Italian Minestrone Soup (Makes a Great Dinner!)

Italian Minestrone Soup recipe features chopped fresh veggies, beans, diced tomatoes, and pasta, cooked in flavorful broth. We love to serve this with crusty bread and plenty of red pepper flakes and freshly grated parmesan cheese! One of the best vegetable soups for the cold winter months!

Family Favorite Minestrone Recipe

It’s officially the most wonderful time of the year: it’s SOUP SEASON! Like many people, I love soup for the obvious reasons: it’s warm, cozy, delicious, and healthy. This textbook comfort food is good body and soul!

But as someone who works from home and basically lives at my sink washing dishes. I also love soup because I get multiple meals from one pot of soup! I made this Italian minestrone soup last night, ate it for dinner, warmed up a bowl today for lunch, and will continue this pattern until the pot runs dry. If you don’t mind leftovers, soup can make your lunch life so simple and delicious – reheating a bowl takes less than 15 minutes!

Minestrone Soup: The Secret Ingredients

• Pancetta: My secret ingredient, pancetta adds so much depth of flavor. Vegetarian or vegan? Feel free to omit this ingredient! Or, if you cannot find pancetta, you can substitute chopped bacon.
• Olive Oil: Adds rich flavor to the soup overall, and helps cook the veggies. If you’re skipping the pancetta (and not subbing bacon) I suggest adding an extra tablespoon of oil.
• Red Pepper Flakes: Adds a tiny kick of heat, without making this minestrone soup spicy. Feel free to omit the red pepper flakes or increase the red pepper flakes for a spicer soup.
• Onion: I use yellow onion but white onion, red onion, or even shallots will work.
• Celery: Onions, carrot, and celery add classic crunch and flavor. If you can’t find celery, you can make this soup without it.
• Carrots: I like a carrot heavy soup and use 3 large carrots. If you prefer less carrots, use 2.
• Green Beans: I love green beans in minestrone soup, but you can sub peas, zucchini, sweet potato, or even white potatoes.
• Garlic: Adds fresh flavor, do not sub garlic powder.
• Italian Seasoning: I love the flavor Italian seasoning adds but omit if you don’t like the flavor or don’t have it on hand.
• Tomato Paste: Thickens the broth into a rich and thick thing of beauty!
• Diced Tomatoes: Add tomato flavor and texture. If you don’t like diced tomatoes, you can leave them out. The tomato paste and crushed tomatoes add enough tomato flavor.
• Crushed Tomatoes:
• Broth: I use a combination of chicken broth and beef broth when I want a heartier flavor and vegetable broth for a lighter broth.
• Beans: I use kidney beans and cannellini beans, but use whatever beans you like. I suggest draining them and rinsing them before adding them to the soup.
• Pasta: You can cook the pasta in the soup if you’re eating it all in one shot. But if you plan on eating the soup in batches, I suggest cooking the pasta separately. Cooking the pasta separately prevents if from soaking up all the broth. Use gluten free pasta if needed!
• Spinach: You’ll add this near the end, as spinach only needs a few minutes cooking time to get soft and wilted. If you don’t have spinach, use escarole or even chopped arugula.
• Basil: Adds a pop of fresh flavor to this Italian soup! Make sure to use fresh basil, not dried basil flakes!
• Lemon Juice: I love adding freshly squeezed lemon juice to soup recipes! It adds a pop of fresh flavor while waking up all the other flavors in this soup.
• Salt and Pepper: Add a small amount, taste, then add more as needed. With salt and pepper it’s always important to remember you can add more, but you can take it away.
• Parmesan Cheese: Freshly grated Parmesan cheese adds incredible flavor and an overall richness to this soup. But if you’re avoiding dairy, you can omit or use a plant-based cheese.

How could the combination of those ingredients not be delicious?!?

How to make Minestrone Soup

1. Cook the Pancetta: In a large soup pot or dutch-oven, cook the pancetta until crispy then set aside. If you’re not using pancetta or bacon, simply skip this step.
2. Cook Carrot, Onion, Celery: You’ll also toss in the green beans at this step. And cook until they begin to soften. Add in the garlic, Italian seasoning, and tomato paste last, as you don’t want the garlic to burn.
3. Add Liquids: Pour in the diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and broth and bring to a boil. Cook for 30 minutes, then stir in the beans and pasta and cook until the pasta is al dente.
4. Finishing Touches: Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Then stir in the basil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, as needed.
5. Serve: Ladle the hot minestrone soup into bowls, sprinkle with pancetta bits and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese. And most importantly, ENJOY!!! We love serving this with bread and a salad – like my homemade Caesar salad!

Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success

• To make this soup vegan, use vegetable broth, and omit the cheese and pancetta.
• I call for bone broth in this recipe because I find it more flavorful and nourishing. If you can’t find it, feel free to sub regular broth instead. Or, use vegetable broth for a vegetable soup.
• Chicken bone broth and beef bone broth may sound odd, but it gives the soup INCREDIBLE flavor! If you have an issue with this combination, use all chicken broth.
• I don’t recommend using all beef broth. I tried this once and found the broth a little too… meaty tasting, if that makes sense? In my opinion, an equal amount of both will give you the best tasting soup.
• Same thing goes for the beans! I love the combination of kidney beans and cannellini beans, but you can use two cans of one bean variety if preferred. Or use chickpeas, navy beans, etc.
• You can use fresh or frozen green beans, and if you’re using frozen, don’t worry about thawing them first.
• While I adore elbow macaroni for this recipe, you can use almost any small pasta noodle. I’ve made this with ditalini and even baby bow ties. Or, try a gluten free pasta, we like Jovial brand fusilli.
• If you happen to have a Parmesan rind in your fridge, toss it in the broth and let it simmer. This adds even more flavor and depth to the broth.

If you’re looking for a meal that’s hearty, healthy, and so comforting, this Italian Minestrone Soup is for you!

Italian Soup Recipes