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:
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
- Instant Pot Ham and Potato Soup
- Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup
Jump to:
- 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
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
- 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.
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.
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!
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.
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
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.
This soup is not vegan, but an easily be made vegan by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
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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And don't forget to tag me on Instagram or Facebook and share this recipe on Pinterest! Thanks for sharing this journey with me and enjoy these delicious recipes!
- Cranberry Jalapeno Dip
- Instant Pot Marinara Sauce
- Sweet and Salty Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Homemade Chunky Applesauce
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- 5 Ingredient Meatballs
📖 Recipe
Hearty Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 Garlic Cloves Minced
- 1 Onion ½ 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 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- Clean and chop the garlic, onions, celery, zucchini, and carrots.
- Set the Instant Pot to "saute" add the olive oil and vegetables to the Instant Pot. Cook for 2 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.
- Add the broth, tomatoes with juices, and the rinsed beans to the Instant Pot.
- Add the pasta and Italian seasoning to the Instant Pot.
- Seal the Instant Pot and set the pot to "HIGH" for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, release the pressure and open the lid. Set the Instant Pot to "Saute" and add the fresh spinach. Cook the spinach for 2 minutes until it wilts. Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!
Notes
- Use your favorite short pasta, such as ditalini, elbows, or mini penne.
- Add green beans, white beans, or kale to bulk up the soup even more.
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