Hearty Instant Pot Minestrone Soup

Name: Hearty Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp Olive Oil; 2 Garlic Cloves (Minced); 1 Onion (1/2 cup, Chopped); 2 Celery Stalks (1 cup, Chopped); 2 Carrots (1 cup, Chopped); 1 Zucchini (1 cup, Chopped, Unpeeled); 1 can Red Beans (14.5 ounces, Rinsed); 1 can Diced Tomatoes (28 ounces); 2 cups Fresh Baby Spinach; 1 cup Pasta (Such as ditalini or elbows); 6 cups Chicken Broth (Low Sodium); 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning

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This hearty Instant Pot Minestrone Soup is ready in under 30 minutes and full of healthy vegetables! It's an easy soup to make on a cold, Winter night. Healthy vegetables and beans are surrounded by a rich, tomato broth to make the most delicious soup!

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Minestrone soup has always been one of my favorite soups, because it is to easy to make! You don't have to wait to cook any meat, and the longer the broth cooks, the richer the flavor!

Soup season is my favorite! I love making big pots of soup and eat the soup throughout the week. Make sure to check out these other delicious soups:

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Why You'll Love This Recipe
What Is Minestrone?
Ingredients You'll Need
The Best Type of Pasta To Use
Equipment
Let's Make Instant Pot Minestrone Soup!
Variations Of This Soup
Making Minestrone Soup on the Stovetop
Making Minestrone Soup in the Slow Cooker
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Recipes To Try!
📖 Recipe

A head on shot of the soup with a blue napkin in the background

Why You'll Love This Recipe

It is so good for you! This soup is full of hearty vegetables and beans.
The Instant Pot does all the hard work! Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot and let it cook. No need to babysit the soup at all.
It's a great make ahead meal! Make this soup on a Sunday and have it for lunch throughout the week.

What Is Minestrone?

Minestrone soup is a rich and hearty tomato based soup that is full of vegetables and beans. It originated in Italy and has changed throughout the years and is now a little different wherever you have it.

Minestrone was originally a "leftover" soup, "Minestrone" translating to "that which is served". Originally, people would use whatever they had in the house to make this soup. Different beans, tomatoes, vegetables, and broth were added. Sometimes, even meat!

Ingredients You'll Need

An overhead view of the ingredients for the Instant Pot Minestrone Soup

Vegetables- For this recipe, we are using onions, carrots, celery, zucchini, and spinach.
Diced tomatoes- a 28 ounce can or two 14 ounce cans, with their juices.
Fresh Spinach- The spinach is added at the end, not when you add the rest of the vegetables. That's because the spinach would disintegrate under the pressure of the Instant Pot.
Chicken Broth- low sodium broth. Vegetable broth can be substituted.
Beans- Red beans, cannellini beans, or garbanzo beans. Drained in a mesh strainer. Make sure to rinse off any of the liquid that the beans are in as it can be very salty.

The Best Type of Pasta To Use

The best pasta for soup is small, short cut pasta. Ditalini, elbows, or small shells are perfect shapes for soup. That's because those types of pasta are about the same size as the beans, so they easily fit on a spoon.

You can also break up pieces of spaghetti or lasagna and add it to the soup. Potatoes or rice can be substituted for pasta if you would prefer.

A spoon is scooping the Instant Pot Minestrone soup.

Equipment

Let's Make Instant Pot Minestrone Soup!

Clean and chop the onions, carrots, zucchini, celery, and garlic. Drain the beans into a mesh colander and set that aside.

Set the Instant Pot to "saute" and add the olive oil and vegetables. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Once the vegetables just start to soften, add the tomatoes in their juice, the drained beans, pasta, seasonings, and chicken broth.

The vegetables are chopped and ready to be cooked. — Saute the vegetables

The tomatoes and beans are added to the Instant Pot — Saute the vegetables

Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set it to "High" for 5 minutes. The Instant Pot will take 10-15 minutes to come up to pressure, and then will cook at pressure for 5 minutes. Once the 5 minutes is up, release the pressure and open the lid. Set the Instant Pot to "saute" and add the spinach. Let the spinach cook for 2 minutes or until it is completely wilted. Mix the soup, season with salt and pepper to your taste, and serve!

The broth is added to the instant pot — cook the soup on high

The spinach is added to the Instant Pot — cook the soup on high

Variations Of This Soup

Serve this soup with homemade sourdough bread, or sourdough rolls.
Change up the vegetables- Add green beans, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, or even butternut squash!
To make this soup gluten free, use potatoes instead of pasta.
Use your favorite beans. I used red beans, but cannellini beans, garbanzo beans, or mini cannellini beans can be used instead. If you would like to up the beans, use two cans to get the extra protein.

A close up of the Instant Pot Minestrone soup with a spoon in the bowl

Making Minestrone Soup on the Stovetop

To make this soup on the stovetop, take out a large Dutch oven and saute the olive oil, carrots, celery, onions, zucchini, and garlic for 2 minutes.

Add the drained beans, the can of tomatoes in their juice, the chicken broth, and seasonings. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the pasta to the soup and cook for 8 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Making Minestrone Soup in the Slow Cooker

To make this minestrone soup in the slow cooker, add all the ingredients to the slow cooker except for the spinach and pasta.

Cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 8 hours. One hour before the end of cooking, add the pasta and spinach to the slow cooker. Stir the soup and let it cook for one more hour with the lid on tight.

Serve immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this instant pot minestrone soup freeze well?

Because these is pasta in the soup, it will not freeze well. The pasta will swell and become mushy. To freeze this soup, make it without the pasta and then freeze once cooled. It will freeze well for 3-4 months in an air tight container. When you are ready to serve, add cooked pasta to the soup and serve.

Is this soup vegan?

This soup is not vegan, but an easily be made vegan by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

How long will this soup last in the refrigerator?

This soup will last 4-5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, place the soup in a microwave safe bowl and microwave. You can also add the soup to a saucepan and gently reheat on the stove.

Other Recipes To Try!

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