This Best Ever Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup is thick, comforting, and packed full of vegetables! It’s so flavourful and easy to make, and it’s the perfect way to warm up on a cold day!
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Happy January everyone! It’s been hard not to notice that almost everyone in North America has been dealing with a major cold snap over the last several weeks. Fortunately for us, our Romanian winter this year has been VERY mild and even balmy some days…today was 7 degrees Celsius!! The kids have been jumping on the trampoline and riding bikes this week, and it’s the middle of January!!! I’ll be honest, this is the only winter I’ve ever experienced such warm temperatures in January – since I hail from the miserably cold Canadian prairies, after all – and I’m absolutely loving it. The only drawback was the whole non-white Christmas thing, but I got over that in a couple hours and haven’t looked back!
Of course it still cools down at night and we get a bit of frost and snow every now and then, just enough to make it feel like winter for a few hours every morning (only because I have to scrape my car windows before driving the kids to school), so we’re still enjoying all the warm and hearty winter soups we do every January, like this Best Ever Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup!
I’ve been absolutely loving this Best Ever Slow Cooker Minestrone soup lately and I’m excited to be sharing it with you today! It’s SUCH an easy recipe with a fun little trick that makes this soup perfectly thick and almost stew-like (which my husband enjoys!) – I learned this trick from one of my favourite YouTubers Entertaining with Beth – and it’s one of those super healthy soups I always feel so good about making for my family.
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This Best Ever Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup is absolutely PACKED with every kind of vegetable you can imagine, and it’s easy to customize to your family’s tastes and preferences – add a little more vegetable stock if you like a “soupier” consistency, and feel free to change up the beans or the veggies, and even add a little shredded chicken if you’re not into the whole vegetarian thing.
The flavours of this Best Ever Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup are spot on, and it’s one of those recipes I just keep coming back to again and again and again. And check out the “notes” section of the recipe card below for the stovetop directions if you don’t have a slow cooker or prefer making your soups on the stove. I make this Minestrone recipe in my slow cooker about 80% of the time and in my favourite Dutch Oven on the stove top the other 20%. It’s perfect either way and it’s goes great with a few slices of crusty Italian bread for dipping!
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I hope you enjoy this Best Ever Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup recipe as much as we do! Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite cold-weather hearty soup recipe?
Kitchen Products I recommend:
Looking for even more delicious soups? Check out these delicious soups I have linked below!
- Best Ever Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
- Crock Pot White Bean French Onion Soup
- Crock Pot Potato Bacon Leek Soup
- Crock Pot Cabbage Soup
- Mexican Tortilla Soup
- Crock Pot Lemon Ginger Chicken Soup
- Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp Soup
- Homemade Hungarian Goulash Soup
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RECIPE VIDEO
Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this hearty recipe. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel.
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Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup
Recipe: Equipment
Recipe: Ingredients
- 1 small zucchini chopped
- 14 ounce canned kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 14 ounce white beans canned, rinsed and drained
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1 cup red potatoes chopped, skins on
- 3/4 cup cut green beans fresh or frozen
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 14 ounce canned diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 6-7 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup pasta fusilli, macaroni, or small shells
- parmesan cheese for serving
- fresh parsley for serving
Recipe: Instructions
- Add the zucchini, beans, carrots, onion, celery, potatoes, green beans, garlic, spices, salt and pepper, canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and vegetable stock to your slow cooker and stir well to combine. Depending on the size of your slow cooker and how thick you like your minestrone soup, add between 6 and 7 cups of stock (I usually add about 6 at first and sometimes add up to 1/2 cup more).
- Add the lid and cook on high for 4-5 hours, stirring once or twice. The soup will thicken slightly as it cooks (thanks to the starch in the potatoes!).
- Add the pasta and cook for 15 more minutes or until the pasta is al dente.
- Serve with some grated or shaved parmesan and some freshly chopped parsley.
Recipe: Notes
Stove Top Instructions
This soup works well cooked in a Dutch Oven pot on the stovetop. Simply add some olive oil to the bottom of the pot, saute the onions, carrots, celery and garlic for a few minutes, and then add the remainder of the ingredients as directed. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and continue simmering until the soup thickens up slightly and the vegetables are tender. Add the pasta as directed and serve.Storage instructions
This soup keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. If you're planning to store it for a few days, we recommend cooking the pasta separately and adding it to each bowl as you serve the soup. This will prevent the pasta from becoming over-hydrated as it sits in the liquid.Freezing instructions
You can freeze this soup in freezer safe containers for up to 3 months. If you're planning to freeze it, we recommend preparing the soup without the pasta as the pasta won't freeze well in the soup. For best results, cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl as you serve the soup. This will prevent the pasta from becoming over-hydrated as it sits in the liquid, even when frozen.Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Mmmm I got to make this asap! Love all the goodness in there!
Thanks Meg! I hope you love it!
This looks incredible! Perfect Soup for winter weather!
Thanks so much!!
Hello! Can’t wait to make this soup! Maybe I missed it, but do you cook it on high or low for 4-5 hours? Just checking, thanks!
Never mind, I see that it is cooked on high. I read it too quickly!
Glad you found the info you were looking for! Thanks! Hope you liked it!
Hi Chrissie, I made this last week and it was a hit. My considerable younger neighbour now thinks she should come to me for cooking classes 🙂 better yet I told her to follow your blog.
I’m so glad you and your neighbour liked it! Thanks for spreading the word 🙂
Hiya 🙂 I loved this! Just wanted to know, can it be cooked on Low for 8 hrs instead of high for 4 hrs?
Thanks!
Absolutely!
Is it ok if you only have the white beans?
Yes! Any beans will do in this delicious soup!
I’d like to add a protein to this soup. What would you suggest, keeping it vegetarian? Thanks
I’d recommend shredded chicken, if you like, although as it is it contains beans which are high in protein and fibre.
Easy to knock together, and delicious to eat. Thank you!
So glad you loved it! 🙂
This is one of my favorite soups! Thanks for making it a slow cooker version!
I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
I love this recipe. I’m making it again today. Thank you!
Glad to hear that! Thanks Kim!!
I would like to add spinach to mine would I do that at the end or with all other veggies
I would add it right at the end, before serving as it will wilt very fast because of the hot soup.
Fantastic recipe! This is my second time making it. My husband had three bowls in one sitting and my five year old son ate his whole bowl and said it was delicious (and he really doesn’t like vegetables lol). Big hit in our house!
Question, do you find there is a big difference if we use vegetable stock vs. vegetable broth? My local grocery store doesn’t sell stock. But I will make the extra trip to the other store if you feel it is worth it. Thanks so much!
Either stock or broth works great in this recipe. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’m so happy you and your family are enjoying it! You can use vegetable broth, no problem.
What could be used in place of zucchini? Any suggestions would be welcome! Thanks, this looks like a good recipe though!
You could just leave it out or you can replace it with another fresh vegetable that is not a root vegetable. Try chopping in two fresh tomatoes, a bell pepper or even a bit of cauliflower. Hope this helps! Let us know how it turns out.
Can you leave out the tomato paste or substitute it? I find for recipes that only use a tbsp of it, I end up wasting the rest of the can as I never need it for anything else before it goes bad.
Hi Samantha. You could leave the tomato paste out however, adding it does add to the flavour! To prevent waste, check your grocery store for tomato paste in a tube – these keep in the fridge for many weeks. Also, if you’re using a can, you can measure the paste in 1 tablespoon scoops and freeze on parchment, then store in a freezer bag or jar. This way, you have pre-measured amounts to add to future recipes in a pinch.
This was so good!
Thanks so much for the comment Jennifer, so happy to hear you like the recipe!!