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.
This soup was quick and easy to make. Love that it’s full of veggies. I personally did half vegetable broth & half chicken broth to give it more flavor. Otherwise a very delicious soup.
This was yummy! I added lentils instead of northern beans because it’s what I had. I also added mushrooms just to use them up. I agree that I needed to add extra liquid at end of cooking. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
I made this for a church supper, 60 + people and it was a big hit. Many said it was best they ever had. We also served salad, breadstix and grated Parmigiano with it.
Simmering the soup right now it looks good I’ve had a little taste of it it, tastes great! I can’t wait to have a bowl of it. Going to freeze most of it. I’m just going to pull a cup off to add a little pasta to it. Freeze the rest. I think you could probably make six cups out of this it’s pretty thick loaded with veggies. Thank you for the recipe.
Whats the best brand vegetable stock to add??
I just use the store brand or Swanson!
Would this do well in the crock pot?
Yes there are slow cooker directions written in the body of the post!
If I choose to make and freeze the soup, might I leave out the pasta until the day I defrost and re-heat? If I choose to make the soup a day or so ahead and refrigerate, again should I simply add the pasta when reheating? Thank you
Yes that makes sense!
Very very good tasted a lot like Olive Gardens! Mine came out a little thick because I added more veggies, will add more broth next time. Made this in a Dutch oven. Definitely will make again!
Absolutely delicious!!! Even my 1.5 year old loved it!!! Thank you for the recipe!!
Absolutely delicious.
It was a wonderful, flavorful soup on a cold winter day. Delicious. It is a definite make again.
I am a die-hard fan of olive gardens minestrone soup! A warm bowl of this will be satisfying once I make this soup!
I’ve been looking for more soups for the winter and this olive garden minestrone soup sounds so healthy and delicious. I can’t wait to make it!
Great recipe and kids loved it too! So simple the make yet full of flavour and goodness!
What a hearty and comforting minestrone. I will be making this one often. Yummy!
My family (picky eaters) loved this soup.
I LOVE how tasty this soup is! I doubled everything, and used chicken stock instead of vegetable stock. I also omitted the noodles and added 1.5lbs of ground turkey to make the soup diet friendly. I love it! I definitely recommend this recipe! It’s always my go-to for minestrone!
I just realized as I was about to make this for the 4th or 5th time that I had never rated it. I love this soup ! Five stars!!
Love this recipe! I’m a huge garlic fan, so I always add more. Best winter meal ever! Thanks for the great recipe!
After having Olive Garden’s last night, I found your recipe so I could make my own. Left a few bites of theirs to do a taste test 😊. So close! I think mine was less salty. And had a little “zing” from some lemon juice I added. Thank you so much!! Such a hearty meal I don’t miss the breadstick!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, does anyone know what will happen if I substitute the olive oil for avocado oil? I already own a whole bunch of it and I don’t really want to get a whole bottle of olive oil, unless the soup tastes much better with that kind. Does it make a huge difference?
It should be fine with avocado oil!
Hi Sara! Just saw this article about your minestrone soup. Congratulations on being one of the 4 selected recipes! That was some stiff competition!
https://www.thekitchn.com/minestrone-soup-recipe-reviews-23269316?amp=1