The best, classic easy homemade slow cooker minestrone soup recipe that's loaded with Italian flavors. Chock full of delicious beans and vegetables. It's comfort food at its best!
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This soup is hearty and a great recipe for any night of the week. It's not a meal you have to stand over and follow a ton of steps to create. It's a classic soup that's been around for years and for good reason, just like this Slow Cooker Brown Lentil Soup or this Slow Cooker Corn Chowder (Creamy). If you've never had it, or this is your hundredth time having it, give this a shot because I promise my recipe will rock your world! You can use up all those extra vegetables before they go bad and it's also a hearty meal to enjoy, once your garden starts producing.
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Key ingredients
- Tomatoes- I only use the paste form.
- Cheese- Parmesan works so well and really brings a lot of depth.
- Herbs and spices- Such as ginger, garlic, Italian seasoning, rosemary, oregano, bay leaves, salt, pepper
- Broth- Vegetable or chicken flavors both work very well. Just make sure they are low sodium.
- Veggies- This includes, onions, carrots, celery, zucchini, spinach, green beans.
- Beans- I like to use a combination of red kidney beans and northern beans for the best flavor and texture.
- Pasta- My favorite is tubular but you can use any other small shape.
How to make easy slow cooker minestrone soup recipe from scratch?
- Add first ingredients - In a large slow cooker, combine all the ingredients excluding all the beans, zucchini, green beans, spinach, and pasta.
- Cover and cook - Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.
- Add in the beans - Add in the beans, zucchini, and pasta. Cover and cook again on high for 25 minutes or until pasta is soft.
- Add in the last ingredients - Finally, add in the spinach and green beans. Cover and cook on high for another 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
What sides to serve with this soup?
Some of the best options are garlic bread or fresh ciabatta bread, Slow Cooker Jalapeno Cornnbread (With Jiffy), breadsticks or garden salad.
Variations
- Make it thicker - If you don't want as much broth in your soup, you can reduce the amount of broth to make it a bit thicker.
- Make it spicy - Add in some crushed red peppers or slice up a couple fresh jalapenos and toss them in during the first step.
- Add in more vegetables - Since this soup was created to use up vegetables, add in one you have on hand or have an abundance of. You don't have to stick just to the vegetables included.
- Add meat - If you prefer, you can add in some cooked chicken, cooked ground beef, cooked ground turkey, etc. This will add a bit of protein and make the soup even heartier.
- Make it creamy - If you would like your slow cooker minestrone soup to be a little creamier, you can add in more cheese or toss in some heavy cream.
Storage
- Refrigerate - Store this soup in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze - When it comes to freezing cooked pasta, I do not recommend it. The pasta changes texture and turns very mushy. However, if you're ok with this, you'll want to store it in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Reheat - Reheat in the microwave or over the stove in a boiling pot.
Tips and techniques
- Don't overcook the pasta - If you leave the pasta in the crockpot too long, it will get mushy. I do not suggest letting this soup sit on the warming option. Remove once finished.
- How to store minestrone soup? - The best option for storing this soup is in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last up to 5 days.
- Broth substitute - If you don't have broth and need a substitute in a pinch, you can use the same amount of water. However, there will be a flavor component missing without the broth.
- What type of pasta to use? Tubular or ditalini pasta was used in this recipe. However, you can use another short pasta as a substitute such as elbow macaroni, penne, etc.
- Do I need to cook the pasta first? - You don't have to cook the pasta as it softens up during the cooking process in the slow cooker.
- How to make it thinner? - Add in more broth or water.
- How to make it thicker? - Let it cook a bit longer before adding in the pasta.
Recipe
Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup
Video
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Ingredients
- 2 cans Diced tomatoes 14.5 oz cans
- 3 tablespoon Tomato paste
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- 4 cups Vegetable broth Or chicken broth
- 2 cups Water
- 1 cup Carrots Diced
- 1 cup Celery Diced
- 1.5 cups Onion Diced
- 4 cloves Garlic Finely minced
- 1 tablespoon Ginger Freshly grated
- 1 teaspoon Oregano Dried
- 1 sprig Rosemary Fresh
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 Bay leaf
- Salt To taste
- Pepper To taste
- 1 can Red kidney beans 15 oz. can, Drained and rinsed
- 1 can Northern beans 15 oz. can, Drained and rinsed
- 1 cup Zucchini Diced
- 1.5 cups Tubular pasta E.g. Ditalini pasta
- 2 cups Spinach Roughly chopped
- 1 cup Green beans Frozen
Instructions
- In a slow cooker, add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, parmesan cheese, vegetable broth, water, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, ginger, oregano, rosemary, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
- Cook on Low heat for 6-8 hours or High heat for 3-4 hours.
- Add red kidney beans, Northern beans, zucchini, pasta and cook on High heat for an additional 20- 25 minutes until pasta is tender.
- Stir in the spinach, green beans and cook for an additional 10 minutes until cooked through. Enjoy!
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Since the pasta absorbs a lot of the liquid over time, you may have to add a little more water or broth to thin it out, when reheating.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Kate
Do you use a four qt slow cooker? Just clarifying! 🙂 Cant wait to try this recipe!
Abeer Rizvi
I typically use a 6 quart or bigger crockpot for all my recipes.
Laine
If you add meat, do you add it at the end or at the beginning?
Abeer Rizvi
If it's cooked meat, add it when you add the pasta.
Meg B
I made this today and it was excellent. I’ve tried so many sub-par minestrone recipes, and I’m so excited to finally have one that tastes perfect. I love the little kick that the fresh ginger adds and never would have thought to add it on my own. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It rocks!