Slow Cooker Minestrone
This Slow Cooker Minestrone is a hearty slow cooker vegetable soup recipe made with simple pantry ingredients and fresh vegetables. It’s a dump-and-go crockpot soup recipe to enjoy on chilly days.
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It’s a comforting soup that I love to make when the weather starts to cool down. Perfect for weeknight dinners and lazy weekends, and also works really well for meal prep since it tastes even better the next day.
This soup is best served with a slice of warm crusty bread, garlic bread, or even a simple side salad for a complete and cozy meal.
How to Make Slow Cooker Minestrone
Ingredients you’ll need for this recipe
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
2. Add onion, carrots, and celery and sauté for 5–7 minutes until slightly softened.
3. Stir in garlic, oregano, thyme, salt, and black pepper and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
4. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
5. Add chopped tomatoes, cannellini beans, courgette, vegetable stock, and water. Stir well.
6. Cover and cook on LOW for 6–7 hours or HIGH for 3–4 hours.
7. About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the pasta and cook until tender.
8. Stir in chopped spinach or kale and cook until wilted.
9. Add lemon juice if using. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Serve & Enjoy!
Important Recipe Notes
- Don’t add pasta too early. Always add it in the last 30 minutes so it doesn’t turn mushy and fall apart in the soup.
- Cut vegetables evenly. Try to dice the carrots, celery, and courgette in similar sizes so they cook at the same rate and stay nice and tender.
- Make sure to sauté the onion, carrots, and celery first. It builds a deeper, richer soup flavor.
- Rinse the beans well. This helps remove extra salt and starchy liquid, making the soup cleaner and lighter.
- If the soup gets too thick after cooking, just add a little extra hot water or stock before serving.
- Slow cookers can mellow seasoning, so always do a final taste test and adjust salt, pepper, or lemon juice before serving.
- Add the spinach and kale at the end so they stay bright and don’t overcook.
- Great for leftovers. The soup thickens overnight, so just add a splash of water or stock when reheating to bring it back to the right consistency.
Slow Cooker Minestrone
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil 30 ml
- 1 large onion diced (200 g)
- 2 carrots diced (150 g)
- 2 celery stalks diced (100 g)
- 3 garlic cloves minced (15 g)
- 1 tsp dried oregano 1 g
- ½ tsp dried thyme 0.5 g
- 1 tsp salt 6 g
- ½ tsp black pepper 2 g
- 1 × 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 2 × 400 g tins cannellini beans drained and rinsed (about 480 g drained total)
- 1 medium courgette diced (200 g)
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 500 ml water
- 100 g small pasta ditalini or similar
- 100 g fresh spinach or kale chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice 15 ml, optional
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
- Add onion, carrots, and celery and sauté for 5–7 minutes until slightly softened.
- Stir in garlic, oregano, thyme, salt, and black pepper and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
- Add chopped tomatoes, cannellini beans, courgette, vegetable stock, and water. Stir well.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6–7 hours or HIGH for 3–4 hours.
- About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the pasta and cook until tender.
- Stir in chopped spinach or kale and cook until wilted.
- Add lemon juice if using. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Check Out More Slow Cooker Recipe Ideas!
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