vegetables, primarily onion, carrots, celery, green beans, green peas, zucchini, and kale!
For a little variety, I like chopping the onion, celery, and kale; and then slicing the carrots and zucchini. For simplicity, I use frozen cut green beans and frozen peas. The key is to sauté the onion, celery, carrots, green beans, and peas, then add the zucchini and kale later. This way, the zucchini doesn’t get mushy and the kale only wilts slightly.
I think it’s the perfect balance between texture, nutrition, and flavor.
Next up are the tomatoes. I use canned tomatoes, though you can definitely use fresh. I find the perfect combination is diced tomatoes with a little tomato sauce. This provides a bit of chunky tomatoes with the smoothness of a light tomato sauce.
Of course the beans are next. Cannellini beans and kidney beans are optimal in Minestrone soup. Many traditional recipes include one or the other or both. I like both. I like the contrast of color, texture, and flavor. I normally soak and cook my beans in my Instant Pot. But if you are short on time, you can opt for a can of each. Simply drain and rinse your beans before adding them to the pot.
This soup calls for one and a half quarts of Umami Vegetable Broth. While you can use any vegetable broth or water, Umami Vegetable Broth contains a broad depth and range of flavor and color. If you haven’t made this flavorful plant-based broth yet, you’re in for a treat. It’s made with kitchen scraps so it costs next to nothing and is super simple to make in a pressure cooker. I love that it doesn’t contain any salt. Just pure vegetable essence. You can find the easy recipe and post here.
Soup is best when it contains a blend of seasonings. To keep things simple, this recipe uses bay leaves, Italian seasoning blend, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. While I provide recommendations, it’s important to taste this Classic Minestrone soup and add more of what you like. For instance, if you want a little more spice, add in a little more red pepper flakes.
Last but not least is pasta. This wouldn’t be a great Italian soup without pasta. Okay, maybe that’s not true, but pasta is inherently included in this traditional Italian soup for a reason. While it adds a heartiness to this soup that I love, it also soaks up the broth resulting in a light sauce. You can use any small pasta like small elbow macaroni or ditalini.
Once the pasta is added, it’s important to cook the soup only until the pasta is al dente since it will continue to soften in the broth. If you overcook the pasta, it can get too soft and mushy. But don’t worry, as long as you turn the heat off when the pasta is al dente, this Minestrone turns out perfect. It makes for great leftovers, too. Though the pasta will continue to absorb the broth; so you may want to add a little more when you have leftovers the next day.
To serve this Classic Minestrone Soup, you can garnish it with a little shredded vegan parmesan cheese or sprinkle a little freshly chopped parsley or basil on top. It’s great served with rustic Italian bread, but definitely stands well on its own.
I hope you enjoy this Classic Minestrone Soup as much as I do.
I would love to see your results! Please leave a comment and rate it down below, tag a picture @pebblesandtoast and #pebblesandtoast on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook! Enjoy!!
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Ingredients
- 1 onion, chopped (1 ½ cups)
- 2 large carrots, peeled, sliced (1 ½ cups)
- 2-3 celery ribs, chopped (1 cup)
- 4-5 cloves garlic, minced (1½ Tbsp)
- 2 cups cut green beans
- 1 cup green peas
- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1½ cups (1 can) white beans, cooked and rinsed*
- 1½ cups (1 can) kidney beans, cooked and rinsed*
- 6 cups Umami Vegetable Broth (or water)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2½ tsp Italian seasoning blend***
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 zucchini, halved and sliced
- 1 cup small pasta**
- 2 cups kale (or spinach), stems removed and roughly chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- Garnish with shredded vegan parmesan and fresh chopped parsley and/or basil (optional)
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, sauté the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic for 8-10 minutes, adding a tablespoon of broth or water to prevent sticking, as needed.
- Add in the green beans, peas, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, broth, bay leaves, seasoning, and red pepper flakes.
- Increase the heat to high and attach a tight-fitting lid. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add in the zucchini and pasta, replace the lid, and cook another 8-10 minutes.
- Remove the lid, remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir in the chopped kale (or spinach), and cook 1-2 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente and kale is soft. Remove from the heat.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings, salt, and pepper to taste. Add more broth, if needed/desired.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with vegan parmesan and fresh herbs, if desired. Serve with rustic Italian bread and salad.
Notes
* You can use a variety of beans in this recipe, but white northern beans and kidney beans are more traditional. (soak and cook ½ – 1/3 cup dry each)
** Almost any small pasta works well in this minestrone soup, including mini shells, orecchiette, small elbows, ditalini, etc.
*** To make your own dried Italian Seasoning blend, combine 1½ tsp oregano, 1 tsp marjoram, 1 tsp thyme, ½ tsp basil, ½ tsp rosemary, and ½ tsp sage. Yields 4 teaspoons. Store in an air-tight jar.
Classic Minestrone Soup
Equipment
- stove
Ingredients
- 1 onion chopped (1 ½ cups)
- 2 large carrots peeled, sliced (1 ½ cups)
- 2-3 celery ribs chopped (1 cup)
- 4-5 cloves garlic minced (1½ Tbsp)
- 2 cups cut green beans
- 1 cup green peas
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1½ cups 1 can white beans, cooked and rinsed*
- 1½ cups 1 can kidney beans, cooked and rinsed*
- 6 cups Umami Vegetable Broth or water
- 2 bay leaves
- 2½ tsp Italian seasoning blend***
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 zucchini halved and sliced
- 1 cup small pasta**
- 2 cups kale or spinach, stems removed and roughly chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, sauté the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic for 8-10 minutes, adding a tablespoon of broth or water to prevent sticking, as needed.
- Add in the green beans, peas, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, broth, bay leaves, seasoning, and red pepper flakes.
- Increase the heat to high and attach a tight-fitting lid. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add in the zucchini and pasta, replace the lid, and cook another 8-10 minutes.
- Remove the lid, remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir in the chopped kale (or spinach), and cook 1-2 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente and kale is soft. Remove from the heat.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings, salt, and pepper to taste. Add more broth, if needed/desired.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with vegan parmesan and fresh herbs, if desired. Serve with rustic Italian bread and salad.
Notes
** Almost any small pasta works well in this minestrone soup, including mini shells, orecchiette, small elbows, ditalini, etc.
*** To make your own dried Italian Seasoning blend, combine 1½ tsp oregano, 1 tsp marjoram, 1 tsp thyme, ½ tsp basil, ½ tsp rosemary, and ½ tsp sage. Yields 4 teaspoons. Store in an air-tight jar.
Thank you so much for this recipe. Well done! My husband and I absolutely love it, and the friends I have shared my Pebbles and Toast minestrone with have loved it, too! I love that it makes such a big batch.