ULTIMATE Minestrone Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
A delicious authentic minestrone soup recipe made after traditional Italian fashion, packed full of vegetables, beans, pasta and featuring a deliciously rich broth infused with smoky pancetta or bacon! And it can easily be made vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free!
What is Minestrone Soup?
Of Italian origin, Minestrone is a thick soup featuring a variety of vegetables (traditionally including beans, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions and whatever else is on hand in the garden) and also includes small pasta and/or, less commonly, rice. Its origins pre-date Roman times and, due to scarcity of meat, was often a vegetarian dish, sometimes with scraps of smoked meats used for flavor. With the establishment of the Roman Empire and the influx of trade and more wealth, meat and meat broths were more commonly included but the Romans continued to hold to what they considered a healthy diet consisting of lots of vegetables, legumes and grains.
This minestrone soup recipe reflects that tradition of a wholesome soup packed full of vegetables and utilizing just enough meat (some smoky pancetta or bacon) for flavor.
When it comes to minestrone soup the word “traditional” is tricky. It isn’t traditional in that it abides by a specific set of ingredients, rather it’s traditional in its purpose: Namely, to utilize and make do with whatever seasonal vegetables happen to be on hand. And so when it comes to an “authentic” Italian minestrone soup, the fact is that traditional recipes are as wide and varied as the vegetables in a traditional Italian garden. Literally. Minestrone is meant to be a seasonal soup and so a “traditional” minestrone soup would look very different in the spring and summer than in the fall and winter. As a gardener, minestrone one of my favorite soups to make, utilizing whatever the harvest brings in!
Vegetarian Minestrone Soup
As noted above, in Italy minestrone is made both with and without meat. Traditionally even when meat was scarce or unaffordable, pancetta would commonly be added to create a rich, meaty-flavored broth because a little piece of pancetta goes along way in infusing a broth with the most wonderful flavor.
A variation of minestrone is Minestrone alla Genovese from the Liguria region of northern Italy which includes pesto that’s either stirred in at the end or added to individual bowls of soup. If you’re going to omit the pancetta to make this a vegetarian minestrone, including some pesto will add wonderful depth of flavor to your soup.
To make a vegetarian minestrone simply omit the pancetta and use vegetable broth. To make a vegan minestrone do the same and use vegan Parmesan cheese.
Gluten Free Minestrone Soup
Minestrone soup traditionally includes pasta and can sometimes, though less commonly, include rice. To make a gluten free minestrone soup you can either use gluten free pasta or use rice.
Minestrone Soup Recipe
For the best minestrone soup, use the best vegetables and broth you can find. If you’re not making your own broth we use and recommend Aneto Broth as the closest to store-bought broth there is to homemade. Based in Barcelona, Spain, Aneto’s broths reflect the very highest commitment to quality. Made with 100% real, natural ingredients with no additives, flavor enhancers, powders or preservatives, they make their broths like you do in your own kitchen using fresh vegetables, real bone-in chicken, olive oil and sea salt, and simmer it low and slow in huge commercial-sized cooking pots. Read more about our tour of Aneto’s factory in Spain. We cannot recommend them highly enough.
You can find Aneto’s chicken broth in various stores across the U.S. or you can also buy it on Amazon (FYI: The Amazon prices fluctuate dramatically from time to time and there are times when the in-store prices are vastly better.) We use Aneto’s 100% natural chicken broth for this minestrone. If you’re making the vegetarian version, Aneto also makes a fabulous vegetable broth.
Let’s get started!
Fry the pancetta or bacon in a stock pot. Add the onions, carrot and celery and cook for 5-7 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Add the tomato paste and herbs and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the red wine and bring to a boil. Simmer for two minutes.
Add the chicken broth.
Add the beans and the veggies (except for the kale).
Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
Add the pasta and simmer, covered, for another 10 minutes. (I’m using tripolini pasta that I brought back with me from our most recent trip to Italy.)
Add the kale and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired.
Enjoy!
For more delicious soups and stews try my:
- Ham and Bean Soup
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Beef Barley Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Wonton Soup
- New England Clam Chowder
- Caldo Verde
- Zurek
- Curried Lentil Soup
- White Bean and Sausage Soup
- Pozole Rojo
- Zuppa Toscana
- Cream of Celery Soup
- German Potato Soup
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Harira
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address and we’ll send it straight to your inbox!
ULTIMATE Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 6 ounces diced pancetta or bacon
- 1 medium yellow onion , diced
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 large carrots , diced
- 3 ribs celery , diced
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
- 8 cups quality chicken broth (we use and recommend Aneto 100% natural chicken broth)
- 4 Roma tomatoes , diced
- 1 medium potato , diced
- 15 ounce can cannellini beans , drained and rinsed
- 15 ounce can kidney beans or borlotti/cranberry beans , drained and rinsed
- 1/2 pound green beans , trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 cup shelled green peas (canned, fresh or frozen)
- 3/4 cup ditalini or other tiny pasta (I used tripolini in the photos)
- 3 cups chopped kale , or greens of choice, e.g. Swiss chard, collards, spinach
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese , for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Fry the pancetta or bacon in a stock pot. Add the onions, carrot and celery and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste and herbs and cook for another 2-3 minutes.Add the red wine and bring to a boil. Simmer for two minutes.Add the chicken broth.Add the beans and the vegetables (except for the kale).Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
- Add the pasta and simmer, covered, for another 10 minutes. Add the kale and simmer for another 3-5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet October 27, 2020
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
I really liked this soup! However, I never put pasta in my minestrone, as I feel it makes it too filling. The beans so a nice job of that. I also add some cabbage to my soup and leave out the peas. The cabbage adds a nice flavor to the soup.
I’m happy you enjoyed it, Christine, thank you!
This is a great soup for any time. I always add my Reggiano rinds to the soup while cooking. They turn out really lovely and mushy and soft. Give a great additional level of flavour to the soup. Thank you for all your great recipes.
Thank you, Malou, and I completely agree about the cheese rinds!
Yes!!! Just what I needed. A million “thank yous.”
This looks wonderful! Could this be prepared in a slow cooker?
Thanks for your time and the great recipes.
Hi Jonathan, it can but I haven’t tried it so I can’t provide the info on how long each stage should cook (i.e., the pasta and kale are both added at separate times later on), so you would need to play that by ear. In any case, you would want to follow the instructions as written up to the point where you add the chicken broth – at that point you can transfer everything to the slow cooker (minus the pasta and kale) and then add the chicken broth.
I have not made this so I really can’t rate it….sounds wonderful. I just wanted to know how you come up with only 10 minutes of prep time? With that many ingredients there is at least an hour of prep.
Hi Linda, an hour+ to dice an onion and chop a few veggies? Plus 3 of the items are canned/frozen. I’m by no means a ninja with a kitchen knife but let’s be reasonable!
Agree Aneto Chicken Broth is very good however it is extremely difficult to locate and purchase. Sur La Table used to carry it however they have closed many stores and it is difficult to order from them as well! I purchase the best chicken broth available and usually have good results. This soup sounds wonderful. A local Italian restaurant adds cooked pasta to their soup just prior to purchase so the pasta doesn’t become “mushy.” I think I will do that when I make this soup as well. Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks so much, Kathryn, I hope you enjoy the soup!
Aneto broth is wonderful but difficult to find. Most of the supermarket broths have too much salt and are mediocre. To find Aneto broths,, try Tienda.com online They carry it and if they’re out of stock,, try the Spanish Table. Good luck.
Gave this a try for dinner last night and it didn’t disappoint! So flavorful and perfect for soup season! Easily, a new favorite recipe in our home!
I’m thrilled to hear it, Sara, thanks so much!
Looking at the pictures, it appears the pasta was introduced to the mix without being precooked…..and ten minutes is the time you applied for that particular type of pasta?
Hi Tom, yes that’s right. 10 minutes and then it will continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes after you add the kale.
Such a flavorful and rich autumn soup. I love that it has a lot of veggies!
This is really amazing!! A perfect meal for fall nights!
This minestrone soup looks incredibly delicious!
I absolutely love soup this time of the year and this is a must try!
It’s just starting to get cold here in Ohio, so I’m really in the mood for some warm, hearty soup! This looks like such an amazing comfort food recipe — but also so full of healthy veggies. :) Can’t wait to share it with my family!
This is exacyly what I have been craving! We all loved it. I am so happy there are leftovers!
I’m so glad it was a hit, Lauren, thank you!
What an absolutely beautiful and delicious recipe. It was actually fun to make too with getting all of the ingredients together. I felt like a chef.
That’s awesome, Ginny, thank you so much! :)
Yummy! This soup is perfect for this weather we’ve been having! Can’t wait to give this a try!