Vegetarian Minestrone Soup Recipe

This Vegetarian Minestrone Soup Recipe is a veggie-packed dinner waiting to soothe the body and soul! It’s loaded with vegetables, beans, potatoes, and pasta making it a very filling “dinner soup”.

It also lasts throughout the week, making it easy to pack in the lunch box the next day! It’s very similar in flavor to my Chicken Tortellini Soup, which is another great “dinner soup” to try, and both freeze so well in my favorite new discovery for soup freezing, the Souper Cube! How did I ever exist without these things?!

Minestrone Soup in a white Bowl with Parmesan CHeese

Why You’ll Love This Soup:

  • The potatoes and pasta cook in the vegetable broth, allowing them to soak up the flavor while their starch thickens the soup at the same time
  • It freezes beautifully making it a great soup to have on hand for the season
  • The vegetables are hearty but soft, and full of nutrients making this a great soup to bring to a sick friend or new Mom!

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Use a Large Soup Pot

This soup has a lot of vegetables, pasta, and potatoes that go into it. It also calls for 10 cups of broth. So It’s best to use the largest pot you have to accommodate the volume.

Pick the best quality vegetable broth you can find, it really adds to the flavor of the soup. I really like Trader Joe’s brand of vegetable broth for this soup.

Vegetable broth being poured into a big soup pot

Beans For Extra Protein

This soup is so filling and the beans add extra protein for a vegetarian soup. Be sure to drain and rinse the beans before adding them to your soup. Especially if using the canned variety.

Prepping the Potatoes and Pasta

  • What you’ll love most about this soup is how velvety smooth and luxurious it becomes after 20 minutes of simmering the pasta and potatoes in the broth.
  • I like this method a lot better than adding already cooked potatoes or pasta into the soup because the starch that is emitted helps to thicken the soup at the same time.
  • Just be sure to dice the potatoes roughly the same size as the shells. That way they’ll cook at the same rate.

a potato cube and pasta shell side by side to show size

The Soup Thickens as It Cooks

When you first add all the ingredients, it won’t look like much…but wait 20 minutes! And you’ll see, as soon as the pasta and the potatoes are cooked and tender the soup will be velvety smooth and thickened.

Vegetarian Minestrone Soup thickened

A Great Lunch Soup

  • Because it’s so filling, Minestrone soup makes for a great lunch soup!
  • Just heat the soup up in the morning until it’s very hot. Then add it to your thermos immediately.
  • It’s best t pick a thermos that can hold the heat for at least 5 hours and I also fill it with hot water first while heating the soup, to give it a “head-start”.
  • Then you can pour the water out before filling the soup.

Ladeling out the soup for lunch thermos

Don’t Forget To Pack the Garnishes!

  • This soup is really delicious when served with freshly grated parmesan cheese and freshly chopped parsley
  • And If packing for lunch it’s easy to pack the garnishes too! Place them in a small container (I use little baby food containers used for making fresh baby food. The size is perfect!)

a small container of Parmesan cheese and parsley

More Soup Recipes!

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Minestrone Soup Recipe

Vegetarian Minestrone Soup

Yield: serves 8
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

A veggie packed Minestrone Soup recipe that is as easy as it is delicious!

Ingredients

  • 1 Onion, diced
  • 1 cup (150 g) of carrots, half moons
  • 1 cup (150 g) of celery, chopped
  • 1 cup (150 g) of zucchini, chopped
  • 1-15 oz (420 g) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • ½ cup (75 g) of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
  • ½ cup (75 g) of French green beans, cut into ½ in pieces
  • 1 ½ (210 g) cups of small shell pasta
  • 1 (150 g) cup of red potatoes, skin on, diced the same size as your shell pasta
  • 10 cups (2 liters + 480 ml) of vegetable broth
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) tomato paste
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tbsp (30 ml) dried Italian seasoning (oregano, basil etc)
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) salt
  • ½ tsp (2.5 ml) freshly cracked pepper
  • ½ cup (45 g) of parmesan cheese, freshly grated for garnish (1 tbsp per person)
  • ½ cup (45 g) of fresh Italian parsley, chopped, for garnish (1 tbsp per person)

Instructions

  1. Saute onion until soft and translucent.
  2. Then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer uncovered for 20-30 mins until pasta and potatoes are fork tender and soup has thickened.
  3. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese, and fresh chopped Italian parsley.

Notes

A Great Lunch Soup

  • Because it's so filling, Minestrone soup makes for a great lunch soup!
  • Just heat the soup up in the morning until it's very hot. Then add it to your thermos immediately.
  • It's best t pick a thermos that can hold the heat for at least 5 hours and I also fill it with hot water first while heating the soup, to give it a "head-start".
  • Then you can pour the water out before filling the soup. 

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 562Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 874mgCarbohydrates: 103gFiber: 24gSugar: 5gProtein: 36g
Brownie cake scooped into a mug with ice cream

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