Crock Pot Minestrone Soup
Crock Pot Minestrone Soup is so easy and so flavorful. It’s the ultimate dump and go comfort dish that’s perfect for a busy weeknight dinner.
What is Minestrone Soup?
Minestrone Soup is an Italian vegetable soup. It typically uses beans and small pasta (ditalini). It’s a tomato based soup with loads of veggies. It’s the perfect cold day soup!
Let me list all of the reasons why Crock Pot Minestrone Soup is the BEST:
- It’s cheap! It’s mostly canned ingredients which are inexpensive pantry staples you most likely have on hand. It’s also the best way to use up those canned goods that might have overstayed their welcome in the cabinet.
- It’s easy! It’s a dump and go about your day recipe. There’s no way you can mess this up, I promise! The slow cooker does all the work for you. The hardest part to this recipe is opening all of those cans. 😉
- It’s vegetarian! I use chicken broth in mine, but you could use vegetable broth and make it vegetarian. It’s highly customizable too. If you don’t like kidney beans, leave them out. If you have random veggies that need to be used, throw them in!
- It makes a lot. Like a lot. So it’s the perfect soup recipe to make on a Sunday and eat leftovers for lunch all week!
- It’s healthy! This soup is full of veggies, fiber, and protein. It’s filling and nutritious.
What you’ll need
There are a lot of creative liberties you could take here, so feel free to add/substitute anything to what you like or have on hand. Here’s what I use:
- 5-7 quart crock pot
- Chicken or vegetable stock
- Tomato sauce or puree
- Diced tomatoes
- Cannellini beans
- Red kidney beans
- Diced onion
- Carrots
- Celery
- Garlic
- Zucchini
- Green beans- fresh or canned, I used canned because that’s what I usually have
- Ditalini pasta or other small pasta like elbows or shells
- Seasonings- salt, pepper, basil, oregano, parsley
- Bonus- if you have a rind of parmesan cheese, throw that in too for extra flavor
How to make Minestrone Soup in the Crock Pot
To a sprayed or lined crock pot add the diced onion, carrots, celery, tomato purée, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, garlic, seasonings and beans. Fill the tomato purée can with water and add that to the crock pot. Cover, cook on low 6 hours.
After the soup has been cooking for 6 hours and your house smells incredible, add in the diced zucchini, green beans, and ditalini pasta and cook another 15-30 minutes until the pasta is tender.
What to serve with Minestrone Soup
This soup goes well with a big fresh salad- (try the 1905 Salad) and crusty bread, garlic toast or Cheesy Garlic Bread Sliders.
Love crock pot recipes? Check out my Crock Pot E-Cookbook filled with 30 easy and delicious recipes for the slow cooker.
Or you might like these recipes:
Crock Pot Creamy Tomato Soup– delicious with a grilled cheese!
Spaghetti Meat Sauce made in the Slow Cooker
Crock Pot Minestrone Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 28 oz can tomato purée or sauce
- 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 2 15 oz cans cut green beans drained
- 1 onion diced
- 3 carrots sliced
- 3 celery stalks sliced
- 2 zucchini diced
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 cups ditalini pasta
Instructions
- Spray your crock pot with nonstick spray. Add the onion, carrots, celery, tomato purée, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, garlic, seasonings and beans.
- Fill the tomato purée can with water and add that to the crock pot. Cover, cook on low 6 hours or high 3 hours.
- After 6 hours, add in the zucchini, green beans, and ditalini pasta. Cook another 15-30 minutes until the pasta is tender.
- Garnish with fresh parsley or basil. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
- *if you have a parmesan cheese rind add that in to the soup while it cooks
