Green Pesto Minestrone Soup

4.50 from 2 votes

This Green Minestrone Soup has no tomatoes, and has pesto stirred in at the end of cooking, which gives it a vibrant green color and bright, deliciously fresh flavor. This soup is packed with healthy green vegetables, chickpeas, and cannellini beans and tastes incredible!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 368kcal

Author: Elizabeth Lindemann

Equipment

Large Pot or Dutch Oven
Immersion Blender optional

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion diced (about 1 ½ cups)
2 stalks celery diced (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups diced zucchini from about 2 small or 1 medium zucchini
2 cups shredded kale I used Lacinato / Tuscan kale
2 cups cut green beans about ½ inch pieces, frozen is fine
15 oz. canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
15 oz. canned cannellini beans drained and rinsed
8 cups chicken stock/broth or vegetable broth
1 cup small pasta I like using fregola or acini de pepe (see notes)
¼ cup pesto store-bought or homemade
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
extra olive oil, parmesan or Romano cheese, and fresh ground black pepper for serving
lemon wedges for serving, optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and sauté the diced 1 onion and diced 2 stalks celery over medium high heat until softened and starting to brown (about 3 minutes).
Add the minced 2 cloves garlic and stir until fragrant (about 1 minute).
Add 2 cups diced zucchini, 2 cups shredded kale, 2 cups cut green beans, drained and rinse 15 oz. canned chickpeas, and drained and rinsed 15 oz. canned cannellini beans. Stir, then add the 8 cups chicken stock/broth.
Bring to a boil, and stir in the 1 cup small pasta. Cover and simmer on low for about 10 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked.
Turn heat off. Stir in the ¼ cup pesto and season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper (you may need plenty of salt here, or not much at all, depending on how salty the chicken broth you used was).
Optional: Use an immersion blender to pulse the soup a few times, pureeing some of the ingredients to add body and thickness to the soup.
Serve, topping each bowl with a drizzle of extra olive oil, parmesan or Romano cheese, and fresh ground black pepper . If you like, you can also squeeze the juice from lemon wedges into each bowl, especially if your pesto does not have any lemon in it.

Video

Notes

For a vegetarian version, be sure to use vegetable broth instead of chicken. For a vegan version, be sure to use a vegan pesto.
Fregola is a toasted small circular pasta, similar to acini de pepe or pearl couscous. I usually like using the tiniest pasta in soups because they freeze better than larger shapes. You can use any pasta you want here - ditalini is a common pasta in minestrone.
For a gluten-free version, use quinoa, rice, or another gluten-free grain in place of the pasta.
Add a parmesan rind to the soup to simmer along with the other ingredients, if you happen to have one. It will add salty umami flavor to the whole thing. Remove it and discard before serving.

Nutrition