Vegan Minestrone Soup
Vegan Minestrone Soup is a hearty potful of fresh garden veggies, tender noodles, spices, and plant proteins simmered in a tomato broth. It is a healthy one-pot dish that will instantly warm you up and leave you feeling comfy and satisfied. Perfect for the chilly weather!
It is finally soup season, and I can’t wait to add this delicious vegan Minestrone Soup recipe to my Cozy vegan Soup Recipe list! It is a simple soup that delivers big on flavors and nutrition! And you can make this classic Italian soup to your liking using whatever vegetables you have on hand.
What is Minestrone Soup?
The word minestrone simply means thick vegetable soup or big soup. This humble dish first came about during the early building of the Roman Empire and is part of the frugal diet, which is primarily vegetarian in nature. The ingredients used for making this rustic soup are not set in stone and have continued to change over time. Nowadays, this wholesome soup is enjoyed in many kitchens as a heart-warming dish with lots of health benefits.
Homemade Vegan Minestrone Soup
Turning this classic vegetarian dish into a wholly plant-based one is not difficult at all. Using vegetable broth instead of meat stock is all I had to do. I know some liked adding meat to their Minestrone soup, but the recipe hardly calls for one. It is super flavorful and filling as it is. I used kidney beans and pasta as the primary protein and carbohydrate sources for this recipe, but feel free to add more to bulk it up! Some bay leaves, potatoes, kale, broccoli, and green beans would be great with this dish.
How Healthy is Vegan Minestrone Soup?
Very! The wide range of vegetables used for this recipe boasts many vitamins and nutrients in each spoonful. Beans are known to have high fiber and protein content. At the same time, crunchy carrots and celery are rich in antioxidants, beta carotene, and vitamin C. These are all important for our body to fight off common flu and colds, especially this season.
Ingredients used:
- Vegetable oil – You can use any neutral vegetable oil with a medium smoke point for this recipe.
- Onion, Garlic, Carrots, and Celery – are all used for the soffrito. An Italian cooking base for soups, stews, and other dishes. These will start the soup off with a savory and aromatic flavor.
- Diced tomatoes – I used canned tomatoes for this recipe; however, feel free to use fresh ones. Just sauté them until they soften and mash using the back of a spoon.
- Vegetable broth – Use a low sodium broth for your soup base. You can also use vegetable bouillon cubes dissolved in water for this recipe.
- Kidney beans – should be washed and drained. These meaty and slightly sweet beans are perfect for this recipe. However, feel free to use other beans like cannellini, white, or Great Northern beans. If you want more bean recipes, here are 59 Ways to Use a Can of Beans!
- Spices – I used both dried oregano and ground cumin. They provide a warm and earthy flavor that makes the soup so comforting!
- Pasta noodles – Use short noodles or shells like bowties, tubular, penne, elbow, or rigatoni.
- Optional: bay leaves, chopped kale or spinach, russet or red potatoes, fresh or frozen broccoli, or fresh or frozen green beans
How to Make Vegan Minestrone Soup
Making it is super easy and requires only one pot! It should be ready for serving after half an hour. This includes 10 minutes of preparation already.
- Heat oil over medium heat on a large pot.
- Sauté onion, garlic, carrots, and celery until soft and slightly browned.
- Add the tomatoes, water, and bouillon cubes (or broth), beans, oregano, and cumin, and let it simmer.
- Optional: Add bay leaves, potatoes, broccoli, and green beans too!
- Add pasta and cook according to package instructions. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.
Tips when making it:
- If you want a thicker soup, you can add more tomato sauce, but add more broth or water if you like it soupier.
- If you are making this to serve later, pre-cook the pasta separately and add it when reheating the soup. It’s not good to let the pasta rest in the soup as it will soak the liquids.
- If you want to make it low-carb, you can skip the pasta and add more plant proteins instead.
- You can sprinkle on vegan parmesan cheese and pesto before serving to make it even more flavorful!
FAQs for Vegan Minestrone Soup
- Can I make it gluten-free? Sure, just make sure to use a gluten-free pasta brand to make it.
- What can I serve it with? This soup is a complete meal in one! Enjoy it on its own or serve it with other dishes if you are feeding a hungry crowd. Go classic by serving this hearty soup with freshly baked crusty bread or cornbread. Or you can also serve some Fried Green Tomatoes or baked Zucchini Fries for a crunchy side dish.
- How to store Vegan Minestrone Soup? Make sure that the soup has thoroughly cooled down before storing. It is best to separate the noodles and keep them in a separate container when storing leftovers. You can keep them refrigerated for a week at most. The same applies before freezing the soup for longer storage. Reheat on a stovetop using low heat only to make sure that the veggies do not turn mushy.
Here are more delicious and nutritious soups to enjoy!
- Garlic Ginger Soup – This simple garlic ginger soup with noodles is a warm, comforting, nutritious, healing broth, noodle, and tofu combination – perfect for serving when you feel a cold/flu coming on.
- Matzo Ball Soup – You’ll love this plant-based version of the traditional Jewish Matzo Ball Soup! Once you get the hang of the dough, you’ll be a matzo ball pro!
- Jackfruit “Chicken” Noodle Soup – Get ready to fall in love with comforting and delicious soup made of jackfruit for a ‘meaty’ texture!
- Veggie-packed Potato Leek Soup – This veggie-packed soup is full of veggies, packed with flavor and deliciousness, perfect for a cold winter day and especially when leeks are on sale!
Photos by Alfonso Revilla
Vegan Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ yellow or red onion diced
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 medium carrots sliced
- 2 ribs celery sliced
- 1 can diced tomatoes 14.5 ounces, in their juices
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cans kidney beans 15-ounce, drained
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 ½ cups pasta noodles bowties, tubular, penne, etc.
Optional Additions:
- 2 pieces bay leaves
- 2 cups kale or spinach, chopped
- 2 medium russet potatoes or red potatoes, chopped
- 1 cup broccoli fresh or frozen
- 1 cup green beans fresh or frozen
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat the oil (or water).
- Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery. Saute for 3 minutes or until the onion is tender and translucent.
- Add the tomatoes, water, and bouillon cubes (or broth), beans, oregano, and cumin, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the pasta and cook for the amount of time suggested on the package.
- Remove from the heat. Add salt and pepper.
Nutrition
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