Vegan Minestrone Soup
Loaded with all kinds of healthy vegetables and hearty beans, simmered in a rich, herby tomato broth, this Vegan Minestrone Soup is the perfect hearty meal to warm you up, inside and out! .
I can’t believe that I had never shared a Minestrone Soup recipe here before, in all those years of blogging… I mean seriously, I’m not really big on soup, but Minestrone is one of those comforting soups that I could easily eat on a regular basis without ever getting tired of it.
Not only does it taste amazing, but it also happens to be very filling and satisfying with all the pasta and beans and vegetables that it contains. And it comes together pretty quickly, too, providing that you have some leftover cooked beans lying around in your fridge. And if you don’t, well, you can totally get away with using canned beans here! No one will ever be able to tell the difference…
The best part about this soup, or pretty much any soup for that matter, is that you can easily adapt it to use whatever veggies you really love or happen to have on hand – so feel free to swap and change things up and make this gorgeous soup your own!
To start, place a large pot over medium-high heat and to it, add a few tablespoons of olive oil (or any other cooking oil of your choice) followed by the onion and garlic. Cook until slightly softened and fragrant and then add the carrots and celery.
Cook for a few minutes more, to allow the vegetables to soften, then add the Italian seasoning, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and stir well.
Now add the cubed potato, rutabaga and butternut squash…
…followed by the can of diced tomatoes, tomato paste and vegetable broth.
Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the pot; simmer gently until the vegetables are cooked through, which should take about 20 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, cook the pasta in a separate pot, according to the directions on the package then drain and set it aside.
Cooking the pasta separate from the soup like this will prevent it from sucking up all the broth and getting all soggy on you in no time. Of course, if you’re planning on eating this entire batch of minestrone right away, you could very well cook the pasta directly in the soup by adding it to the pot once the vegetables are almost done cooking. You may have to add a little bit more water to the broth, though, to make up for all the liquid that the pasta will soak up as it cooks.
Once the veggies have cooked all the way through, kill the heat and stir in the fresh baby spinach leaves, frozen edamame and cooked cannellini beans.
I love the great little crunch and protein boost that the edamame brings to this soup but if you didn’t care for them or couldn’t get your hands on them, fell free to sub frozen green peas or lima beans instead. Likewise, you could very well use canned beans if you didn’t have time to cook your own, or even replace the cannellini beans with red kidney beans if you preferred.
Put the lid back on and allow your soup to sit for about 5 minutes, or until the spinach is completely wilted and the beans and edamame are heated all the way through.
Now to serve your soup, you have a few options… you can either reserve the quantity of soup you are planning on eating right away and add the desired amount of pasta to it…
Just be sure to add it at the last possible minute… these babies they suck up the liquid pretty fast!
Or, divide the pasta directly between the desired number of bowls and ladle the minestrone right over top…
Store any leftover soup and pasta separately and combine them at the moment of serving.
Vegan Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 2-3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt, I use Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 large potato, peeled and diced
- 1 cup cubed rutabaga
- 1 cup cubed butternut squash
- 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves
- 1 cup cooked cannellini beans, (or canned, drained and rinsed)
- 1/2 cup frozen edamame, (or green peas)
- 1 cup dry small pasta of your choice
Instructions
- Place a large pot over medium-high heat and to it, add a few tablespoons of olive oil (or other cooking oil of your choice) followed by the onion and garlic. Cook until slightly softened and fragrant and then add the carrots and celery. Cook for a few minutes more, to allow the vegetables to soften, then add the Italian seasoning, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and stir well.
- Add the potato, rutabaga and butternut squash, followed by diced tomatoes, tomato paste and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the pot; simmer gently until the vegetables are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a separate pot cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain and set aside.
- Once the veggies have cooked all the way through, kill the heat and stir in the fresh spinach, frozen edamame and cooked beans. Put the lid back on and allow your soup to sit for about 5 minutes, or until the spinach is completely wilted and the beans and edamame are heated all the way through.
- Reserve the quantity of soup you are planning on eating right away and add the desired amount of pasta to it. Or, divide the pasta directly between the desired number of bowls and ladle the minestrone over top.
- Store leftover soup and pasta separately and combine them at the moment of serving.
Notes
Nutrition
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
You can also FOLLOW ME on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER for more delicious, healthy recipes!
