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- I know you guys love soup recipes as much as I do. So today, I'm gonna show you how to make minestrone. This hearty Italian soup is a classic, yet there's no one right way to make it, and that's because it's often made as a way to use up any leftover veggies you may have and that can differ for all of us. Now in the US, Olive Garden popularized this soup with the combination of veggies and pasta, but you don't have to use pasta. You can use rice or even beans to make this a full meal kind of soup. And I personally love white beans and sweet potatoes for that extra fiber and heft.
This is one nutrient-packed soup with tons of flavor, and I think you guys are gonna have it in regular rotation this fall and winter. So let me show you how to make it. To get started, dice up one yellow onion, two ribs of celery and two medium carrots. This trio is your classic mirepoix mix that adds a delicious flavor base to so many different soups, including this minestrone. Just dice these veggies up about the same size so that they cook evenly, and as they saute, they'll soften and release a natural sweetness that really deepens the overall flavor of the soup. And when it comes to dicing the carrots,
I always cut them in half lengthwise, then in half again, so that there's a flat base to then slice them up. And that gives you nice little half moons in the soup as well. Now because we'll cook these veggies at the same time in our pot, you can go ahead and add them together in a prep bowl right now. Then just set them aside. Minestrone soups are really adaptable to whatever vegetables you have on hand. And I have tips for making minestrone for fall, winter, spring and summer on my website with seasonal ingredients.
Now I love sweet potato for the added nutrients it brings, as well as some heft to fill me up. And I'll add about one cup of diced sweet potato, though you can always add more if you'd like. So I'll just slice the sweet potato into rounds, stack a few of those on top of each other, then dice them up. And with the leftover diced sweet potato I have today, I'll roast that after filming. And side note, I do have a separate recipe for roasted sweet potato with the best seasoning mix. Next, I'm going to quarter and slice one zucchini. Zucchini is packed with water and fiber, which makes the soup feel hearty and filling without being heavy.
Plus zucchini is one of those classics that really makes it taste like a true Italian minestrone. But if you don't have zucchini on hand, you could also swap an eggplant, which gives some similar body to the soup. For more greens and wholesomeness, add one and a half cups of chopped green beans. I always buy trimmed green beans at the market and then just slice them three or four times lengthwise into bite-sized pieces. And that's it in terms of chopping and prepping veggies. See, it is so easy. Now to make the soup, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Dump in your bowl of onion, celery, and carrots, and saute those for four to five minutes or until they're softened.
(gentle music) Add four cloves of garlic and you can mince that right into the pot along with two teaspoons of Italian seasoning. And side note, I have a recipe for homemade Italian seasoning if you can't find it in the store. Add one teaspoon of kosher salt and half a teaspoon of ground black pepper. Then saute that for another 30 seconds. To give the soup delicious tomato flavor, add two 14 and a half ounce cans of diced tomatoes.
I'm using regular diced tomatoes today, but you could also use fire-roasted tomatoes. And for my alternative to pasta, I love using two 14 and a half ounce cans of cannellini beans that I've already drained and rinsed. Then add the green beans and sweet potato that we chopped up, two bay leaves, and six to eight cups of vegetable broth depending on how brothy you'd like it. Give that a stir, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and let it simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are just fork tender.
Alright, now it's time to add the zucchini. And for even more greens, I love to add two cups of baby spinach. These veggies don't need much time to cook, so just stir them together for about five to seven minutes until the zucchini is softened and the spinach is wilted. (gentle music) To finish off the soup, I love adding two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and a quarter cup of chopped fresh parsley. These items really brighten up the soup and make the flavors pop.
The lemon juice adds a subtle tang that cuts through the heartiness of the sweet potato and white beans while the parsley brings a fresh herby note that makes the soup feel light and vibrant. And trust me when I say it's these little finishing details that take a good soup to a great one. This minestrone soup is one I always have on repeat for fall soup season, and I especially love to meal prep and freeze it in individual containers as well. I think it's the perfect midweek dinner to enjoy from a simple reheat in the microwave when I wanna get dinner on the table in just a few minutes. But right now, I'll ladle this soup into a bowl, and grate some fresh Parmesan cheese on top.
This is of course optional and you can keep it 100% dairy-free, but I personally love just a bit of that cheesy Parmesan flavor on top. And with that, I am now ready to dig in and take a bite. I am definitely gonna lift the bowl up for this one, otherwise it might spill down the front of me. But let's take a bite. I love that it's a light and bright soup so it doesn't feel heavy at all, but there's enough heartiness in it to fill you up for a full meal. So instead of my vegetable soup that is more like a side soup or a beginning soup to an entree,
this definitely holds its own as a full meal, because the beans add carbs and fiber, the sweet potato adds a little heft and some good nutrients. So it's just a great all around soup. I also love eating this soup in the colder weather months when we gravitate towards comfort foods that are a little bit starchy and heavier and tend to be a little bit more beige in color. This adds a whole bunch of color and nutrients into your diet and it's a good balance when you get into Thanksgiving and Christmas and cookies and all of that kind of sugary stuff to just make this one week.
You can meal prep it for the week as well. And again, you just get a whole bunch of really good for you nutrients. And as I mentioned at the beginning, this is such a great soup for using up whatever leftovers you have on hand. So feel free to adapt it and swap in whatever you might have in your fridge. And you could even swap out some of the beans, the white beans for other beans. If you have a can of kidney beans, you could add those instead. So just feel free to make it your own. I hope you guys enjoyed today's video for minestrone soup. And if you did, make sure to give it a thumbs up. That always really helps to support my channel.
Don't forget to tag me when you make it. I always love to see how your versions end up. And after you've made it and if you love it, it would mean the world to me if you went over to my website and gave it a five star review. And with that, I will see you guys in the next video. (gentle music)
