Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup
Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup is super comforting, deceptively hearty and loaded with tons of your favorite vegetables! Take 15 minutes to prep and let sit in your slow cooker, then come home to a perfect, healthy, restaurant-style winter soup the whole family will love.
Looking for more easy slow cooker soup recipes? Try my Slow Cooker Chicken Tortellini Soup, Slow Cooker Tortellini Sausage and Kale Soup or my Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup!
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Slow cooker minestrone soup
We are right in the middle of soup season, and I couldn’t be happier! Soups really are the ultimate comfort foods, and when you pair a delicious recipe like this Stuffed Pepper Soup or my Italian Gnocchi Soup with a slow cooker or Crockpot, then it really doesn’t get any easier.
Clearly, I’ve been making a lot of soup lately. Today’s minestrone soup is actually copycat of one of my favorite Olive Garden soups. It is with zucchini, carrots, celery, green beans AND spinach — this soup is loaded with tons of veggies, is super hearty, and is as healthy as it is delicious!
I decided to add fire roasted tomatoes, fresh herbs and garlic are added for extra flavor in this soup recipe, but those ingredients are optional and can be left out if you want a more traditional minestrone soup.
Ingredients
- Fire-roasted tomatoes
- Carrots
- Celery
- Onion
- Garlic
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Dried basil
- Dried oregano
- Bay leaves
- Red pepper flakes
- Zucchini
- Ditalini pasta
- Cannellini beans
- Red kidney beans
- Green beans
- Fresh spinach
- Vegetable Stock (can substitute chicken stock)
- Water
- Salt and pepper
How to make minestrone soup in a slow cooker
This soup is ridiculously easy to make. Throw all of the ingredients in a slow cooker and let it do its magic. This soup is cooked low and slow for up to 8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.
- Begin cooking broth: Add stock, water, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, bay leaves and crushed red pepper flakes to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 – 8 hours or high for 3 – 4 hours.
- Add zucchini, pasta, and beans: I usually wait to add these ingredients in until about 30 minutes before serving. When you’re ready, add in the zucchini, pasta, and beans and cook on high heat and additional 30 minutes or until pasta is tender.
- Add greens: Right before serving, I stir in the green beans and spinach and season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Be sure to heat all the way through! If the mixture is too thick, you can add a splash of stock until you get the consistency you desire.
- Season and serve: Season your delicious minestrone soup to taste and serve immediately with parmesan cheese!
Tips for making the perfect minestrone soup
- Plan for leftovers. This is a great soup to freeze — either ahead of time or with leftovers. I would suggest cooking the pasta separately and serving with each bowl if you do plan to meal prep with this soup. This recipe does make A LOT, though, so use a large pot and prepare for plenty of leftovers!
- Alter the consistency. I prefer my soup on the thicker side, and as it cools down, this soup does tend to thicken up. If you prefer a more liquid consistency, feel free to add more broth or water as needed to thin it out a bit.
- Use fresh ingredients. I know that frozen or canned beans and vegetables are easy and convenient (I even used frozen green beans!), but we both know that everything is better with fresh produce. If you have the time, grab fresh ingredients from the market or grocery store to ensure your soup is as delicious as possible!
What to serve with minestrone soup
- Veggies: This soup already includes zucchini, carrots, and green beans, but there’s no reason an extra side of sautéd broccoli or bell peppers wouldn’t be a great addition! Keep this dish vegetarian and turn up the health meter with your favorite, colorful veggie side.
- Carbs: This delicious soup recipe calls for anything starchy! Personally, I like to serve this soup with a nice helping of parmesan cheese and bread for dipping.
- Salads: Already pretty heavy and hearty, lighten up the dish with a simple, fresh side salad. Make your own soup and salad lunch and have the perfect work-from-home dining experience.
Here are more delicious soup recipes to try!
- Italian Ham and White Bean Orzo Soup
- Tortellini Tomato and Spinach Soup
- Easy Ham and Bean Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Italian Meatball Soup
Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup
Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup is a healthy, hearty Italian soup that is packed full of your favorite vegetables, greens, and a variety of beans.
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups water
- 2 14.5 ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 zucchini quartered
- 1 cup ditalini pasta uncooked
- 1 15 ounce can cannellini beans
- 1 15 ounce can red kidney beans
- 1 1/2 cups green beans I used frozen and thawed them out
- 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Add stock, water, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, bay leaves and crushed red pepper flakes to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours or high for 3 - 4 hours.
- Add in zucchini, pasta, beans and cook on high heat and additional 30 minutes or until pasta is tender.
- Stir in green beans and spinach. Heat through. If mixture is too thick add a splash of stock..
- Season soup to taste with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes if desired.
- Serve immediately with parmesan cheese!
Recipe Notes
Original recipe from chefsavvy.com. Please do not publish my recipe or pictures without linking back to the original post. Thank you!