Vegan Minestrone Soup
Vegan minestrone soup is comforting, healthy, and full of flavor. It is the kind of soup recipe that you’ll continue to make again and again whenever you crave something cozy and nourishing. The best part? This recipe needs only 15 minutes of prep time and can easily be transformed into a gluten free vegetable soup recipe too!
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 178kcal
Ingredients
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalk diced
- 1 russet potato peeled and diced
- 14½ oz canned diced tomatoes
- 28 oz low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tsp dried Italian herbs
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cup small pasta elbows or shells - recommend gluten free chickpea pasta or whole wheat pasta.
- 1 pound swiss chard stems trimmed and leaves roughly chopped
- 15 oz cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ⅛ tsp dried red pepper flakes optional
- fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté.
- Next, add the garlic, carrots, celery and potatoes. Sauté for about 5 minutes.
- Add the diced tomatoes, vegetable broth and pasta, stir to combine.
- Stir in the dried herbs and bay leaves; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the swiss chard and cannellini beans, stirring to combine.
- Continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes or until all vegetables are tender and the pasta has cooked through.
- Adjust the seasoning and stir in fresh basil leaves and dried red pepper flakes if using.
- Serve topped with fresh basil leaves.
Notes
- Drain Beans: Be sure to rinse and drain the beans before adding them to the vegetable broth to keep the consistency of the soup perfect.
- Discard Bay Leaves: Do not forget to remove the bay leaves from the soup prior to serving!
- Use Up Veggies: If you have other vegetables in your refrigerator that need to be used, throw them in this soup or use as a substitute. This makes for an excellent fridge clean out meal.
- Cook Gluten Free Pasta Separate: If you are making this as a gluten free veg soup, you may want to cook the pasta first as it is more starchy and will thicken the soup (which you may like). Add the cooked pasta into the pot with the tender veggies.
- Cooking Methods: This can be made as an instant pot minestrone soup, or thrown into a slow cooker for an easy, hands-off simmering soup.
- Nutrition information calculated using whole wheat pasta.
Nutrition
Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1154mg | Potassium: 698mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 6g