Easy Copycat Olive Garden Minestrone Soup: A Wholesome & Flavorful Homemade Recipe
Recreate the beloved Olive Garden Minestrone Soup at home with this simple, one-pan recipe. Packed with an array of vibrant vegetables and tender pasta in a rich, savory tomato-based broth, this classic Italian favorite is perfect for a comforting meal any day of the week.
There’s nothing quite like a warm, hearty bowl of soup to chase away the chill, especially as the seasons begin to change. As soon as the weather cools, my cravings for comforting, flavorful soups kick into high gear! While I adore classics like my Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup, I also love to explore a variety of options to keep things exciting. One restaurant favorite that consistently captures my heart is the minestrone soup from Olive Garden.
Olive Garden is renowned for its endlessly refilling soup, salad, and breadsticks, making it a perfect spot for a satisfying lunch. The ability to mix and match different soups is a culinary delight, allowing you to sample a little bit of everything. My love for their soups runs deep, which is why you can already find copycat recipes for their famous Chicken Gnocchi Soup and the spicy, savory Zuppa Toscana right here on the blog. Now, it’s time to add another iconic recipe to your homemade repertoire: the classic Olive Garden Minestrone Soup.
This homemade Olive Garden Minestrone Soup recipe is incredibly simple and surprisingly quick to prepare, making it an ideal choice even for your busiest weeknights. While a little chopping is involved, much of the process comes down to opening cans and adding ingredients. For an even quicker meal, you can easily prep all your vegetables the night before, having them ready and waiting. As an added bonus, this recipe is naturally vegan – no intentional changes needed, it just happens to be! This makes it a fantastic option for “Meatless Monday” or for anyone looking for a wholesome, plant-based meal.
Minestrone is a traditional Italian soup, celebrated for its versatility and its “use what you have” philosophy. It typically features a rich assortment of fresh vegetables, often accompanied by a small cut of pasta or sometimes rice, all simmered in a flavorful broth, usually tomato-based. There’s no single “authentic” minestrone recipe; rather, it’s a reflection of seasonal ingredients and regional variations, making it endlessly adaptable and always delicious. Our copycat version aims to capture the comforting essence of the Olive Garden favorite, bringing that restaurant experience right to your kitchen table.
Key Ingredients for Our Copycat Minestrone Soup
To get started on this delightful soup, gather these essential ingredients. You’ll find the full, printable recipe card with precise measurements at the very bottom of this post!
- Olive Oil: Forms the flavor base for sautéing the aromatic vegetables.
- Onion: Adds a sweet and savory foundation to the broth.
- Celery: Contributes a distinct aromatic flavor and texture.
- Zucchini: A classic minestrone addition, offering a mild, fresh taste and tender bite.
- Carrots: Provides natural sweetness and a beautiful pop of color.
- Garlic: Essential for that authentic, pungent Italian flavor.
- Tomato Paste: Deepens the tomato flavor and adds richness to the broth.
- Diced Tomatoes: The primary tomato component, providing body and tang.
- Vegetable Broth: The liquid base for this soup; ensures it remains vegetarian/vegan. You can substitute chicken broth if dietary restrictions are not a concern.
- White Beans: (such as cannellini or great northern) Add creaminess, protein, and a satisfying heartiness. Always drain and rinse canned beans to remove excess sodium and improve texture.
- Kidney Beans: Provide additional texture, protein, and color, complementing the white beans. Drain and rinse thoroughly.
- Green Beans: Frozen green beans are a convenient way to add fresh vegetable goodness without extra prep.
- Italian Seasoning: A blend of dried herbs that brings all the classic Italian flavors together effortlessly.
- Spinach: Fresh spinach wilts beautifully into the hot soup, adding a boost of nutrients and vibrant green color.
- Small Shell Pasta: Or any other small pasta shape like ditalini or elbow macaroni, which cooks quickly and absorbs the delicious broth.
- Salt & Pepper: Essential for seasoning to taste and balancing all the flavors.
Customizing Your Minestrone: Exploring Vegetable Options
Our copycat recipe mirrors the Olive Garden’s vegetable profile, featuring a robust blend of onions, celery, carrots, zucchini, diced tomatoes, white beans, kidney beans, and green beans. This combination delivers the familiar taste and texture you love. However, the beauty of minestrone lies in its flexibility! It’s traditionally a soup designed to use whatever seasonal vegetables you have on hand, making it incredibly adaptable to your preferences or what’s fresh in your fridge or pantry. Feel free to swap or add other vegetables to make it truly your own. Here are some delicious additions that would elevate your homemade minestrone:
- Russet Potatoes: Add a starchy, satisfying element that thickens the broth slightly.
- Sweet Potatoes: Offer a hint of sweetness and a different nutritional profile.
- Butternut Squash: For a creamy texture and earthy sweetness, especially in autumn.
- Peas: A quick addition that brings a burst of green and subtle sweetness.
- Shredded Cabbage: Adds a delightful tenderness and classic minestrone character.
- Leeks: For a milder, more delicate onion flavor.
Don’t hesitate to experiment with what you love! Broccoli florets, corn, bell peppers, or even kale are all fantastic choices that can be incorporated to boost flavor and nutrition.
Whip Up Your Olive Garden Minestrone Soup in a Few Simple Steps
Creating this flavorful Olive Garden Minestrone Soup from scratch is surprisingly straightforward and incredibly rewarding. Follow these easy steps to bring this Italian classic to your dinner table:
- **Sauté the Aromatics:** Begin by finely chopping your onion, celery, carrots, and zucchini. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat a generous amount of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add your chopped onions, celery, carrots, and zucchini. Sauté these vegetables for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions become translucent and the vegetables begin to soften. This initial step builds the fundamental flavor base of your soup.
- **Add the Garlic:** Once the base vegetables are tender, stir in the minced garlic. Cook for just about one minute more, stirring constantly, until you can smell its fragrant aroma. Be careful not to burn the garlic, as it can turn bitter.
- **Build the Broth:** Next, incorporate the tomato paste, diced tomatoes (undrained for extra flavor), and vegetable broth into the pot. Stir everything thoroughly until all the ingredients are well blended and the tomato paste is fully dissolved. Bring this mixture to a gentle boil.
- **Introduce Beans and Seasoning:** Once the broth is boiling, add the drained and rinsed white beans, kidney beans, green beans (if using frozen, no need to thaw), and the Italian seasoning. Give it a good stir to ensure everything is evenly distributed.
- **Cook the Pasta:** Add your uncooked small shell pasta (or ditalini) directly to the simmering soup. Allow it to simmer for approximately 8-9 minutes, or according to package directions, until the pasta is al dente. Keep an eye on the pasta to ensure it doesn’t overcook and become mushy.
- **Finish with Spinach and Season:** During the last two minutes of cooking, stir in the fresh spinach. Allow it to wilt completely into the hot soup, which usually takes just a couple of minutes. Finally, taste the soup and season generously with salt and black pepper as desired. Adjust seasonings to your preference before serving immediately.
This Olive Garden Minestrone Soup is not only hearty and filling but also incredibly flexible, allowing you to use whatever vegetables you have on hand, whether fresh from the market or lingering in your freezer. It’s a wonderful way to utilize those last bits of produce and reduce food waste. Every spoonful is packed with healthy vegetables, providing a ton of nutrients in an incredibly tasty and satisfying way. And while this recipe is vegan-friendly, you can certainly add browned ground beef or Italian sausage if you prefer a meatier minestrone. This is truly an easy, comforting dinner that will warm you up from the inside out, even on the busiest of nights!
Expert Tips for the Perfect Homemade Minestrone
- Uniform Vegetable Cuts: To ensure all your vegetables cook evenly and have a consistent texture, make sure to chop them into similar-sized pieces. This prevents some vegetables from becoming overcooked while others remain too firm.
- Fresh vs. Frozen Green Beans: Both fresh and frozen green beans work wonderfully in this soup. If you’re using canned green beans, remember to drain them thoroughly before adding them to prevent excess liquid and sodium.
- Rinse Your Canned Beans: Always drain and rinse canned white beans and kidney beans before adding them to the soup. This removes the starchy liquid that can affect the soup’s clarity and taste, and also reduces excess sodium. Feel free to mix and match bean types based on what you have or prefer.
- Boost Protein with Meat: If you’re not keeping the soup vegetarian or vegan, browned ground beef, Italian sausage, or even shredded chicken can be a fantastic addition to increase the protein content and add another layer of flavor.
- Freezing for Future Meals: This minestrone soup freezes exceptionally well! Allow the soup to cool completely before transferring it to an airtight, freezer-safe container. It can be stored for 4-5 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before reheating gently on the stovetop.
- Pasta Variety: While small shells are great, feel free to use other small pasta shapes like ditalini, elbow macaroni, or even rotini or penne. If you plan to freeze the soup or have leftovers, consider cooking the pasta separately and adding it to individual bowls just before serving. This prevents the pasta from soaking up too much broth and becoming mushy.
- Garnish with Cheese: For those not adhering to a vegan diet, a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese over each serving adds a wonderful salty, umami finish that complements the rich tomato broth beautifully.
Storing Your Delicious Minestrone Soup
Minestrone is one of those magical soups that often tastes even better the next day, as the flavors have more time to meld and deepen. However, when it comes to storage, you’ll want to pay special attention to the pasta. Cooked pasta in soup tends to soak up a lot of the liquid over time, which can lead to it becoming mushy and the soup thickening considerably.
If you anticipate having leftovers or plan to meal prep, a great trick is to cook the pasta separately. Store the cooked pasta in a separate airtight container and add it to individual bowls of soup just before serving. This keeps the pasta al dente and the broth perfectly textured. Alternatively, if you don’t mind a slightly softer pasta, you can store the entire soup together.
For refrigeration, leftover minestrone soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. To reheat, simply warm it gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat, adding a splash of vegetable broth or water if it has thickened too much. As mentioned, this soup also freezes beautifully. Store it in an airtight container for up to 4-5 months. When ready to enjoy, thaw it in the refrigerator and then reheat on the stove. You can then add freshly cooked pasta or cook a small amount of pasta directly in the reheating soup for convenience.
More Comforting Soups You’ll Adore:
- Wonton Soup – Surprisingly quick and ready in under 15 minutes!
- Taco Soup – All the flavors of taco night in a hearty bowl.
- Broccoli Cheese Soup – Rich, creamy, and undeniably delicious.
- Crock Pot Potato Soup – The ultimate comfort food, perfect with cheese and bacon!
- Spaghetti & Meatball Soup – A creative and fun twist on classic pasta night.
- Beef Barley Soup – A wholesome and satisfying soup, ideal for your crock pot.
And what could be more perfect to serve alongside a warm bowl of soup than some incredibly Soft Breadsticks?
Other Delicious Dinner Recipes to Explore
- Chicken Tostadas
- Crispy Pork Cutlet
- American Goulash
- Crock Pot Chili
- Philly Cheesesteak Sliders
Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
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Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 1 small zucchini, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped carrots
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 15 oz diced tomatoes
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 15 oz white beans, (cannellini, northern etc), drained and rinsed
- 15 oz red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen cut green beans
- 1 cup small shell pasta
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups spinach
- 2 teaspoon salt, approximate
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, approximate
Instructions
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In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the finely chopped onion, celery, zucchini, and carrots. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions become soft and translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook for just 1 minute more until fragrant, being careful not to burn it.
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Stir in the tomato paste, diced tomatoes (undrained), and vegetable broth. Mix until all ingredients are well combined and the tomato paste is fully incorporated into the liquid. Bring the soup mixture to a rolling boil.
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Once boiling, add the drained and rinsed white beans, kidney beans, frozen cut green beans, and Italian seasoning. Stir everything together thoroughly. Add the uncooked small shell pasta to the pot and continue to simmer the soup for 8-9 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked al dente according to package instructions.
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During the final 2 minutes of cooking, stir in the fresh spinach. Allow it to cook until it is completely wilted into the soup. Taste the soup and season with salt and black pepper as desired to enhance the flavors. Serve your homemade Olive Garden Minestrone Soup immediately and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Additional Info
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