Crockpot Minestrone

Warm and cozy homemade Crockpot Minestrone is an easy dump and go soup filled with healthy vegetables and beans! Filled with fiber and protein packed beans this is a soup that will keep you warm and full for hours!

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This post was originally published 01/10/2018 and updated on 01/12/2022 with updated photos and post copy.

Minestrone in the Slow Cooker 

Delicious veggie packed Minestrone soup! I like to think this soup is made famous here in America thanks to Olive Garden. I mean no offense to Olive Garden but homemade Minestrone soup is about 1000 times better. 

Minestrone soup comes from Italian origin, I mean the word minestore literally translates to thick vegetable soup. There really is no set recipe like so many other famous Italian dishes, more of a guideline to a soup containing vegetables, pasta, and beans.

Some of the more common vegetables you will find in Minestrone include tomatoes, carrots, onions, and of course garlic. So as you get ready to make this recipe remember as far as veggies goes, anything goes! Feel free to add more or different veggies!

Now that we have covered how amazing this soup is let me mention how easy it is! Such a dump and go meal!

I feel like a superhero every time I dump everything in the crockpot and later that night we have a super nutritious dinner! And this is one of those meals!

Ingredients 

• Diced Tomatoes – At the base of the soup is tomatoes, because this is an easy slow cooker meal we are just going to dump in some diced tomatoes. 
• Tomato Sauce – To go with the diced tomatoes at the base of the soup, the tomato sauce helps flavor the base of the soup.
• Red Kidney Beans – Drained and rinsed well, the red kidney beans are classic to minestore and hold up really well in the slow cooker.
• Cannellini Beans – Also drained and rinsed well, these softer beans offset the kidney beans but still withstand the heat of the crockpot really well!
• Carrots – Diced up.
• Celery Ribs – Also Diced.
• White or Yellow Onion – Either white or yellow onion will be mild enough for this recipe, I would stay clear of red onions though.
• Garlic – I like to use a generous 4 to 5 cloves!
• Pesto – Okay so this is the secret ingredient in my soup, so don’t skip it. Although as I say that it is important to note. Keep in mind that not all pesto is vegetarian friendly, because many use parmesan cheese. Parmesan cheese is not technically vegetarian because of rennet. Rennet is an enzyme that is typically used in the cheese making process, and it typically comes from the stomach of ruminant mammals. If you are looking for a true vegetarian dish, you will need to find vegetarian friendly pesto or make your own with no cheese, I happen to have a Sunflower Seed Pesto that fits that criteria.
• Vegetable Stock – Obviously it would be cool if you had your own homemade vegetable stock but buying a container at the store works really well, and in a pinch you could use better than bouillon vegetable base.
• Dried Spices: Oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves are the seasonings in this dish. I just chose to use handy dried ones I had on hand already but you can use fresh ones if you have that available to you.
• Zucchini – I chose to add this at the end of the cooking time because if it was put in at the beginning they would turn completely to mush. If you don’t have the time to add the zucchini in you can either skip it or steam it separately and then add it to the soup.
• Ditalini Pasta (tubular pasta) – If you can’t find the little tube pasta feel free to use small shells as a second option!

For a complete detailed list of the ingredients continue towards the bottom of the page.

Instructions

This is a pretty easy dump and go soup! Of course there is a little bit of vegetable cleaning and dicing but not an overwhelming amount.

Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, red kidney beans, cannellini beans, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, pesto, vegetable stock, water, oregano, rosemary, & bay leaves into the crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-5 hours.

About 45 minutes to an hour before you are ready to eat add the diced zucchini. 

About 10-15 minutes before you are ready to eat add the pasta, once the pasta is fully cooked, serve immediately. Top with parmesan or other cheese to serve.

TIPS, TRICKS, & QUESTIONS:

• This does make quite a bit so it is great for a large group or be prepared to have leftovers
  • If you are making this for a smaller crowd and know for sure there will probably be leftovers I suggest cooking and storing the pasta separately. By doing this you won’t have the pasta absorb all the liquids while the soup is in the fridge.
• The secret ingredient in this Crockpot Minestrone is the pesto, I think it truly makes the soup
• While you are dicing up the celery, carrots, and onion, dice up the zucchini at the same time at place it back in the fridge to save you more time later

Is Minestrone Soup Healthy for You?

While the word heathy is objective and means a little bit different thing to everyone I would say YES! It is filled with a ton of vegetables with fiber and beans with protein!

What to Eat with Minestrone?

• Easy Beer Bread
• Air Fryer Baby Potatoes
• Baked Potatoes
• Simple Spinach Salad
• Easy Antipasto Salad

If you like this Crockpot Minestrone Soup you might also like:

• Slow Cooker Black Bean Tortilla Soup
• Slow Cooker 3 Bean Vegetarian Chili
• Slow Cooker Chicken Wild Rice Soup
• Homestyle Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
• Easy Crockpot Beef Pho

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Original Post:

This winter has been filled with blizzards, sub zero temperatures, and couch ridden colds. So I have been using my crockpot so often it has actually just started living on the countertop. One of my favorites I have been making this winter is Crockpot Minestrone.

I have actually made this Crockpot Minestrone so many times my husband asked me to give it a rest for a week or two… Seriously though I made this probably 4 times in a 2 week time span, and this soup makes a ton so that meant a lot of Minestrone for lunch as well as dinners. Minestrone seriously rules our life.

So I love this soup because it is seriously jam packed full of healthy vegetables. Throughout the holidays it became my go to for a healthy meal. As far as crockpot meals go, this one does take me an extra few minutes to throw together, mostly just because it is so full of delicious ingredients there is just a lot to add to the pot, but it is so worth it. Infinity times better then any store bought variety and this recipe makes a large amount of soup. Perfect for a large family, friend get together, or leftover lunches for the week.