When was the last time you had something for dinner and immediately ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day because you couldn’t get it out of your head? It doesn’t happen often, but as I am writing this at 9:30 a.m. whilst enjoying a bowl of this Green Machine Minestrone Soup after having two three helpings last night, I’m realizing that this is potentially my new FAVORITE soup.
If you know me, you know I don’t like to play favorites with my food. I love all my food equally. Usually. But this soup changes everything I thought I knew.
This is anything but your basic minestrone soup. It has all the main parts- veggies, beans, and pasta- but it’s so much more than that.
First of all, it’s PACKED with good for you green veggies, including broccoli, zucchini, spinach, and cabbage.
Second of all, fresh basil and thyme are stirred in right at the end, imbibing the flavor of the herbs into the soup and keeping the flavor super fresh. It makes it almost like pesto in soup form.
Lastly, the soup is finished off with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese, fresh ground black pepper, and a drizzle of high quality extra virgin olive oil. Goodness gracious. Simply amazing.
This is one of those recipes that came about because I had a bunch of random leftover ingredients needing to be used. Some spinach about to wilt, a zucchini on its last leg, a random quarter of a head of cabbage leftover after making coleslaw, and a can of forgotten cannellini beans in my pantry. The beauty of this soup is that ingredient portions don’t matter very much (and to be honest, I estimated the amounts in the recipe below), and you can add or omit ingredients as necessary (add cauliflower, leave out the broccoli, add carrots, leave out the zucchini, use another kind of bean, etc.).
There are, however, a few must-dos to make this recipe 100% awesome:
- Make sure you use fresh basil and stir it in right at the end. It’s SO flavorful. When using fresh herbs, you should almost always add them at the end of cooking rather than in the beginning, as their flavors will be stronger.
- Top it with good quality extra virgin olive oil. Finding a “good quality” olive oil can be somewhat elusive if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Try and find one that’s cold-pressed and/or unfiltered. It will have a more robust flavor. For affordable options, I recommend California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil, available at most grocery stores and on Amazon. Trader Joe’s Tunisian Organic is great (and comes in a cool tin!) as well as their California Estate.
- Unless you’re vegan or vegetarian, make sure to use chicken broth instead of vegetable. And use freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Keep a block of Parmesan ready to go in your fridge at all times and ditch the aisle kind in the green canister! It’s worth the splurge.
Like most recipes on Bowl of Delicious, this soup comes together quickly (in about 30 minutes) and is extremely easy to make. Plus, it’s a one-pot meal and is freezable! Check out some other quick and easy or soup recipes.
Recipe below- enjoy!
Green Minestrone Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or bacon grease, butter, or other fat
- 1 onion diced
- 2 ribs celery thinly sliced (including leaves, if available)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 zucchini quartered and sliced
- 2 cups cabbage chopped (about one quarter of a head of cabbage)
- 2 cups broccoli chopped (about one small head)
- 2 cups green beans cut into roughly one-inch pieces (frozen or fresh)
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 8 cups chicken stock/broth or vegetable broth
- 15 oz. canned cannellini beans rinsed and drained (white kidney beans)
- 1 cup small pasta such as cavatelli or ditalini
- 2 cups spinach chopped (fresh or frozen)
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil cut chiffonade or chopped
- extra olive oil, parmesan cheese, and fresh ground black pepper for serving.
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil (2 tablespoons) and sauté the onions and celery over medium high heat until softened and starting to brown (about 3 minutes).
- Add the 2 cloves minced garlic and fresh thyme (1 teaspoon); stir until fragrant (about 1 minute).
- Add zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, and green beans. Season with salt and pepper, and stir to coat.
- Add the chicken broth (8 cups) and bring to a boil.
- Add the beans (15 oz.) and pasta (1 cup) and turn heat to low. Simmer until pasta is cooked; about 10 minutes.
- Turn heat off. Stir in spinach (2 cups) and basil (2 tablespoons) until wilted and soft.
- Serve with a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and freshly ground black pepper.
Notes
- For a vegetarian version, be sure to use vegetable broth instead of chicken.
- For a vegan version, use vegetable broth and omit the cheese on top.
- For a gluten free version, use gluten free pasta.
- For a grain free version, use grain free pasta such as chickpea flour pasta or an alternative such as quinoa.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Nancy
I had a lot of veggies from the Farmers Market that were these ingredients. I did not add beans as I didn’t have any. I think tbe soup is nice and the drizzle of olive oil before serving gives it a silkiness and enhances the flavor. For me, the soup needs some acid so I add a big squeeze of fresh lemon which was a game changer.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Love the idea of adding lemon.
Amanda
Any thoughts on how this would freeze? I love to make soup for lunches through out the week and freeze half the batch to have for a quick lunch later.
Elizabeth Lindemann
I’m all about freezing for quick convenient meals later! Everything about this soup would freeze beautifully EXCEPT for the pasta. It would probably get really mushy and disintegrate into the soup. It would still taste fine, if you aren’t too picky about the texture, but as an alternative, you could use rice or quinoa (like in this winter minestrone soup, which I actually have in my freezer right now!) or simply omit the pasta and double the beans. Hope that helps and hope you like it!
Angela Wiseman
Just made this and all I can say is wow!!! Bravo Liz!!! Will be making this a regular staple in our home!
Elizabeth
Aw yay! So happy you liked it!! Hope you and your beautiful family are doing well :-)
Karen
This is a great recipe to use up your CSA basket!
Elizabeth
Definitely- especially because you can throw whatever the heck you want in it!
Barbara Manning
Yay! At last, a minestrone that does not have tomatoes! I cook for the week every weekend, and alas, it’s Monday! But this is a huge blip on my radar screen and will be prepped as soon as I eat up what’s in the ‘fridge now. Thanks!
Elizabeth
Thanks for your great feedback! I was kind of worried the comments would be more like “um, this isn’t a Minestrone if it doesn’t have tomatoes…” but it’s just so tasty and unique without them! Hope you like it :-)
Sara
Can this be made in the slow cooker?
Elizabeth
Yup! I haven’t tried it but here’s what I’d do. Just add all the ingredients besides the beans, pasta, spinach, and herbs. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for about 3 hours and add beans and pasta; cook for another 30 minutes. Stir in the spinach and herbs right before serving for only about 5 minutes until wilted.