Minestrone soup in bowl

Minestrone soup

By Good Food
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(152 ratings)
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Prep: 10 mins - 15 mins Cook: 30 mins

Easy

Serves 4

Our easy minestrone soup makes a filling lunch or a satisfying supper, served with fresh bread. This simple bowl of goodness is packed with nutritious veg

Nutrition and extra info

  • Fibre, good source of iron, folic acid, 5-a-day
  • Easily doubled / halved
  • Healthy
  • Vegetarian

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal420
  • fat6g
  • saturates1g
  • carbs79g
  • sugars24g
  • fibre16g
  • protein18g
  • salt1.11g
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Ingredients

  • 3 large carrots, roughly chopped
    Carrot

    Carrot

    ka-rot

    The carrot, with its distinctive bright orange colour, is one of the most versatile root…

  • 1 large onion, roughly chopped
    Onion

    Onion

    un-yun

    Onions are endlessly versatile and an essential ingredient in countless recipes. Native to Asia…

  • 4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
    Celery

    Celery

    sell-er-ee

    A collection of long, thick, juicy stalks around a central, tender heart, celery ranges in…

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
    olive oil

    Olive oil

    ol-iv oyl

    Probably the most widely-used oil in cooking, olive oil is pressed from fresh olives. It's…

  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 large potatoes, cut into small dice
    Potato

    Potato

    po-tate-oh

    The world's favourite root vegetable, the potato comes in innumerable varieties. A member of…

  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 2l vegetable stock
  • 400g can chopped tomatoes
  • 400g can butter or cannellini beans
    Cannellini bean

    Cannellini bean

    can-a-leen-ee been

    Slightly kidney-shaped with squarish ends, cannellini beans are from Italy and are creamy white…

  • 140g spaghetti, snapped into short lengths
  • ½ head Savoy cabbage, shredded
  • crusty bread, to serve

Method

  1. In a food processor, whizz the carrots, onion and celery into small pieces. Heat the oil in a pan, add the processed vegetables, garlic and potatoes, then cook over a high heat for 5 mins until softened.

  2. Stir in the tomato purée, stock and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 mins.

  3. Tip in the beans and pasta, then cook for a further 10 mins, adding the cabbage for the final 2 mins. Season to taste and serve with crusty bread.

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Comments, questions and tips

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lizleicester
19th Sep, 2018
4.05
Very tasty. Gallons of soup made with these simple, healthy ingredients!
Roubaix
18th Mar, 2018
5.05
Made this soup for the first time and it was delicious. Added a wee bit of oregano but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter and it was a delicious treat for a cold winters day.
keencook146
4th Nov, 2017
4.05
I adjusted this for one person and used: 1 small onion, 1 small carrot, 1 v.small potato, 35g spaghetti, 1/2 can chopped tomatoes, 300ml stock, 1 clove garlic, 3 small pieces of cauliflower, 1 stick celery, sprinkling of oregano and added in a tbsp of pesto at the end. It was yummy and good portion size for a dinner.
Kkpsh
29th Oct, 2017
Great combination of ingredients. I tweaked it bit to make it a little spicy. I roasted two teaspoons each of cumin and coriander seeds ground in the mortar and pestle and stirred in hot oil with a teaspoon of mustard seed sitirring before adding chopped carrots, onion, garlic celery and two sliced leeks. I substituted the potatoes for a tin of broad beans mashed in the food processor and added to sweated vegetables to give it body. I then followed the recipe but added a tin of mixed beans instead of butter beans. I also added a pinch of chilli flakes with the tomatoes. Then added two handfuls of parsley chopped with the cabbage. I think 1.25 liters of stock would be sufficient. Delicious
susiec111
1st Mar, 2017
5.05
Lovely soup! I used white cabbage instead of savoy, butter beans, added in some dried basil and oregano and a spoonful of green pesto, it is really scrummy! Thick and chunky, how a minestrone should be. It makes a huge amount (and I added a touch more water as well) so don't be stingy with your seasoning, it needs quite a bit. Would definitely make again.
falafellover
12th Feb, 2017
5.05
Delicious! I skipped the beans but added some more pasta, and added some paprika and oregano. It made a big pot of satisfying soup.
Jag221
14th Nov, 2016
I usually double soup recipes which serve 4 to feed 4 adults for lunch for some of the week - made the mistake of not reading comments and doubled the recipe, now have huge culdron of soup to last about a month! Oh well, I will be freezing some. It's a nice soup but surprised it didn't have any seasoning other than S&P, next time I will add some Italian herbs, basil etc. A great healthy lunch to take to work though.
CarolinaFernandez
7th Oct, 2016
5.05
Great recipe. Very healthy. Can last a whole week (makes like 8 portions) so it is handy if you are dieting. My variations: I also added leek as it was sadly standing in the fridge. Replaced the cabbage with chinese cabbage and added half way through cooking as it was soft as I am not that keen on cabbage. Cooking time was longer than what is mentioned but I suppose it depends on how big or how small you cut the veggies. But was expecting it anyway.
sunburntsteve
12th Feb, 2016
5.05
Delicious.....but, the quantities seemed way too much. I used half of everything except 1.5L stock and stuck with the 400g tomatoes. Added a little Italian seasoning at the end. Result.
josie43
5th Jan, 2016
yummy i added some fresh thyme and a little chilli and 2 bay leaves also cooked the cabbage when the stock etc went in, as my kids are not that keen and this way the cabbage was really soft and not that noticeable

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KY_B13's picture
KY_B13
13th Jan, 2020
what would have to be removed/ use an alternative to make the soup vegan? as looking at the ingredients it all looks pretty vegan apart from possibly the butter?
lulu_grimes's picture
lulu_grimes
14th Jan, 2020
Hello, Yes this can easily be made vegan, you need to check what kind of stock and pasta you use. There isn't any butter, just butter beans. I hope this helps.
ziacka@gmail.com
12th Jun, 2017
Can this be made in a slow cooker?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
14th Jun, 2017
We wouldn't suggest cooking this one in a slow cooker. It's a quick-to-make recipe which involves some additions during the cooking and you want to avoid overcooking the pasta. There are alternative slow cooker soups in this collection: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/slow-cooker We hope you find one you like.
ZoeIris95
30th Apr, 2017
Can this be frozen?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
5th May, 2017
Thanks for your question. Yes, this can be frozen. The blue star above the nutritional information indicates all our recipes that freeze well.
HannahSmith11
21st Aug, 2014
I've just cooked up this delicious soup but have masses left. Is it possible to freeze the remainder?
fuzzyjill
2nd Sep, 2019
4.05
Wish I had read the reviews before I made this! Saw it served four and thought I would double it to make lunches for the week. It barely fitted in my huge soup pot and it will feed the street for a week! However it is very tasty. I just chopped the vegetables really small rather than using food processor and added in some dried basil and oregano and used kale instead of savoy cabbage.
macinnes48
1st Feb, 2015
4.05
Lovely soup and the flavour improves if left for a day
carawj
21st Jan, 2015
5.05
I added some extra garlic, and a bit of cumin, coriander and paprika, which gave it loads of flavour!
Cooking Freak
26th Feb, 2014
5.05
I had a go at freezing a portion of soup and the taste was still fab. I've now made another batch and managed to make 10 portions out this recipe. I've stuck them in the freezer for work, that's my lunch sorted for the next 2 weeks!
paulaq
1st Feb, 2014
Nice with spicy chopped chorizo sausage or if you like it with even more heat add a few dashes of tabasco sauce.
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