Name: Minestrone Soup with Pasta
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons of olive oil; 1 zucchini, medium diced; 1/2 of a small sweet yellow onion, medium diced; 2 celery stalks, medium diced; 1 carrot, medium diced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 teaspoon dried oregano; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1 bay leaf; dash of hot sauce or small pinch of red pepper flakes (Optional: but for my heat lovers, maybe it's totally necessary); 1 to 2 cups of roughly chopped kale with no stems, depending on how much you like kale. You can easily go spinach instead, if preferred.; (1) 15 ounce can of tomato sauce; (1) 14 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes, drained; (1) 16 ounce can of garbanzo beans, drained; (1) 16 ounce can of kidney beans, drained; (1) 14 ounce can of cut green beans, drained; (2) 32 ounce containers of Chicken Stock or Vegetable Stock; 1 cup of Ditalini or Orzo pasta, uncooked; 1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese for garnish

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

This post contains affiliate links.

This Minestrone Soup with Pasta will fill every portion of your soul on a cold day. It is delicious, healthy and full of flavor.

It's finally the Fall season, which means that I will be cooking soup all day every day. Some people may call it a problem, but it's just way too easy to throw a bunch of delicious ingredients into a pot, let it sit for hours, then enjoy the flavor built over time. I can picture it now..me with a cup of this soup, topped in parmigiano-reggiano cheese, lounging in my jammies, sitting in front of a real wood burning fireplace. This is my day dream, so I'm not talking a regular size fireplace like mine at home. I'm dreaming of a fireplace like in the Wilderness Lodge in Disney or at some expensive ski resort. Oh, so magical.

When I say throw it in a pot, I am being honest. I take little time in soups worrying about whether my vegetables are cut perfectly. Some may call it messy or lazy, but I like to add to the "realness factor". I'm a pretty basic kind of woman, and I'm planning on keeping it that way. I'm also a firm believer of cooking with what you have available. I was out of big carrots here, so I used a few baby carrots. Now, let's get to it..

Servings: 6 to 8 bowls of soup

Time to cook: 1 hour, 45 minutes.. but with lots of down time. (Don't worry fellow mamas, there will be plenty of time for those 10 tasks you need to catch up on...damn multi-tasking never ends, does it?)

Ingredients for Minestrone Soup with Pasta:

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 zucchini, medium diced
½ of a small sweet yellow onion, medium diced
2 celery stalks, medium diced
1 carrot, medium diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
dash of hot sauce or small pinch of red pepper flakes (Optional: but for my heat lovers, maybe it's totally necessary)
1 to 2 cups of roughly chopped kale with no stems, depending on how much you like kale. You can easily go spinach instead, if preferred.
(1) 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
(1) 14 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes, drained
(1) 16 ounce can of garbanzo beans, drained
(1) 16 ounce can of kidney beans, drained
(1) 14 ounce can of cut green beans, drained
(2) 32 ounce containers of Chicken Stock or Vegetable Stock if vegetarian *Kitchen Basics is my favorite brand for stock. They are not paying me to say that, I simply love the stock to my core and feel it will outshine any other stock. If you can find it in your store, it's worth the extra money*
1 cup of Ditalini or Orzo pasta, uncooked
½ cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese for garnish

How to Make Minestrone Soup with Pasta:

Begin by placing a dutch oven or large pot on medium heat on the stovetop. Once heated, add olive oil.

To the pot, add zucchini, onion, celery, carrot, and salt. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until slightly softened. Do not burn.

Sprinkle in pepper, oregano, garlic and bay leaf and stir. If you like it spicy, add a pinch of red pepper flakes or hot sauce.

vegetables and seasoning inside of a dutch oven

Toss in kidney & garbanzo beans, green beans, and fire roasted tomatoes.

Mix in both stocks and tomato sauce.

Bring to a low boil. Stir well.

Reduce heat to low, cover and allow to simmer for an hour.

After an hour, add the kale.

Adding kale to dutch oven minestrone soup

Increase the heat to medium low and add the pasta.. (A quick note on the pasta: If you are going to add it into the pot, it needs a little extra loving care. It's going to stick to the bottom, so you will have to stir it every minute or so. I love the flavor the soup brings to the noodles, but if you don't want to deal with this, just cook pasta on the side and add it in at serving)

adding ditalini pasta to minestrone soup

Next, cook over medium low for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently until pasta is al dente, meaning still a bit firm.

Time to enjoy this delicious soup. Garnish with love aka parmigiano-reggiano.

Can I leave the pasta to boil for longer than 15 to 20 minutes?

If you plan on doing this, please just cook the pasta on the side. The pasta will continue to cook, causing it to become large, mushy & overcooked. The noodles will also soak up a ton of the broth. All bad things..

What are the croutons in the soup photo?

They are homemade croutons that I make for soups and Caesar salad. I take Italian sandwich bread and brush on garlic butter. Then cut it into cubes and bake them on a cookie sheet in the oven for about 8 to 9 minutes until golden brown at 350 degrees. They are a nice little extra touch if you are up for it.