Easy Minestrone Soup | Easy and delicious Minestrone Soup, finished in under 30 minutes. This tomato-based soup is full of flavor with Italian Seasoning, zucchini, and chickpeas. Use Alphabet pasta for a quick kid-friendly dinner.
September is Soup month here on PiperCooks. The weather is changing and all I want is thick sweaters, furry blankets, warm drinks, and hot soup! Add in some cozy slippers and fresh-baked bread bowls and I'm a happy camper. I hope you will be too when I share all of my favorite soup recipes this month.
We're starting off with a perfectly Easy Minestrone Soup. I'll share seven more soup recipes and a tip on how to get soups started quicker. Plus, I'll show you how to make your own homemade soup from what you have on hand, and I show you a bunch of great soups from other amazing bloggers, so I hope you follow along and enjoy this month with me!
But first, a quick and easy Minestrone Soup. This soup is tomato-based but also uses chicken stock, which you could switch to vegetable stock to make this a vegetarian soup. I use both tomato paste and a tomato passata. Tomato passata is a pureed tomato that has been strained. You could use crushed tomato or tomato sauce instead.
How to Make Easy Minestrone Soup
I make all of my soups in a 5 quart Cuisinart enameled cast iron dutch oven. That's a mouthful. It's my favorite pot for soup though with its heavy bottom and nothing ever sticks to it. You can use something similar, or your favorite soup pot.
Heat your pot over medium and add a tablespoon of cooking oil. When it's hot, add the mirepoix (carrot, celery, onion mix - see tip below) and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the mixture is softened.
Add all of the other ingredients (the tomato paste, tomato passata, stock, chickpeas, homemade Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, sugar, zucchini, and pasta). Bring to a boil, then leave at a simmer until pasta is cooked. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese and crusty bread.
Can I make any substitutions?
Yes. Check below for substitution ideas.
Chickpeas
Use a different bean for the chickpeas if you want to. Kidney beans would be nice.
Zucchini
If you or your kids don't like zucchini, swap in some green beans, peas or kale.
Alphabet Pasta
Use the pasta shape you prefer. I love the Alphabet pasta because I think it's so fun for kids. Other shapes ideas would be:
- the classic Ditali
- Macaroni
- Fusili
- Orecchiette
Making Homemade Soup Easier
Shortcuts for making homemade soup
This little shortcut will make your soup-making prep a bit quicker and easier. Instead of chopping and measuring onions, celery and carrots – which I use to start most of my soups – I now buy a mix that's frozen and pre-diced. It still only contains vegetables and nothing weird so I totally feel comfortable using it in my homemade meals. It just cuts some of the prep time out. If you can find bags of frozen Mirepoix (carrot, celery, and onion) at your grocery, I totally recommend trying it, you'll have soup going in no time!
Also, that's what I call for in this soup and most of my upcoming soups. If you don't have that mix, just chop up equal-ish amounts of carrot, celery, and onion and measure it all together. It'll be fine.
I also use store-bought stock when I don't have any homemade. I always use the one with no salt added, so that I can control that myself.
Recipe
Easy Minestrone Soup with Alphabet Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 3 cups mirepoix (carrot, celery, onion)
- 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
- 600 ml tomato passata
- 4 cups chicken stock (use vegetable stock or water for vegetarian)
- 1 540 ml 19 oz can chickpeas
- 2 teaspoons
Homemade Italian Seasoning - ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon granulated white sugar
- 1 medium zucchini (quartered)
- ¾ cups dried pasta (alphabets or other small shapes)
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium. Add mirepoix. Cook about 8-9 minutes, until softening.
- Add the rest of the ingredients.
- Bring to boil, then simmer about 10 minutes, or until pasta is done cooking.
- Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and crusty bread.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate. Values vary based on products used.
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This soup recipe is part of my Best Homemade Soup Recipes Collection. Click below to view them all.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!