Crock Pot Minestrone

This Crock Pot Minestrone is chock full of delicious veggies!

I love soup. I also love squash, tomatoes, and pesto. There is another list of foods I love, and it’s called the ingredients list of this Crock Pot Minestrone. So. much. good. stuff.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, and plainly stated on the Crock Pot Thursday page, we rarely do meatless dishes. This minestrone is officially a vegetarian dish, but that didn’t stop most of the Crock Pot Thursday crew from adding meat. We’re a bunch of rebels like that.

With or without meat, this soup is a winner.

Everyone else’s was better than ours, but that’s because when I was adding salt and pepper at the end, the lid of the gigantic Costco-sized pepper container popped off, and at least one whole cup of black pepper fell into the Crock Pot. I was able to spoon most of it off the top, but it was still pretty peppery.

C’mon pepper lid. You had one job!

Crock Pot Minestrone

Yield: 10 servings

Crock Pot Thursday: Minestrone

This Crock Pot Minestrone recipe is full of delicious veggies! This healthy and hearty dinner idea is a family favorite!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium red onion, diced
  • 6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
  • 2 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 16 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 15 oz can garbanzo beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 medium yellow summer squash or zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
  • 1 medium red or yellow bell pepper, diced
  • 1 medium carrot, diced
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups uncooked spiral pasta
  • 1 cup raw spinach leaves
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup prepared pesto

Instructions

  1. In a medium skillet, heat olive oil, add celery and onion and cook for a few minutes, until tender. Transfer to slow cooker.
  2. Add in broth, tomatoes, beans, squash, bell pepper, carrot, corn, and garlic. Stir to combine.
  3. Cover, and cook on low, 6-8 hours, or until veggies are tender.
  4. Add uncooked pasta and spinach leaves to slow cooker, and cook about 20 minutes more, until pasta is done.
  5. Salt and pepper to taste, and ladle into bowls.
  6. Add a dollop of pesto to each bowl, and serve.

Notes

Sarah

Can't wait to make this again when there is a foot of snow out my window and a negative wind chill. It was just so filling and good. I couldn't find chard so I didn't put it in and I left out the pesto. I thought this soup had wonderful flavor and lots of fun textures. I drained of the broth and gave my kids noodles and vegetables, which they loved. Of course, I will never be able to pass off a meatless dish as an actual meal, so I added polish sausage and chicken broth instead of vegetable.

Stephanie

Yum! We added pesto during cooking and we're not sure how much of a difference it made but it was a delicious dish regardless. The vegetables are abundant and hearty. We used vegetable broth and instead of adding spiral pasta, we served it over sausage-filled ravioli with a roll on the side, which was a great combo.

Linda

This was a great summer soup. I made it exactly as the recipe says. I served it with bratwursts for my meat loving family. To me, it was a great supper, as is--the colors and flavors are so vibrant and delicious. I will make this again--I added the pesto to the serving bowls, and it was amazing!!

Me

Don't skip the pesto, and don't accidentally dump a cup of pepper in at the end, and it'll be great!



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4 thoughts on “Crock Pot Minestrone

  1. I love soup especially in the fall. Made this yesterday and thought it was good enough to make again. Good flavor and pretty filling for a soup.

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