This Olive Garden minestrone soup is loaded with vegetables, beans and pasta in a tomato broth. It’s a copycat of the restaurant version that tastes even better than the original recipe!
Every time I go to Olive Garden I order the soup, salad and breadsticks. I just can’t get enough of their minestrone soup, it’s my favorite! This homemade version is easy to whip up and is a great way to get the family to eat their veggies. Serve your soup with garlic knots for a complete meal.
Every time I go to Olive Garden, I have to get the minestrone soup. It’s filled with tons of great flavors and textures, yet is light enough not to fill me up before the main course arrives. This recipe is an Olive Garden minestrone soup copycat, and I have to say, it’s as good (or better!) than the original.
How do you make Olive Garden Minestrone group?
This recipe calls for a variety of vegetables cooked in a savory broth. Onions, carrots, celery and zucchini are sauteed, then tomatoes, vegetable broth, pasta and beans go into the mix. Let everything simmer and dinner is served!
What vegetables go into minestrone soup?
This soup is loaded with veggies, it contains onion, carrot, celery, zucchini, tomatoes, green beans and spinach. This is the same blend of vegetables that Olive Garden uses, but you can absolutely change up the veggies depending on what’s in season and what you have on hand. Other great vegetable choices are
- Russet potatoes
- Butternut squash
- Sweet potatoes
- Leeks
- Kale
Slow cooker Minestrone Soup
This soup can easily be made in the slow cooker if you’d prefer to go that route. You can add all the ingredients to the slow cooker minus the pasta, spinach and parsley, then let everything simmer for 4-6 hours on low or 2-3 hours on high. Stir in the pasta and spinach and let everything cook for an additional 20-30 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Tips for Minestrone Soup
- You can use fresh or frozen green beans, whatever you prefer.
- Try to cut all the vegetables the same size so that they cook at the same rate.
- This soup freezes well, although the pasta and vegetables may be a little softer upon thawing and reheating.
- Be sure to drain and rinse your beans before adding them to the soup, you want to get rid of all that extra sodium!
- This soup is hearty enough to serve as a main course, but if you’d like an extra dose of protein, try adding some cooked Italian sausage.
This Olive Garden minestrone soup hits the spot on a cold day, and it’s so easy to make too! Add a sprinkle of parmesan and some warm bread and you’ve for a quick dinner that everyone is sure to love.
More great soup recipes
Olive Garden Minestrone Soup Video
Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 cup onion diced
- 1/2 cup celery sliced
- 1/2 cup carrots peeled, quartered and sliced
- 1 zucchini quartered and sliced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 15 ounce can small white beans drained and rinsed
- 1 15 ounce can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup frozen cut green beans
- 1/2 cup small shell pasta
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots and zucchini to the pot.
- Cook until the vegetables are tender, 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, tomato paste and Italian seasoning to the pot. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the white beans, kidney beans, green beans and pasta to the pot. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until pasta and vegetables are tender.
- Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the spinach leaves and cook for 2-3 minutes or until wilted.
- Sprinkle the parsley over the soup and serve.
made a big pot last night. my husband said I need to make this at least once a month if not more often. dropped off leftovers at my parents this morning. they just called and said that was the best minestrone soup they have ever eaten, including restaurants.
Made this with frozen Italian vegetables it was delicious thanks
This was delicious! I doubled the recipe and added some fried italian sausage. I forgot the shells, but it was so hearty we didn’t even miss them. Definitely a winner.
I have made this Minestrone Soup Recipe many many times. With a few minor tweaks when I haven’t got what I need.
This time I used a for bean mix and no chilli flakes when my husband is going to eat it and her hates chilli.
I always seem to have the ingredients in the cupboard and fridge so it’s a go to recipe.
I’ve made a big pot of Minestrone Soup and one a pot of Vegetable Soup to give to my daughter as she just had a baby.
Nothing better when you are home and it’s a cold and rainy day, with some crusty bread.
I worked at Olive Garden for many years, and tasted this soup almost daily for quality checks. This is an excellent recipe, it tastes spot on!
I have made this recipe many times and love it but tonight I added some pesto to the pot!!! Yummmmmm. Just a bit of extra flavor!!!
I love making minestrones! This recipe is a great vegan meal. I used diluted V-8 juice because I didn’t have vegetable broth. Turned out delicious! Thanks Sara for incentive! BETTER THAN OLIVE GARDEN!!!
We had this for dinner and everyone said it was delicious and asked me to make it again. Such a hit! I did add ground beef to give all my boys more protein. Do you think this would freeze well? Have you frozen it? I made a huge amount and plan to either freeze some or share with a friend…or both!
It’s totally fine to freeze it, just be aware the veggies may be softer when it’s thawed and reheated!
Yeah, I would definitely think this would freeze well. I’m making it right now actually lol.
Loved this soup. I cooked pasta separately so it wouldn’t absorb the broth and added at the end and added 1 additional cup of broth. Will make it again!
This was a hit for my family!!!! I followed the recipe and slow simmered for awhile before adding the noodles. I served with breadsticks and shredded mozzarella which it completed the meal. It was like going out to eat. I plan to make it again soon!
This was excellent. I found canned Italian green beans that are exactly the type of green bean the Olive Garden uses. I used frozen chopped spinach as I had it on hand. Great soup and so healthy.
Hi Sara. Great soup! What is the serving size?
It’s 1 1/2 cups
I love this recipe. keep using it and always turns out amazing
Absolutely loved this recipe! Thank you!
Thank you so much for the amazing recipe!! Our kids absolutely loved the taste and it’s great to enjoy while we watch the snow melt!
Very delicious and filling!! Great on this cold day.
Really good! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I added some grated parmesan and it was dead on 😍
Best soup recipe EVER! My family just got back home from this TX winter nightmare we’d been through and so happy to have bought all the ingredients before we had to leave our house. This was a true treat and just the perfect thing to make for my family w our deep freeze and just the perfect to a t recipe
I did add some Italian sausage cuz my men like their meat but doesn’t need it but at the same time it was really good!
Can you use navy beans that are not canned or perhaps cannellini beans in a can? What is the preferred type of white beans that you used?
I used canned Great Northern beans but any cooked white bean should work fine!
This recipe was delicious
Wow, oh wow! This is the best OG copy cat minestrone soup recipe I have had. I threw my other recipe away!
I really enjoyed this recipe. It was perfect.