This recipe showing how to make minestrone soup is a family favorite. We all love the tortellini twist and the little kick it gives the palette. Serve with some good fresh bread, YUMMY!

One of my family’s favorite meals in the winter is a bowl of minestrone soup. I’ve been making it for about 5 years now and have tweaked it into a spicy, heartwarming dish that I make probably too often.

One of the best parts of this minestrone soup recipe is that it’s even better as leftovers. You can even add more tortellini a day or two later so nobody has to fight over who gets the last one!

Another nice part of this minestrone soup recipe is that you can make it at dinner time OR in the afternoon, allowing it to slow cook for several hours. Both options create a delicious meal for everyone!

I hope you enjoy!

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

The ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need for this minestrone soup recipe:

• Olive Oil
• 1 White Onion
• 1 Zucchini
• Bag of Frozen Cut Green Beans
• 1 Stalk of Celery
• Minced Garlic
• 32 oz Vegetable Broth
• 2 15 oz cans of Red Kidney Beans
• 2 15 oz cans of Great Northern Beans
• 1 14.5 oz can of Petite Diced Tomatoes
• 1 carrot (or 6 baby carrots)
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• Parsley Flakes
• Dried Oregano
• Sea Salt
• Ground Black Pepper
• Dried Basil
• Dried Thyme
• Hot Water
• 5 oz Baby Spinach
• Cheese Tortellini
• Block of Parmesan Cheese (Optional but recommended)
• Fresh Bread (Optional but recommended)

Now, let’s get to making some minestrone soup!

Chop chop chop!

If you want a quick lesson in chopping skills, this video is awesome!

I like to chop up everything before I start cooking the minestrone soup but you can do it in parts if that’s preferable. Here’s what you’ll need to chop up:

first step is to sautÉ

This is the first part of chopping that goes into your stock pot.

• 1 cup small-diced Onion
• ¹/₂ cup large-diced Zucchini
• ¹/₄ cup medium-diced Celery

Heat up approximately 4 tbsp of olive oil on medium heat in a stock pot.

Then add the chopped ingredients to the following:

• ¹/₂ cup Green Beans
• 4 teaspoons +/- Minced Garlic

Sauté until the onions are translucent, which for me is about 5 minutes.

second step

In this group, you need to chop a ¹/₂ cup of medium-diced carrots into small pieces. With this, you’re going to add the following to the sauté mixture:

• 4 cups Vegetable Broth
• 14.5 oz can of Petite Diced Tomatoes (DON’T drain)
• 2 15 oz cans of Red Kidney Beans (drain and rinse)
• 2 15oz cans of Great Northern Beans (drain and rinse)
• 4 cups of Hot Water
• 2 tbsp Parsley Flakes
• 1 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (less if you don’t want the kick)
• 2 tsp Dried Oregano
• 2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2-1 tsp Dried Basil
• 1/2 tsp Dried Thyme

Bring all of this to a boil. Here’s your optional point …

You can leave it in the stockpot and bring this to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes or so. OR …

Move over to slow cooker for 3-4 hours on low setting.

third step

When it’s almost time to eat, add four big handfuls of spinach and about 3/4 cup of tortellini to your pot. Allow them to cook until the tortellini is soft to your liking. For me, that’s about 20 minutes but I like soft pasta. You might want it a little less so the pasta is more firm.

We like to shred up some fresh Parmesan cheese and sprinkle it on top of the minestrone soup. Serving it with a sliced up loaf of delicious and soft bread. While most of the time I go to our local Patisserie for their “Stretch Bread”, a loaf of Italian or a Baguette works really well too!

fourth step

This minestrone soup is wonderful as leftovers. However, I notice that my family members always try to pick out almost all of the tortellini on the first night.

I’ve learned a trick to solve this problem!

When everyone has served themselves and the heat is turned off the stove or slow cooker, throw in some more tortellini without anyone looking! By the time you heat it up the next night, the tortellini is perfectly ready without even having to take extra time to cook it.

I think it just absorbs enough heat as the minestrone soup is cooling off to cook properly. I prefer this to the first-night tortellini as it can get a little too soft on reheating.

let’s see what else is cooking!

If you enjoy this minestrone soup recipe, maybe you’ll like some of my others! You can go directly to one of those listed below, or go straight to my RECIPES tab on the main menu.

Here are some direct links:

• How to Make the Ultimate Grown-Up Grilled Cheese
• Easy 15-Minute Gluten-Free Tomato Pesto Pasta Your Family Will Crave
• Taco Tuesday recipe

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