This Olive Garden minestrone soup recipe is comforting, easy and delicious. A hearty vegetable soup made with lots of vegetables, kidney beans, seasonings and pasta shells in a delicious tomato broth that the whole family will love. Dairy free and can be made gluten free. Directions for the instant pot and stove top.
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Since 2016, Olive Garden has made their minestrone soup vegan. You don't have to go out to eat to get that delicious soup, you can make it at home!
We’re not messing around here, folks. This classic vegan minestrone soup will knock your socks off and is perfect for soup season.
❤️ Why you'll love this hearty soup
There are so many things to love about a good bowl of soup: how easy it is to make, how you can use up all the veggies in your fridge that are about to go bad, how warm and comforting it is.
- it's dairy free, vegan and vegetarian.
- it can be made gluten free with gluten-free pasta.
- it's healthy and high in fiber thanks to all of the vegetables and kidney beans.
- It's a delicious one pot meal that's great for an easy weeknight dinner.
🧂 Ingredients & substitutions
- Fire roasted tomatoes - These will bring your broth to a whole other level. If you can't find these, regular tomatoes will work fine as well.
- Tomato paste - This helps thicken up the broth a bit and add more umami flavor.
- Fresh garlic & onions
- Vegetable stock - you can also use vegetable bouillon cubes or paste to make this more affordable.
- Olive oil
- Herbs - I use an Italian seasoning to make this easier, along with dried basil.
- Vegetable bouillon - This is so much cheaper to buy that vegetable broth, plus it will last longer.
- Vegetables - I used a mix of carrots, celery, zucchini, kale and green beans.
- Beans - I love using a mix of cannellini beans and dark red kidney beans. If you can't find cannellini beans, use whatever white beans you can find.
- Pasta shells - small shells work best for this.
- Seasonings - I use a mix of garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and bay leaves. Add red pepper flakes if you like a little bit of heat.
- Green beans - I use frozen green beans to make this quicker but fresh green beans also works.
- Nutritional yeast - This is optional but it will take the place of using parmesan in this recipe. This adds a nice depth of flavor to the broth.
- Fresh spinach or kale - This is a great way to add a pop of color and extra nutrition to this comforting soup.
👩🍳 Recipe tips
- If you can find some vegan parmesan to use for this, do it! My favorite brand is Violife. Their parmesan tastes so damn good in this. Follow your heart also has a good vegan parmesan cheese.
- Make sure to not put your kale or spinach in until toward the end. We don’t want them to get over cooked and slimy.
- If you can’t find fresh basil for this, dried basil works great as well. Just put it in when you put the other dried herbs in.
- This soup can be frozen if you want to make a big batch. Just thaw it out the day before.
- This minestrone soup tastes amazing the next day as leftovers. This gives all the flavors a chance to mingle.
- If you love soups, check out my creamy curry butternut squash soup after this one.
🔪 Directions
- Chop - Cooking this recipe will go a lot smoother if you chop everything first. Chop up the onions, garlic and vegetables.
- Cook onions - Heat up a large soup pan and add the oil. Sauté the chopped onions until translucent. Add the garlic, vegetables and tomato paste and sauté.
- Simmer- Add the stock, tomatoes and vegetable bouillon and herbs and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Immediately turn down to a simmer and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the beans and pasta shells and cook for 10 minutes.
- Serve - Add the kale once you have 2 minutes left to simmer. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add some pepper and serve with some warm, crusty bread.
❄️ Storing & reheating
- To store - This soup will last in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-7 days. This tastes amazing as left overs and is great to meal prep so make a big batch and eat it for a healthy lunch all week.
- To re-heate - Re-heate this on the stove on medium heat. Add more liquid if needed.
- To freeze - This soup freezes very well. It will last in the freezer for about 3 months in a freezer-safe container.
- To make ahead - Chop up the vegetables, garlic and onions and store in the fridge until you're ready to cook.
🍅 Variations
Feel free to mix and match any vegetables that you may have on hand. Cabbage, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, they're all good to add in here.
♨️ Serving suggestions
This amazing soup goes really well with a crusty homemade bread. A salad, like this cucumber salad, would also round out this meal and add in some fresh veggies. This would also go really well with a sandwich, like this vegan egg salad sandwich, or this chickenless salad sandwich.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Absolutely! Just make sure to use a gluten free pasta and to check your canned tomatoes and tomato paste that they're gluten free. You can also just leave the pasta out.
Yes! Just sauté with vegetable broth or water. The soup won't be as rich, but it will still taste delicious.
Yes! Since 2016 Olive Garden has made their soup without any animal stock or dairy. But you don't need to wait to go to Olive Garden to eat it, make it fresh at home!
Absolutely! This recipe is perfect to make in the instant pot. Directions for the instant pot are included in the recipe card.
🍝 Try these vegan recipes next
If you loved this recipe, leave a 5 ⭐️ rating on the recipe card and comment below!
📖 Recipe
Olive Garden Minestrone Soup Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 2 celery stalks (diced)
- 2 medium carrots (diced)
- 1 medium zucchini (cut in half and scoop seeds out with spoon. Roughly chopped)
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 28 ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 cup frozen halved green beans
- ½ cup pasta shells
- 4 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 16 ounce can of kidney beans or great northern beans ( drained and rinsed)
- 16 ounce can of great northern beans (drained and rinsed)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup kale (roughly chopped)
- ½ cup vegan parmesan (optional)
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large soup pot on medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes or until onions start to lightly brown and caramelize2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 medium onion
- Add the carrot, zucchini, celery, tomato paste and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes.2 celery stalks, 2 medium carrots, 1 medium zucchini, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 4 cloves of garlic
- Add the can of diced tomatoes, garlic, green beans, Italian seasoning, dried basil and broth. Bring to a boil then turn heat to a simmer - about medium low heat. Simmer for 10 minutes1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon dried basil, 6 cups vegetable broth, 28 ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes, 1 cup frozen halved green beans
- Add dried pasta, kidney beans, great northern beans and (optional) nutritional yeast and simmer for 10 minutes. 2 minutes before you're done simmering, add the chopped kale.½ cup pasta shells, 16 ounce can of kidney beans or great northern beans, 16 ounce can of great northern beans, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1 cup kale
- Turn heat off. Let the soup sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Drizzle another tablespoon of oil on top and stir. Season with black pepper and extra salt if needed. Top with vegan parmesan if you have some on hand.½ cup vegan parmesan, ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instant pot instructions
- Turn your instant pot to sauté mode and heat olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes or until onions start to lightly brown and caramelize2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 medium onion
- Add the carrot, zucchini, celery, tomato paste and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes.2 celery stalks, 2 medium carrots, 1 medium zucchini, 4 cloves of garlic
- Add the rest of the ingredients and add the lid. Set the lid to seal. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Let it slow release for 5 minutes, then quick release.1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon dried basil, 6 cups vegetable broth, 28 ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes, 1 cup frozen halved green beans, ½ cup pasta shells, 16 ounce can of kidney beans or great northern beans, 16 ounce can of great northern beans, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Let the soup sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Drizzle another tablespoon of olive oil on top and stir. Season with black pepper and extra salt if needed. Top with vegan parmesan if you have some on hand.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Lucy Fournier
Delicious and hearty, my go to for a quick meal.
Katie
Made for my book club and everyone begged for recipe! Delicious!