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Pesto Minestrone

What better way to warm up after a cold day than with a hot bowl of soup? But prepping and cooking a batch of soup can be a time consuming process! With the help of this easy make ahead minestrone soup recipe, you can prep all the ingredients for your Italian soup ahead of time and freeze everything until you’re ready to start cooking. That means you can enjoy a delicious bowl of soup in a fraction of the time!freezer bag with soup, soup in a slow cooker, and then into a bowl

I love having soups in the freezer especially in winter. Being able to pull out a cozy soup on a dreary day is such a nice treat. We also love the Hearty Sausage Zucchini Soup, Curried Butternut Squash Soup, and our amazingly delicious Lasagna Soup.

Pesto Minestrone Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups bowtie pasta
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 ribs of celery, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 cup white wine (or you can use apple juice)
14-19 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
19 ounce can mixed beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup basil pesto

For cooking day:

4 cups vegetable broth

Assembly Instructions:

  1. Place the dry bowtie pasta in a medium freezer bag and seal.
  2. In a separate, large freezer bag, add the diced onion, garlic, celery, carrots, white wine, diced tomatoes, mixed beans, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, black pepper, parmesan cheese, and basil pesto.
  3. Squish the large bag to combine the ingredients. Remove excess air from the inside of the bag and seal the top. Staple the bag of pasta to the large bag above the seal. Freeze both bags together.

ingredients for soup in a clear plastic bag

Cooking instructions:

  1. Transfer the minestrone soup ingredients to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
  2. To prepare the soup on the stovetop, pour the contents of the large bag into a stockpot and add four cups of vegetable broth. Cook over medium high heat until the liquid begins to boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.
  3. Add the pasta to the pot and continue to simmer the soup for another 10 minutes, until the pasta is tender, stirring the soup occasionally.
  4. To cook the soup in the crockpot, pour the contents of the large bag into the bowl of the slow cooker and add the vegetable broth. Place the lid on top and cook on low for four to six hours or high for two to three hours.
  5. Stir the pasta into the soup 20 minutes before serving.

collage of photos of minestrone soup from freezer bag to slow cooker to bowl

How Do You Thicken Minestrone Soup?

Since minestrone is made with a broth base, it has a soupy consistency. But the use of beans and pasta in this recipe help give the soup some thickness without the need to add any thickening agent to the pot.

If your minestrone is soupier than you prefer, the best way to help reduce the amount of liquid in the pot is allow the soup to simmer for longer. Increasing the cook time by around 30 minutes will give the excess liquid time to thicken and reduce, giving your minestrone a less runny consistency.soup being lifted from a bowl with a spoon

Soups are about the most comforty of the comfort foods when it comes to winter. See us make this Pesto Minestrone soup as well as some of our other most popular soup recipes in the video below.

YouTube video

Variations for Minestrone Soup:

  • Add more vegetables. If you’re looking to add more nutrition into your bowl, add cubed zucchini, frozen green beans, frozen peas, kale, spinach, or cabbage to the bag before freezing.
  • Change up the beans. Use cannellini beans (also known as white kidney beans) or kidney beans in place of the can of mixed beans if you prefer.
  • Extra protein. To add more protein, you can replace the veggie broth with chicken stock and top with Parmesan cheese.
  • Use different pasta. In place of the bowtie pasta, you can use any small pasta such as small shells or macaroni noodles.

bowl of soup with vegetables and bowtie pasta

Pesto Minestrone
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
 
Course: Soup
Keyword: soup
Servings: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups bowtie pasta
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 ribs of celery chopped
  • 3 carrots sliced
  • 1 cup white wine or you can use apple juice
  • 14-19 oz diced tomatoes with juice
  • 19 oz mixed beans
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
  • 1/4 cup basil pesto
For cooking day:
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
Instructions
Assembly Instructions:
  1. Place the bowtie pasta in a medium freezer bag
  2. In a separate large freezer bag, add the diced onion, garlic, celery, carrots, white wine, diced tomatoes, mixed beans, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, black pepper, parmesan cheese, and basil pesto.

  3. Squish to combine the ingredients. Remove excess air from the bag and seal. Staple the bag of pasta to the large bag above the seal. Freeze.

Stovetop Cooking instructions:
  1. Transfer the minestrone soup ingredients to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
  2. Pour the contents of the large bag into a stockpot and add four cups of vegetable broth. Cook over medium high heat until the liquid begins to boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes

  3. Add the pasta to the pot and continue to simmer the soup for another 10 minutes, until the pasta is tender, stirring the soup occasionally.
Crock Pot Cooking Instructions:
  1. Pour the contents of the large bag into the bowl of the slow cooker and add the vegetable broth. Place the lid on top and cook on low for four to six hours or high for two to three hours.

  2. Stir the pasta into the soup 20 minutes before serving.