Meatless Minestrone Soup

30-minute Meatless Minestrone Soup

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Minestrone Soup is a popular Italian soup made of seasonal vegetables. My recipe is really easy, satisfying and gets the job done in 30 minutes. I used vegetable stock to make my minestrone soup a totally meatless version, but you may use beef or chicken stock if you like.

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The ingredients used in this recipe like kidney beans, celery, onions and cabbage are common minestrone soup ingredients, but feel free to use whatever vegetables are in season. I used some leftover canned diced tomatoes which is not a usual addition, but it definitely adds more tangy flavour and colour to the soup! This soup goes well on its own as a one-dish-meal, or with some garlic bread.

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup Recipe

This is a very adaptable recipe; feel free to use your favourite stock, herbs and seasonable vegetables. You can also tweak the consistency of the soup to your liking. The soup is traditionally more chunky, but you may make a more brothy version (like I did) by using more stock.

Ingredients:

  • 30 grams butter
  • 2 stalks celery thinly sliced
  • 1/2 onion thinly sliced
  • 750 ml vegetable stock
  • 5 French beans ends trimmed, sliced to 2 cm length
  • 6 cabbage leaves thinly sliced
  • 1/2 zucchini thinly sliced
  • 100 grams kidney beans drained from the can
  • 1 tsp dried Italian herbs may substitute with herbs like rosemary/thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 30 grams tomato paste to taste
  • 1/2 cup macaroni cooked in salted boiling water and drained
  • 1/2 cup diced tomatoes from the can (optional)
  • a few leaves fresh basil finely chopped
  • salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Melt butter in pot, saute celery and onions until the latter is translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
  2. Add vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat and add French beans, cabbage, zucchini, kidney beans, Italian seasoning, bay leaf and tomato paste. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened.
  3. When the soup is cooked, stir in the cooked macaroni and diced tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, dish into serving bowls and top with freshly chopped basil.