A simple Italian vegetable soup with fresh and delicious flavor. Classic Italian Minestrone is one of the oldest recipes in Italian history despite it being modified over time. It's filled with carrots, celery, spinach, green beans and more!
Serve this soup with a delicious sandwich like My Big Fat Greek Chicken Burger or a Gruyere Grilled Cheese!
Looking for more classic soup recipes? Try our Zuppa Toscana, Pasta Fagioli with Spinach, or Italian Wedding Soup
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The History of Minestrone
When I say Classic Italian Minestrone, it is no joke because minestrone dates all the way back to before the Roman Empire. There are records of minestrone dating back to the 2nd century B.C. When the Romans conquered Italy, the Italians were introduced to an assortment of new foods and vegetables. The Romans were rich, baby! I'm sure the conquest wasn't great for the original Italians, but I guess they evened it out by ending up with a few new vegetables and a few new Roman recipes like Bucatini Amatriciana and Spaghetti Carbonara.
Minestrone comes from the word minestra, which means soup in Italian. There are written recipes describing Minestrone as early as 30 A.D. That was almost 2,000 years ago. A cookbook called De Re Coquinaria has a recipe called Polus which could have been the original classic Italian minestrone. This is similar to our take on Fronto Chicken from this historical cookbook, Fennel Chicken Thighs in Red Wine.
I love making dishes that have a history to them. A lot of Italians, like to keep exactly with tradition. I'm not in that camp. I like to use what I have available to me now that they maybe didn't have available to them when they thought the earth was flat. Like tomatoes didn't exist when minestrone was invented but the recipe evolved in the 1500s to include them since they became widely available in Italy.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Broth. Minestrone is supposed to be a vegetarian dish, but I still use chicken broth if I am buying store-bought. I just don't like boxed vegetable broth. If I have enough vegetable scraps saved in my freezer I'll make my own vegetable broth.
- Vegetables. Minestrone is kind of like my Pasta Primavera with Broccoli and Asparagus. in that you can use whatever vegetables are in season. The base vegetables that you always need are carrots, celery, and onion. Green beans, kidney beans, spinach, and zucchini can all be substituted with other veggies like kale, peas, potatoes, or cabbage.
- Tomato Paste. Tomato paste is best used when caramelized with the vegetables. When it caramelizes the tomato flavor will intensify which is why we use such a small amount of it.
- Ditalini. I like to add the pasta directly to my soup. I love the creamy silky starchiness it adds to the soup. I would suggest cooking the ditalini separately if you plan on saving a large portion of the soup.
*Please see the recipe card below for more information on ingredients.
How To Make Minestrone
Soups can all be very similar. You always start with the base. A simple mirepoix is a combination of vegetables that is great to learn for making any soup!
Step 1: Start by adding olive oil to a large dutch oven on medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering pour in the carrots, celery, and onion. Start layering in the seasoning with salt, pepper, and oregano. Saute the vegetables until they are soft, about 8 minutes, then add in the minced garlic.
Step 2: Once the garlic is fragrant, add in the tomato paste and allow it to sit directly on the bottom of the pot for 2 minutes. This will help caramelize the flavor of the tomato. Next, stir the tomato paste throughout the vegetables and saute for another 2 minutes.
Step 4: Add the crushed tomatoes. Stir the vegetables well throughout the crushed tomatoes and bring them to a simmer.
Step 5: Add the chicken broth and stir in the basil, bay leaves, more oregano, salt, and pepper. Bring it to a boil and add green beans, zucchini, kidney beans, and a parmesan rind if you have it. Lower the soup to a simmer and cover leaving an opening for steam to escape. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 6: Remove the cover and add the ditalini. Stir well and simmer for another 15 minutes until the macaroni is cooked. Stir often because the ditalini will sink to the bottom and get stuck to the pan.
Step 7: Finally, add the spinach and cover for the final two minutes to wilt the spinach. Remove the cover and stir it well throughout the soup. Serve with parmesan and crusty Italian bread!
Enjoy this soup with a sandwich like Eggplant Caprese Grilled Cheese or Pepperoni Bread (Stromboli)!
Pro-Tips
- Caramelize the tomato paste by allowing it to sit directly on the pot when you add it. This will help develop the deep tomato flavor.
- If you plan on saving or freezing this soup, don't cook the ditalini in the soup. Cook it separately and add it to the bowl so that it doesn't soak up all the soup when you're saving it.
- Chop the carrots, onions, and celery in similar sizes so that they will cook at the same pace.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe makes a double batch. One for now, and one to store in the freezer. When you reheat the frozen minestrone, add some chicken broth because the beans and pasta will soak up some of the liquid. Eating this recipe on day 2 always yields a thicker soup.
I put parmesan rind in almost all of my soups. It adds a salty and nutty flavor. It's a way to use every part of the cheese so that you have no waste. It's the same reason I save all of my vegetable scraps. I'm not trying to say that you can ONLY use homemade vegetable stock. I just think it's a nice way to use the vegetable scraps that would otherwise be thrown away.
Everyone loves a classic Italian minestrone, unless they hate vegetables, of course. But everyone needs a vegetable soup here and there like our Creamy Mushroom Mascarpone Soup or Barley Lentil Soup!
If you love this recipe, add it to your grocery list this year and print it below. Leave a comment and a review below to let us know what you think.
More Hearty Soups
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📖 Recipe
Classic Italian Minestrone
Equipment
- 1 Large Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup green beans, chopped
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed
- 1 bag of spinach
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup ditalini
- 10 basil leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-3 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon pepper
- 1½ tablespoon oregano
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- In a large pot add olive oil and bring to medium heat. Add carrots, onions, and celery. Stir well and saute for 8 minutes until vegetables are soft season with salt and pepper. Once the vegetables have become soft, add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Then add tomato paste and stir until incorporated. Allow the vegetables to sit for 3 minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and bring them to a boil. Then add the chicken broth and bring it to a boil again. Stir in the zucchini, green beans, kidney beans, basil, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and oregano. Bring the soup to a simmer and cover leaving a small gap for air to escape and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Take the cover off and add the ditalini. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the ditalini is soft.
- Add the spinach and cover for 2 more minutes to wilt the spinach and then stir well. Serve with crusty bread.
Notes
- When you add the tomato paste and combine it with the vegetables, allowing them to sit for a couple of minutes will caramelize the tomato paste and intensify the tomato flavor.
- I prefer to cook my pasta in the soup for flavor. But if you think you're going to eat this for leftovers, you may want to cook pasta separately so that it doesn't soak up all of the soup.
Vinny
This is a classic that we make often. Usually we have it on repeat all Fall! Hope you enjoy!