So you’ve got a fridge of half-forgotten vegetables, and no idea what to make for dinner? Minestrone to the rescue! This recipe doesn’t ask for perfection—it just asks what you’ve got in the fridge. A lonely half-a-zucchini? Toss it in. That bag of spinach you meant to add to omelettes all week (but ended up eating cereal instead)? Perfect. This minestrone is less of a recipe and more of a formula.
Jump to the recipe if you’re ready to go, or read on for lists of vegetables, a list of ingredients you can substitute, and some minspiration.
Veggies you can toss into this minestrone
You can truly use just about any vegetable you’d like, so don’t feel tethered to this list. That said, these veggies play particularly well in minestrone.
How to add vegetables: This is a true one-pot recipe—the pasta, veggies, and everything simmer together. But different ingredients have different cook times, so to keep everything from turning to mush, it’s important to group veggies into two categories: slow-cooking and quick-cooking. Start with the slow-cooking ones, then toss in the quick-cooking ones a minute or two before everything else is ready. And be sure to time it so the pasta finishes alongside the vegetables.
Don’t worry if this sounds like a lot to remember—the recipe takes you through it step-by-step.
Slow-cooking produce (7 to 10 minutes—add first)
Green bean segments
sliced bell pepper
mini okra
chopped thick Swiss chard stems
thinly sliced fennel
½ in [13 mm] diced winter squash, sweet potatoes, or parsnips
chopped kale or collards
½ in [13 mm] sliced potatoes
thinly sliced mushrooms
Quick-cooking produce (1 to 2 minutes—add last)
raw or grilled corn kernels
½ in [13 mm] diced zucchini or summer squash
chopped
swiss chard leaves
small cauliflower or broccoli florets
fresh spinach
peas
frozen corn, peas, or lima beans
Minestrone combinations I love
In the summer, I like Swiss chard, corn, and zucchini. In the fall and winter, I go with sweet potatoes, kale, and mushrooms. And I love peas, baby spinach, and potatoes for spring.
Ingredient substitutions
There are a few essential ingredients (onion, olive oil, garlic, lemon), but everything else is up in the air. If you go really far afield it might turn out to be less of a minestrone and more of a random vegetable soup. But if you do it thoughtfully, it’ll still be delicious!
- Carrots and celery: If you don’t have carrots and celery on hand, you can play it by ear, depending on your other ingredients. They are usually the backbone of a soup, but you can easily leave these out if the other vegetables you’re adding carry a lot of aromatic flavor. For instance, if you’re adding fennel and bell peppers, you’ve probably got enough aromatic flavor there.
- Vegetable stock: Any stock will work here, as long as it goes with your other flavors.
- Red pepper flakes: You can substitute another dried hot pepper blend or omit entirely if you don’t want spice.
- Diced tomatoes: If you’re making minestrone in the heart of tomato season, feel free to replace the can of diced tomatoes with an equal amount of chopped very ripe tomatoes (2 cups [400 g]).
- Beans: Literally any beans will work here—just choose ones that go with the rest of your flavors.
- Pasta: Use whatever little pasta you’ve got on hand. Or if you reeeally don’t feel like going to the grocery store, you could probably get away with using whatever pasta you have on hand. You just might need to break out the chopsticks if you go with something like spaghetti.
- Parsley: Using something different from parsley will take this out of traditional minestrone territory, but cilantro, chives, or dill would also work here (as long as they go with your other ingredients, and as long as you like the flavor). You can also omit the parsley.
- Parmesan is totally optional and can be omitted or replaced with another similar hard cheese (romano, asiago, etc.).
Minestrone (with any vegetables)
Almost all of these ingredients can be substituted—see the notes above the recipe for more info.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion
- 2 carrots
- 3 stalks of celery
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 quarts vegetable stock
- 2 Tbsp minced or pressed garlic cloves
- 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
- 14½ oz [410 g] can of diced tomatoes
- 15 oz [420 g] can of cannellini or kidney beans, drained (or another bean)
- 1¼ cups [100 g] of orecchiette or another small pasta
- Up to 4 cups of vegetables (e.g., sliced zucchini, swiss chard, and corn)
- For garnish: lemon wedges, chopped parsley (optional), and Parmesan (optional)
Instructions
- Sauté the onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil over medium heat until they soften (about 8 minutes).
- Once they soften, add the stock, garlic, red pepper flakes, and diced tomatoes and bring to a boil.
- Once it comes to a boil, add the beans and pasta and turn the heat down to medium-low to maintain a simmer. Set a timer for the length of time your pasta is supposed to take to reach al dente.
- Add your favorite vegetables to your soup in stages, so that they all finish cooking at the same time as the pasta. Use my list of produce to get a sense of how long different vegetables take to simmer. Add slow-cooking veggies when there’s 7-10 minutes left on the pasta, and add quick-cooking vegetables when there’s 1 or 2 minutes left on the pasta.
- Finish it off with fresh lemon juice, a big handful of chopped parsley, and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan at the table.
Psst… by the way, I wrote a whole cookbook of adaptable recipes like this one. It’s called A Dish for All Seasons!
Check it out for adaptable base recipes + ideas for seasonal (and evergreen!) variations. It includes this adaptable minestrone + 4 additional seasonal soups that I love (summery corn chowder, lentil with carrots and squash, avgolemono, and vidalia French onion).
