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You are here: Home / Recipes and Cooking Tips / Vegetable Garden Minestrone Soup

Vegetable Garden Minestrone Soup

July 13, 2014 by Alea Milham 13 Comments

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This minestrone soup recipe is loaded with fresh vegetables!

Minestrone Soup Recipe - An Olive Garden Copycat Recipe using fresh vegetables and herbs

Vegetable Garden Minestrone Soup Recipe

An Olive Garden Minestrone Soup Copycat Recipe Using Fresh Vegetables.

I make this minestrone soup recipe a lot during the summer. I make it primarily because my family loves this Olive Garden Minestrone Soup Copycat recipe, but I also make it because it is  “a bit of this and a bit of that” soup recipe which makes it perfect for using up the odd vegetables and herbs from my garden.

My recipe is my attempt to mimic the flavors of Olive Garden’s Minestrone Soup. I believe the flavor is very close, but I have used fresh vegetables and fresh herbs where I can. I do provide measurements for dried herbs in case you don’t have access to fresh herbs. Here are tips for substituting fresh herbs for dried herbs in recipes.

Kitchen Tips:

If a recipe calls for you to boil the vegetables in liquid for more than ten minutes, replacing frozen or canned vegetables with fresh vegetables will not increase the cooking time (but does increase the prep time). Most fresh vegetables will cook in boiling liquid in less than ten minutes. Some vegetables, like potatoes, will need to be cut into bite size pieces to cook in that amount of time. If a recipe does not require 10 minutes of boiling, you can steam your raw vegetables in a double boiler for 7 – 10 minutes before adding them in place of canned or frozen vegetables in your recipe. Since this recipe calls for a total of 30 minutes of boiling, I do not have to make any adjustments for the fresh vegetables.

Vegetable Garden Minestrone Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup onion, minced
  • ½ cup zucchini, chopped
  • ½ cup fresh green beans, cut
  • 1 stalk celery, minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 7 – 8 cups Vegetable Broth
  • 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained
  • 2 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans, drained
  • 4 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (or 2 cans with juice)
  • ½ cup carrots, julienned or shredded
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced (or 2 teaspoons dried)
  • 3 teaspoons fresh oregano, minced (or 1 teaspoon dried)
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons fresh basil, minced (or ¾ teaspoon dried
  • ¾ teaspoon fresh thyme
  • 3 – 4 cups fresh baby spinach (or frozen spinach thawed)
  • ¾ cup small shell pasta* or spaghetti *broken up in small pieces
Directions:
  1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a very large soup pot. Add onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini and sauté in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.
  2. Add vegetable broth tomatoes, beans, carrots, and spices to the pot. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
  3. Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente.

Printable Recipe for Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup Recipe - An Olive Garden Copycat Recipe using fresh vegetables and herbs
Print

Garden Minestrone Soup

Delicious and healthy minestrone soup
Course Soup
Cuisine Italian
Keyword Minestrone soup recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 236kcal
Author Alea Milham

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup onion minced
  • ½ cup zucchini chopped
  • ½ cup fresh green beans cut
  • 1 stalk celery minced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 8 cups Vegetable Broth
  • 2 15 ounce cans black beans, drained
  • 2 15 ounce cans great northern beans, drained
  • 4 cups fresh tomatoes diced (or 2 cans with juice)
  • ½ cup carrots julienned or shredded
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley minced (or 2 teaspoons dried)
  • 3 teaspoons fresh oregano minced (or 1 teaspoon dried)
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons fresh basil minced (or ¾ teaspoon dried
  • ¾ teaspoon fresh thyme
  • 4 cup fresh baby spinach or frozen spinach thawed
  • ¾ cup small shell pasta* or spaghetti* broken up in small pieces

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil over medium heat in a very large soup pot. Add onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini and sauté in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.
  • Add vegetable broth tomatoes, beans, carrots, and spices to the pot. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente.

Notes

*You can use gluten-free pasta to make this soup gluten-free.

Nutrition

Calories: 236kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 918mg | Potassium: 744mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 2695IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 3mg

 

More Soup Recipes:

Cabbage Roll Soup with Turkey

Tuscan Turkey Soup

Tomato and Herb Soup

Chicken and Rice Soup

I usually fall back on soups and chili to use up the odds and ends; my mother-in-law uses up the remnants in hash. Do you have a favorite “a bit of this and a bit of that” recipe?

 

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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. Jean | DelightfulRepast.com says

    August 7, 2014 at 7:31 am

    Alea, I love soups but don’t make them nearly often enough. I need to put this one on my list!

    Reply
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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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