Easy and hearty, this old-fashioned minestrone soup is a homemade classic that you’ll love. Veggies and spices come together with broth, tomatoes, beans, and pasta for this fresh, from-scratch recipe just like grandma used to make.
Serve this yummy minestrone soup recipe is cheese biscuits, easy beer bread, or fluffy dinner rolls. Our simple homemade Caesar salad is a great way to start this meal as well.
Minestrone Soup
What is the Difference Between Minestrone Soup and Vegetable Soup?
Vegetable soup is a handful of classic veggies like potatoes, carrots, and celery, simmered in broth.
Minestrone soup boasts tomatoes, a variety of vegetables, beans, pasta, and is typically served with Parmesan or Ramano cheese. Sometimes meat is added as well. It’s considered a traditional Italian dish.
MORE SOUPS WE LOVE: Tomato Soup | Slow Cooker Tuscan Soup | Hamburger Soup | Ham and Cheese Soup |
Minestrone Soup Ingredients
- ½ onion, diced
- 2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2-15 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- ½ cup marsala cooking wine
- 32 ounces beef broth
- 1-2 ounce can tomato paste
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 2 large zucchini, diced
- 2 cups ditalini pasta
- 1 can northern beans
- 1 can kidney beans
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ tablespoon dried basil
- 2 bay leaves
- parmesan rind
- salt and pepper
Recipe Substitutions
You can use a dry white wine instead of marsala cooking wine if you’d like.
You can use a multitude of fresh vegetables in this soup: yellow squash, butternut squash, green beans, mushrooms, peas, leeks, potatoes, baby spinach, or kale.
You can switch up the beans and use cannellini beans as well.
You can use a variety of pasta in this recipe including shell pasta, elbow macaroni or even rotini.
You can use rice or lentils if you don’t have any small pasta on hand.
You can make it with meat and add in chicken, ground beef, stew meat, ground pork, ham chunks or bacon.
MAKE IT VEGETARIAN: Use vegetable broth instead of beef broth.
MAKE IT GLUTEN-FREE: Use gluten-free pasta in the recipe.
How to Make Minestrone Soup
STEP ONE: Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a large dutch oven until translucent.
STEP TWO: Pour in marsala wine and both cans of diced tomatoes and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half.
STEP THREE: Add broth, seasonings, tomato paste, parmesan rind, and carrots and bring to boil.
STEP FOUR: Allow to boil for 1-2 minutes, then add the pasta and zucchini. Simmer until pasta is cooked and zucchini is tender, then stir in beans and turn off the heat. Remove bay leaves and the remainder of the parmesan rind.
Serve immediately — you can add fresh cheese on the top, sooo good!
Can You Freeze Minestrone Soup?
You can store it in an airtight container in the freezer — however, this is one soup I don’t recommend freezing.
The pasta tends to get mushy after freezing and rethawing, so this is one meal I would suggest making and eating instead of freezing.
You can put leftovers in the fridge for up to two to three days.
PASTA: Creamy Beef and Shells | Ground Beef Stroganoff | Instant Pot Lasagna |
EASY DINNERS: Crockpot Swedish Meatballs | Zucchini Noodles | Goulash |
DESSERT: Classic Cheesecake | Applesauce Cake | Carmelitas |
Simple and delicious, this from scratch homemade recipe is a family favorite. You’ll love the flavor of the spices combined with broth, pasta, fresh veggies, and beans. This classic minestrone soup will be an often requested dinner for your family, too!
Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- ½ onion diced
- 2 large cloves of garlic chopped
- 2-15 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- ½ cup marsala cooking wine
- 32 ounces beef broth
- 1-2 ounce can tomato paste
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 2 large zucchini diced
- 2 cups ditalini pasta* see notes
- 1 can northern beans
- 1 can kidney beans
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ tablespoon dried basil
- 2 bay leaves
- parmesan rind
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a large dutch oven until translucent.
- Pour in marsala wine and both cans of diced tomatoes and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half.
- Add broth, seasonings, tomato paste, parmesan rind, and carrots and bring to boil.
- Allow to boil for 1-2 minutes, then add the pasta and zucchini. Simmer until pasta is cooked and zucchini is tender, then stir in beans and turn off the heat.
- Remove bay leaves and the remainder of the parmesan rind.
Nutrition
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