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Feel-Good Healthy Minestrone Soup Recipe

You’ll love this healthy soup recipe! Loaded with vegetables (8 different ones to be exact) and beans (3 different types) this minestrone soup simmers away in a rich tomato broth and is both hearty and healthy at the same time. When you find yourself craving veggies, this is what you’ll want to make and it’s the perfect way to use up some veggies! It’s cozy, comforting, delicious, and nutritious on a cold day or chilly night! Serve with some garlic toast or add pasta to the veggie soup to make it ultra-satisfying.

If you love feel-good recipes like this one, be sure to give my turkey squash chili, crockpot chicken and potatoes, or turkey taco skillet next time.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

close up of minestrone soup

What You’ll Love About Minestrone Soup

  • Delicious dinner with comfort-food flavor
  • Warm and cozy meal
  • Easy to prep
  • Loaded with vegetables!
  • Hearty vegetarian meal
  • Great source of protein (more than 15 grams)
  • Great source of fiber (15 grams of fiber)
  • Made with simple ingredients

Ingredients

  • Onion – I’ve used white onion, but you can also use yellow onion.
  • Celery – Look for celery without any browning or bruising.
  • Carrots – I like whole carrots best, but you could also dice up baby carrots as well.
  • Garlic – Use whole garlic cloves for best flavor or frozen or jarred garlic for an easy shortcut.
  • Zucchini – Look for small to medium zucchini without any bruising.
  • Green beans – Look for fresh green beans or haricots verts.
  • Baby spinach – Look for fresh spinach. The spinach cooks down a lot, so it might look like a lot, but it isn’t that much! You can also roughly chop if you want the pieces smaller.
  • Olive oil – Use high-quality olive oil for best results.
  • Canned beans – I used a blend of three different beans: red kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and great Northern beans. If you don’t like one of those, you could easily swap out the varieties of beans, you’ll just want 3 15-oz. cans of beans total. Cannellini beans or other white beans would also be delicious. You can also cook your own dry beans if you prefer.
  • Broth – You can use any type of broth – vegetable, chicken broth, or bone broth. Obviously if you’re keeping this minestrone soup vegan, use vegetable broth! Bone broth will add a richer flavor and extra protein.
  • Marinara sauce – This is the secret ingredient! Marinara sauce is used instead of diced tomatoes and I think it makes for a richer soup, I also have come to prefer the smooth texture instead of diced tomatoes in soups and chilis. If you prefer to use diced tomatoes, stir in a tablespoon or two of tomato paste for the rich tomato flavor.
  • Parmesan cheese – Optional topping, but delicious! I prefer freshly grated parmesan cheese, but use your favorite.
  • Sea salt & black pepper, red pepper flakes (optional if you like some heat)
  • Extras – Add in cooked pasta when serving,
Ingredients to make healthy soup recipe

Emily’s Tip

In this classic minestrone soup, I used a jar of marinara sauce instead of the traditional canned tomatoes (which is something I saw on a TV commercial a decade ago and still do!). This helps add a deeper, more developed flavor in less time and it also creates a smooth base for the soup instead of a brothy-base with tomato chunks, which I think is the trick to making this the best minestrone soup.

How to Make Healthy Veggie Soup

This is an overview on how to make this simple veggie soup, the detailed instructions can be found below in the recipe card.

  1. Prep ingredients. Dice onion, celery, carrots, and zucchini. Mince garlic, and slice green beans. Drain and rinse beans.
  2. Cook mire poix. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot and cook onion, celery, and carrots seasoned with salt and pepper until soft.
  3. Cook fresh vegetables. Add garlic, zucchini, and green beans to mire poix.
Dutch oven with mire poix cooking in it
Pot of healthy veggie soup before cooking
  1. Simmer soup. Add rinsed beans, broth, and marinara and stir together. Bring to a boil, lower heat to low and simmer.
  2. Finish soup. Stir in spinach and stir until wilted. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, freshly cracked pepper, flaky sea salt, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese if desired.
Grating parmesan over bowl of minestrone soup

Cooking Lesson

The mirepoix is the aromatic base (usually a mix of onion, celery, and carrots) which helps give soups, stews, and other dishes flavor. You can easily dice your own, but many stores also carry a pre-cut and prepped version which you can also definitely use if you’re looking for a kitchen shortcut.

FAQs

Is minestrone soup vegetarian?

It will obviously depend on the recipe, but this is a vegetarian and vegan minestrone soup! If you want it fully vegan, don’t add any Parmesan while serving, or use your favorite vegan Parmesan alternative.

Is minestrone soup gluten-free?

It will again depend on the recipe, but this healthy veggie soup is gluten-free. Many minestrone recipes contain pasta (more on that below), which would make them not gluten-free, but this minestrone soup is made without pasta and doesn’t contain any gluten.

Storage

Store leftover soup in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove until heated through.

Can you freeze minestrone?

Yes, you can also freeze minestrone. Store soup in the freezer in an airtight container (souper cubes or glass storage containers work well!) for 2-3 months and let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Freezing note: The zucchini texture may change a bit if you freeze it, but it works.

How to prep ahead

If you want to cut down on prep time, chop all of your veggies a day or two in advance! Then you can cook the veggie bean soup in less than 30 minutes.

Bowl of healthy veggie soup with a spoon

What to Serve with Minestrone Soup

This vegetarian minestrone soup doesn’t need much as it’s already loaded with veggies! You can keep it super simple with some bread or pasta, or add some more veggies on the side.

  • Pasta – Many traditional minestrone soup recipes also include rice or pasta, so add your favorite short-tubed pasta like ditalini or tubetti or other small pasta. Cook pasta to al dente and add to bowls before spooning the hearty soup over the top.
  • Crusty Bread – Grab take-and-bake rolls or a baguette or simply toast up some garlic bread with whatever bread you have.
  • Green Salad – Pile salad greens with some fresh veggies and your favorite dressing or try my simple green salad or lemon kale salad that are favorites at our house!
  • Veggie Side – Want more veggies? Add a side of raw veggies and Greek yogurt dill dip.
Bowl of hearty minestrone soup

How to Serve this to the Whole Family

Soup can be hard for the youngest eaters, so when you’re serving, add more chunks and less broth to their bowls so it’s easier for them to eat with a spoon.

Serve the healthy soup recipe with bread, fruit, and a glass of milk. Even if they don’t eat much of the soup, they’ll get enough nutrition without you needing to make a separate meal.

More Soup Recipes

If you like this recipe for minestrone soup, you might also like some of these other easy soup recipes:

Want More?

Follow Emily on Instagram or TikTok for family dinner recipe videos and tips for feeding kids.

Easy minestrone soup with garlic bread
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Easy minestrone soup with garlic bread

Feel-Good Healthy Minestrone Soup Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 4 reviews
  • Author: Emily Dingmann of myeverydaytable.com
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings (about 1 1/2 cups per serving) 1x
  • Category: Soup
  • Cuisine: Italian
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

This healthy minestrone soup recipe is loaded with 3 beans and 8 vegetables! Incredible flavor and is easy to make.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1/2 white onion (about 1 cup diced)
  • 3 stalks celery (about 1 cup diced)
  • 3 medium carrots (about 1 cup diced)
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 12 oz. zucchini (about 2 medium, and 2 cups diced)
  • 16 oz. green beans (about 2 cups, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces)
  • 10 oz. baby spinach
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • 1/8 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 15oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 15oz. can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 15oz. can great white northern beans, rinsed and drained
  • 48 oz. chicken or vegetable broth
  • 26 oz. jar of marinara sauce
  • for serving: olive oil, parmesan cheese


Instructions

  1. Clean and prepare vegetables. You want the veggies fairly small here, a small dice for the onion, celery, carrots, zucchini, and green beans. They should all be about 1/2-inch.
    Mince garlic.
  2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. When hot add onion, celery, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add garlic, zucchini, and green beans to the pot and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add rinsed beans, broth, and marinara to the pot and stir together. Bring to a boil, and lower heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally for about 15-20 minutes. Stir in baby spinach and cook until wilted, a minute or two.ย 
  5. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, flaky sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
YouTube video

Notes

  • Makes about 12 cups.ย 
  • Many traditional minestrone soup recipes also include rice or pasta, so add your favorite short-tubed pasta like ditalini or tubetti or other small pasta. Cook pasta to al dente and add to bowls before spooning the hearty soup over the top.
  • If you wanted to save some extra time, you could also buy the pre-packaged containers of mirepoix: onion, celery, carrot. Use 3 cups total.

This post may contain affiliate links. They do not add any charge to you, but I will make a very small commission from them. I only link to products I use and recommend. Thank you for your support!

Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.

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24 Comments

        1. It is really high! It’s also not entirely accurate since the beans in the recipe (which contain a decent amount sodium) and they should be rinsed. But you could also use low sodium marinara and add salt to taste to lower things.

  1. Growing up, I loved getting a 50cent pretzel and 50cent cup of soup at my elementary school’s cafeteria. Except on minestrone day. That’s when I brought PBJ. ๐Ÿ™‚ Thankfully I’ve learned to love veggies while growing up. Thanks for the recipe!

  2. This is hands down my favorite minestrone recipe. I don’t care for pasta in soup so I love that you’ve left it out. This smelled so good while it was cooking and it really was delicious.I served it with a salad and homemade breadsticks.

    1. Fae! Thank you so much. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Sounds like the perfect sides for minestrone, too.

  3. Youโ€™re so right – this comes together quickly and the secret ingredient creates a depth of flavor other minestrone recipes lack.

  4. I LOVE this soup! I have made it a few times and always freeze a bunch of single servings that are so easy to thaw and heat in the microwave fir a quick lunch or dinner.

  5. I LOVE this recipe!I. I have made it a few times now, added small pasta a couple times, and alway freeze some in single servings to enjoy later .

  6. where is the recipe card with the full ingredient listing and quantities?? i donโ€™t see it anywhere on this page ๐Ÿ™ i tried scrolling up again and clicked on โ€œjump to recipeโ€ but nothing happened. could you please fix this? it looks SO hearty and i would love to make it – i was especially looking for a thick vegan minestrone without pasta. TIA!

    1. I just fixed it for you! So sorry, not sure why, but the entire recipe card had disappeared, thanks for letting me know! The video should work now too.

      1. ah, THANK YOU so much for your quick response and for fixing the post, Emily!! canโ€™t wait to make this – i have a ton of zucchini & carrots on hand so itโ€™s perfect ๐Ÿ™‚ yes, video works and is very helpful; iโ€™ll print the recipe card just to be safe ๐Ÿ˜„

  7. Thank you for the recipe! This is perfect for the cold MN weather we are having. Also, being able to add more fiber and protein to my diet all in one bowl of yummy goodness

  8. Husband is a meat lover. When would I cook some ground sausage or hamburger meat? Would I need more liquid?? Thank you.

    1. I don’t think so! Add the meat in the beginning when the carrots, celery, and onion are cooking. Let them cook for a few minutes, then add ground meat and cook until cooked through. If it is too thick, you could add some broth towards the end.

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