Minestrone Soup

As the weather starts to cool down, soups and stews become a regular meal in my household. Plus, you can fix up a big batch of soup and store it in the fridge or freezer for tasty leftovers for the week. Minestrone is one of my favorite kinds of soup. It’s a tasty soup option that’s packed with vegetables, beans, and delicious flavor.

vegan minestrone soup

This variation of minestrone is super hearty. It’s probably more like a minestrone stew, given all the delicious vegetables. This soup is also packed with flavor and has a slight creamy texture from the nutritional yeast. Feel free to make this soup your own, by adding any vegetables you love or using your favorite kinds of beans. I know I was out of kidney and white beans one day, so I swapped in chickpeas and worked out lovely! That’s the beauty of cooking, you really can mix and match and use what you have to make something wonderful!

Minestrone Soup
Serves 6
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Ingredients
  1. 1 medium onion, diced
  2. 2 cups celery, chopped
  3. 2 cups carrots, chopped
  4. 2 cups yellow squash, chopped (1 medium)
  5. 2-4 cups zucchini, chopped (2 medium)
  6. 3 cups tomato, chopped (6 Roma)
  7. 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  8. 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  9. ½ -1 tablespoon dried fennel
  10. 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  11. 1 tablespoon dried basil
  12. 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  13. 1 (6-7 oz) BPA-free can or jar of tomato paste
  14. 4 cups water + more as needed
  15. 1½ cups cooked kidney beans (or 1- 15 oz BPA-free can)
  16. 1½ cups cooked butter beans or white beans (or 1- 15 oz BPA-free can)
  17. ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  18. 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
  19. 2-4 cups chopped kale or greens of choice
  20. 1 tablespoon white miso paste
  21. Black pepper to taste
  22. Crushed red pepper to taste
  23. 8 oz legume or whole wheat pasta
Instructions
  1. Wash and chop veggies. Sauté the onion with 2-4 tablespoons of water in a large pot. Once the onions start to soften and brown, add the celery and carrots. Add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of water as needed to keep the veggies from sticking throughout the sautéing process.
  2. Next add yellow squash, zucchini, and tomatoes. Toss in the garlic powder, oregano, fennel, thyme, basil, and parsley. Add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of water as needed to keep things from sticking to the pan. Cook until the veggies start to soften.
  3. In a bowl, add the tomato paste and 1 cup of water. Stir together until well combined. Pour into the pot with the veggies. Add the remaining 3 cups of water.
  4. Add the beans to the pot (be sure to drain and rinse the liquid if using canned beans). Stir in the nutritional yeast and balsamic vinegar. Add additional water to the soup for more liquid, if desired.
  5. Bring the soup to a boil and then simmer on low heat for at least 20-30 minutes. Add the chopped kale with about 5 minutes left of cooking. Stir in the miso just before serving. Add black pepper and crushed red pepper to taste.
  6. Prepare the pasta according to the directions on the package. Add to the soup just before serving (we prefer to leave this on the side and add to individual bowls so that the pasta contains it’s texture and shape). Top with additional herbs or spices as desired. Enjoy!
Kristina DeMuth https://kristinademuth.com/