Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup

Making Minestrone in a slow cooker is really simple, just like pie.

What’s even better?

You don’t even have to heat up in the kitchen!

Cooking at a low temperature.

This favorite family soup lets all flavors and spices blend, resulting in a great, substantial supper that everyone will love.

Serve with a green salad and dipping garlic bread.

It’s a complete meal in a bowl, with protein and fiber-rich beans, healthful vegetables, and delicious pasta!

But, perhaps, what is Minestrone?

Minestrone is a vegetable soup that generally includes beans and noodles.

Ditalini (the tiniest little tubes) are traditionally used, although mini shells, mini penne, or other extremely short pasta will suffice.

Recipe for Minestrone Soup

This recipe is so simple to prepare…

The slow cooker does all of the work for you!

Cutting the carrots, celery, onion, and zucchini ahead of time is the only “work” required.

Combine the ingredients in the cooker, cover, and cook on low.

Recipe Ingredients:

• Seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Dry-cured, smoked lardons weighing 100g/312oz
• chopped plum tomatoes weighing 400g/14oz
• Olive oil, 2 tbsp
• 1.2 liters/2 pints of good-quality chicken stock
• 2 sticks of celery, sliced
• 50g/1¾oz spaghetti snapped into short lengths
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, needles finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• Cannellini beans, 400g/14 ounces, rinsed and drained
• Spring greens or baby leaf, shredded thickly, 100g/312 heads
• Parmesan, grated (optional) 25g/1oz

Directions:

1. Cook the lardons in a large frying pan over low heat for 10 minutes, or until crisp and golden and the fat has flowed from the flesh.
2. Place the mixture on a platter.
3. After two minutes: Add the garlic, herbs, and tomato purée to the bacon grease and cook the carrots, celery, and onion.
4. After 1 minute, add the tomatoes and the majority of the stock.
5. Bring the water to a boil.
6. Transfer the soup to a slow cooker, cover, and cook for 4 hours on high, or until the vegetables are tender.
7. Toss in the beans and pasta and any remaining stock if the soup appears too thick.
8. Cover the casserole with the lid after scattering the shredded greens on top.
9. Allow the pasta to cook for 30 minutes.
10. Add a drizzle of olive oil and plenty of parmesan cheese to the bowls, and season with salt and pepper.

Serving Sides

1. Sandwiches with grilled cheese: Move over, tomato soup! Instead, pair grilled cheese with a hearty minestrone.
2. Bruschetta: Serve this soup with bruschetta as a side or as an appetizer.
3. Garlic bread: You can’t go wrong with a massive loaf of sizzling hot garlic bread as a side for soup.
4. Caesar salad: A homemade Caesar is a must salad accompanied by soup.

Substitutions And Variations:

1. Meat: If you want meat in your Minestrone, you can add cooked ground beef, Italian sausage, or even diced cooked chicken at the end with the pasta and zucchini.
2. Spicy: To spice up this soup, combine 12 teaspoons of crushed red pepper flakes with the other seasonings.
3. Cheese: If preferred, top this soup with fresh parmesan cheese before serving for added taste.
4. Gluten-free: To make this Minestrone gluten-free, replace the pasta and zucchini with zucchini noodles.
5. Gluten-free pasta can also be used, but I recommend preparing it before and adding it just before serving.
6. Vegan: As long as the pasta doesn’t include animal products like eggs, this soup is naturally vegan.
7. To be sure, read the package instructions.
8. Parmesan rind: At the start of the cooking period, add the skin of a parmesan wedge to your soup.
9. It will provide a parmesan and salty flavor to the soup.
10. Pesto: For a vibrant and tasty variation, add 2-3 tablespoons basil or sundried tomato pesto to the pot immediately before serving.
11. Pasta-free: If you have someone who cannot eat gluten, add potatoes at the beginning of the cooking period or cook rice before serving.

Health Benefits of Minestrone Soup:

This dish, made with various veggies, greens, and beans, can offer you excellent nutrients that can help you slow aging and stay fit.

Minestrone has long been associated with traditional Italian cooking and the Mediterranean diet.

It’s a super-healthy combination of veggies, greens, and beans.

It’s recommended to focus on seasonal vegetables of various hues to gain the most advantages.

Lycopene, an antioxidant found in red foods like radishes and tomatoes, is beneficial to a healthy cardiovascular system.

Carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, are in abundance in orange vegetables such as carrots and squash and are essential for skin and visual health.

Greens, such as spinach, chicory, and Swiss chard, provide chlorophyll, a chemical that protects the immune system.

White vegetables, such as fennel, cauliflower, cabbage, and onions, are high in flavonoids, particularly quercetin, which can help avoid inflammation.

Finally, purple vegetables like eggplant are abundant in anthocyanins, antioxidants that fight ‘bad’ cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease development.

It satisfies your hunger and cleanses your body: Minestrone is ideal for anyone trying to lose weight.

Vegetables, greens, and legumes have a high fiber content (beans, lentils, chickpeas) is exceptionally high in, it slows gastric emptying and sugar absorption in the blood.

It also prolongs the feeling of fullness and prevents sudden hunger pangs.

But the advantages don’t stop there.

Minestrone boosts the liver and the entire body’s cleaning due to its detoxifying abilities.

According to the dietician, “it includes nutrients such as magnesium and potassium, which assist drain and eliminate excess fluid responsible for fluid retention and swelling.”

It keeps the gut in good shape: Minestrone is high in fiber and beneficial to your intestines.

The soluble fiber present in artichokes, tomatoes, leeks, asparagus, onions, and other plants improves regularity in the digestive tract and, as a result, the elimination of toxins and waste.

Soluble fiber is a prebiotic found in artichokes, tomatoes, leeks, asparagus, onions, and other plants.

They help to maintain and sustain a healthy flora in the intestine.

This soup is good for your health.

Instead of a hefty meal at night, opt for soup for dinner.

If you eat vegetable soup every day, you will obtain all nutrients.

In terms of increasing vitamin C, it is comparable to a large meal.

You must have vegetable soup twice or three times every week.

Another advantage is that you will develop a habit of eating various veggies.

If you are going to taste the soup for the first time, I believe that homemade soups are the greatest.

Eating vegetable soup can help you stay healthy by reducing the detrimental health effects.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Can I include meat?

Yes!

You can add one pound of raw chicken breasts or one pound of cooked and crumbled ground beef or turkey at the start of cooking.

Shred the chicken breasts before serving.

What other vegetables can be added to the mix?

Mushrooms, corn on the cob, and sugar snap peas are some more veggies that can be added to Minestrone.

Instead of spinach, you can use kale or cabbage (add cabbage at the beginning of cooking).

Is it possible to freeze the leftovers?

Minestrone freezes nicely.

Fill frozen zipper bags or airtight containers with the mixture.

For the most incredible flavor, freeze for no more than three months.

When refrigerated in an airtight container, this soup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or 3 months in the freezer.

Allow the soup to defrost before heating if it is frozen completely.

During the reheating process, more broth may be required.

Is there meat in Minestrone?

Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes.

Minestrone has no set recipe because it is often cooked with whatever vegetables.

It could be vegetarian, meat-based, or hybrid (such as chicken stock).

What’s the best method for reheating?

Place the soup in a small saucepan on the burner and heat it until it is hot.

You may reheat in the microwave, but cover your bowl with a paper towel because it will splatter.

Is it possible to freeze Minestrone with pasta?

Soups based on Pasta or Grains

Unfortunately, any soup made with pre-cooked pasta, quinoa, or rice does not keep its texture well after freezing, thawing, and reheating.

If you wish to freeze a soup that incorporates pasta or grains, wait to add that part and boil a new batch when you reheat the soup.

Conclusion 

Minestrone may be a fantastic way to start a meal or a delicious dinner on its own – add some crusty whole-grain bread and a sprinkling of Parmesan (it has a strong flavor, so a little goes a long way!) and a fresh green side salad on the side, and you’re good to go!

This adaptable “plant-based” soup is low in fat fiber and high in vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.

Homemade soups are, of course, the most acceptable choice.

This way, you will manage the type and amount of veggies used in your soup and utilize salt-reduced stocks and a few other ingredients.

This Minestrone is great for batch cooking; divide it into portions and pop it in the freezer, and the wonderfully warming soup will never be far from your bowl.

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