An easy, flavorful minestrone soup that can be made in the crockpot. We love this soup on cold winter nights.
Growing up, I didn’t like soup at all. Minestrone soup was probably my least favorite of them all, with all its tiny vegetables, white beans, and floaty spinach. The pasta was the only good part!! And there never was enough of it. It’s not like my mom served soup all the time or anything. I just remember it being an option. A gross option. Fortunately, my tastes have matured a bit. Now, I LOVE soup. Love love love it. I frequently make a big batch on the weekend and freeze leftovers in individual containers to make the lunch packing chore easier.
In the winter, this is one of my favorite soups to make. I usually have all the ingredients on hand so making this hearty Italian in the crockpot is super simple. There are some ways to fancy it up though, if that’s your thing–you can saute the veggies, use fresh herbs instead of dried herbs, etc. But the classic crockpot cooking style of “toss it in and forget it” TOTALLY works for this recipe. The one deviation I take from that is cooking the pasta separately, to help it not soak up all the broth right away. That’s not too hard, is it? Hope not, because this is one delicious soup!! Enjoy!
two years ago: Cranberry Orange Pancakes with Cranberry Maple Syrup
four years ago: Eggless Cookie Dough
Crockpot Minestrone Soup
adapted from Skinnytaste
Ingredients:
- 1 – 15 oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
- 6 cups/48 ounces chicken or vegetable broth, reduced sodium if possible
- 1 small chopped onion
- 3 small diced carrots
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 – 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- Parmesan cheese rind, optional
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup uncooked small pasta like ditalini or small shells
- 1 – 10 ounce package frozen spinach, defrosted with liquid squeezed out
- Parmesan cheese for garnishing
Directions:
Add beans, broth, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, basil, and rosemary to a large crockpot. Stir and add Parmesan cheese rind, if using. Set crockpot to cook on low for 6-8 hours.
An hour before you want to eat, bring a small pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and add pasta to crock pot along with defrosted spinach. Stir, cover, and let crockpot cook for another 30 minutes or so to heat through.
Before serving, remove bay leaves and Parmesan rind. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan!
Notes:
- If desired, you can saute the onion, carrots, and celery before adding to the crockpot.
- Fresh herbs can be used in place of dry herbs.
- A thicker minestrone can be achieved by pureeing half the beans with 2 cups chicken broth.
- The pasta absorbs the broth as it sits, so when you reheat it, you may have to add additional broth or water.
- Soup reheats and freezes well!
The Pajama Chef 