Minestrone Soup is the sort of soup that keeps life interesting – it’s filled to the brim with a variety of vegetables, potato, beans and pasta, in a thick tomato broth that’s full of savoury flavour. Nobody ever leaves the table dissatisfied after hoovering down a bowl of this!
Minestrone Soup
It’s hearty, it’s chunky, it comes fully loaded and the savoury tomato soup broth is full of flavour thanks to a few extra little touches that make all the difference: bacon sautéed until golden, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and the final touch – parmesan stirred in the soup as well as sprinkled on top.
So if you’ve ever made and been unimpressed by a Minestrone Soup before – I promise you, this one will not disappoint! (Because I’ve been there too, which is essentially why I ended up just creating my own. 😇)
What goes in Minestrone Soup
Fair warning – I put everything but the kitchen sink in my minestrone soup! 😂 I like mine with lots of variety. But actually, it means the add ins for minestrone soup are highly customisable (circled in the photo below).
The secret ingredients for the minestrone soup broth are bacon, parmesan and Worcestershire sauce, and a touch of tomato paste which thickens the broth nicely as well has driving home the tomato flavour. Together, they add extra flavour that takes what can sometimes be a pretty meh! soup into give me seconds! Thirds!
Best pasta for Minestrone Soup?
Small pasta works best for easier eating and also they don’t bloat as much as large pasta (like rigatoni) when leftovers are left in the broth.
I used Ditalini (very small tubes, pictured above) but any small pasta works fine – try tiny shells, risoni / orzo, small macaroni or even alphabet or tiny star shaped pasta!
How to make Minestrone Soup
There’s no denying there’s a fair amount of veggie chopping involved, but the good news is that the cooking part all happens in one pot!
After sautéing the bacon, garlic and onion, the veggies get added in the time it takes to cook. So if you’re customising your add ins – and I thoroughly encourage you to – start with the vegetables that can hold up to long cook times first, and faster cooking vegetables last.
PRO TIP: Cook the pasta to just before al dente – take the pot off the stove at the recommended cook time per packet MINUS 1 1/2 minutes. The pasta will finish cooking in the residual heat to perfect al dente, then the pasta will hold up fine even stored IN the broth for 2 to 3 days. It does soften more but it doesn’t go unpleasantly mushy.
Using small pasta also helps with this (larger pasta and long string pasta bloats more, breaks apart etc).
What to serve with Minestrone Soup
The nice thing about Minestrone Soup is that it comes fully loaded with plenty of vegetables (not just the chopped fresh vegetables, but also the canned tomato and onion counts towards your daily veg intake!) plus starch (beans, pasta, potato).
So it’s a complete meal in a bowl that’s hearty, satisfying, and keeps you full. And pretty healthy too, if you opt for lean bacon!
But nobody says no to crusty bread for dunking – especially if it’s warm and slathered in butter. Try this crusty Artisan Bread (pretty sure it’s officially the world’s easiest yeast bread recipe). And if you’re out of yeast, try this no yeast Sandwich Bread, Irish Soda Bread or Flatbread – all easy, all terrific! – Nagi x
Breads to serve with Minestrone Soup
Watch how to make it
Note on video error! One of the cans of tomato I tipped into the pot was WHOLE tomato instead of crushed. So off camera, I stuck my hand into the pot and crushed them myself. 😂
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Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 150g / 5oz bacon , finely chopped
- 1 onion , chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 800g/ 28oz crushed tomato (or 700g passata)
- 2 cups chicken stock/broth , low sodium
- 2 cups water
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 400g/ 14oz canned kidney beans , drained
- 1 tsp EACH salt and pepper
- 1 cup small pasta , like ditalini, tiny shells, risoni/orzo, baby macaroni, alphabet or star pasta
- 1/4 cup parmesan , grated
Minestrone Vegetables (Note 1):
- 1 celery rib* , chopped 1.5cm / 1/2" pieces
- 1 large carrot* , peeled and diced 1.5cm / 1/2" pieces
- 1 zucchini* , chopped 1.5cm / 1/2" pieces
- 1 potato* , cut into 1.5cm / 1/2" pieces (peel if needed)
- 100g / 3oz green beans* , trimmed then cut into 2cm / 3/5" lengths
- 2oz/ 60g baby spinach (or frozen spinach, kale or similar - can leave out)
For serving - optional:
- More parmesan
- Chopped parsley
- Crusty bread for dunking!
Instructions
- Heat oil over high heat in a very large pot.
- Add bacon, cook until starting to turn golden (~2 min) then add garlic and onion.
- Cook until onion is translucent and bacon is light golden ~ 2minutes.
- Add carrot, celery and zucchini. Stir for 1 minute to coat in flavour.
- Add crushed tomato, chicken stock, water, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, kidney beans, salt and pepper.
- Stir, bring to simmer, then place lid on and adjust heat so it's simmering gently.
- Simmer 20 minutes, then add potato and beans.
- Simmer 5 minutes, then add pasta. Cook for time per pasta packet MINUS 1 1/2 minutes.
- Remove from stove, stir through parmesan and baby spinach. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
- Serve, garnished with extra parmesan and a sprinkle of parsley if desired. Warm crusty bread on the side would certainly be the cherry on top!
Recipe Notes:
- Increase parmesan to 3/4 cup (75g)
- Add 2 tsp Vegeta (or other vegetable stock powder) instead of salt (then add salt at end to taste)
- (For meat free vegetarians) Use 3 anchovies (finely chopped) or 2 tsp anchovy paste - add it halfway through cooking onion, it will dissolve. Adds a good hit of umami into broth, no sign of fishiness once simmered
Nutrition Information:
More hearty soups
Life of Dozer
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Hi Nagi, thank you for another wonderful recipe! I was wondering if you think this could be comverted to be made in a slow cooker?
Could I use beef stock instead of veg or chicken?
When I saw this recipe I thought ‘how good could a minestrone soup be?’ and as it turns out, its extremely good! So full of flavour! I was sure to use good quality bacon and served with your garlic bread (which beats Dominos as it claims) and it was a massive hit in our house. Thanks Nagi!
Woo hoo that’s great Emma!! Enjoy! N x
Over the top!!! I’m in love. I enjoyed this with your Artisan Bread. I made exactly as presented except used a dash of Liquid Smoke as a bacon replacement. We’ll be eating this for a few days and my honey is worried the bread won’t last long enough. 😊 I must improve my chopping skills. I’m embarrassed to admit how long my prep time took. Fortunately I started dinner early enough. Thank you Nagi. You rock!!!
I wish we would stop using Bacon in our recipes . We know now that it’s a type 1 Cancer causing carcinogenic. It’s a well known fact and it’s all over the counter council website in all countries. Please stop with the processed meats.
Whoops I meant “cancer council website”
I would rather live than just exist.
Then simply don’t use it?
No one here wants to listen to your rants.
Just making this recipe now- it seems to be missing the step where you add the garlic. Or do I need my eyes checked?!
Hi Meagan – in Step 2 it says “Add bacon, cook until starting to turn golden (~2 min) then add garlic and onion.” Be sure that you are following the printable detailed recipe at the bottom of the post! There’s a “recipe” button that jumps you straight there! N x
You have the most marvellous recipes Nagi…so well written and easy to follow. I can’t wait to buy your cookbook…
Thank you Simon!! That’s very kind of you! N x
Another recipe that’s been nailed! Followed it to the tee, and it’s delicious! Looking forward to your cookbook!!
Absolutely fabulous. I added a couple of “sad” tomatoes that were lurking in the fridge. Very filling. I feel like a saint eating all those vegetables.
I am happy that you liked it Barb! N x
Added parmasen and thyme.
Great recipe as usual.
Whole family loved it.
Sounds yummy Selena!! N x
Forgot to hit the 5 stars!
Just delicious as all your recipes are! I did change it up slightly by using a combination of chicken and beef broth. I find beef broth gives it a more hearty flavour but too much when all beef.
Forgot to hit the 5 stars!
First bite , hubby says this has to be from recipe tin isn’t it! Nagi your recipes never disappoints us, This was so yummy , I always follow the recipe as written. Most of my recipes are always from this site. Making the Italian meatloaf this week and the broccoli potato soup.
Didn’t love this, but didn’t hate it ether. Found it somewhat lacking in flavour, other than the tomatoes. Cooked with parm rinds. Added some thyme to it and a bit of soy sauce which helped enormously. A hint to keep pasta from absorbing too much liquid and getting mushy if you keep it for a few days: roast your pasta first, on a tray, in 350 degree oven. Carefully watch it because it goes fast, but when it’s golden brown, remove it, let it cool and then add it to the soup. Even after day 4 (this recipe makes a lot of soup) the pasta still isn’t mushy or swollen.
Great tip Rose – I will have to try that! N x
Absolutely delicious. Only thing I changed was I used brown lentils instead of red kidney beans as I prefer them in minestrone.
So glad you enjoyed it Grace! N x
I made this according to your directs along with the beef lentil soup (almost the same ingredients and directions) and this was my favorite. My husband preferred the beef lentil. Both were terrific!
Soup is always good! N x
So good!
I used mini beef ravioli instead and kale – worked out very nicely. Great recipe Nagi x
Minestrone is one of my favourite dishes of all time. My mum used to make a really tasty one. I have made a couple of different recipes over the years, but I have always been disappointed by the lack of flavour.
This one is PERFECT! So flavoursome! This is despite the fact that I left out two of the main ingredients: bacon and parmesan. I am a vegetarian, and I am trying to cut down dairy.
I used vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, spelt pasta spirals, and I only had two tablespoons of tomato paste. I also didn’t include the green beans or the baby spinach.
I think what makes this minestrone so moreish is the perfect level of saltiness, pepperiness, and the umami flavour of the Worcestershire.
Will be making this regularly. It’s such a great way to get your vegies!
Oh this was amazing. The only difference I did was added parmesan Rind in the soup and small dash of smoked paprika. Thankyou