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Minestrone Soup is made with carrots, diced tomatoes, kale, orzo, sausage, and tons of flavor! It’s the perfect cold-weather comfort food. It’s filling, tastes incredible, and is ready in under an hour.
Why you’ll love this Minestrone Soup Recipe:
- The Heartiest of Soups – Minestrone is full of veggies, fresh herbs, orzo and white beans, there’s a protein boost from the sausage, AND it’s flavorful and just all-around-incredible.
- Cozy & Light – This comforting soup warms you up without weighing you down.
- Quick and Easy – This delicious soup comes together with barely any effort and is ready to serve in only an hour. If you haven’t made homemade soup before, I’m here to tell you that it is a breeze!
Ingredient Overview:
As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Use the table of contents (back at the top, below the first image, to navigate).
- Sausage – Use ground pork or leaner chicken sausage or ground turkey.
- Variety of Vegetables – I keep things classic with a trio of carrots, celery, and onion.
- Canned Tomatoes – My favorite brand is Muir Glen organic canned tomatoes but feel free to use whatever brand you like.
- Broth – It’s totally up to you whether to use chicken broth or vegetable stock.
- Orzo – I prefer the tender bite of orzo over other larger noodle pastas.
- Kale – Hearty curly kale or red kale are both great options. Lacinato kale (or dinosaur kale) can be a bit tough even when cooked.
- Cannellini Beans – Use low sodium canned beans whenever available.
Recipe Substitutions & Variations:
- Gluten-free – Use gluten-free orzo to make this recipe gluten-free.
- Dairy-free – This healthy minestrone soup recipe is already made without dairy!
- Beef – Feel free to swap ground sausage in this easy minestrone soup recipe with lean ground beef or ground turkey.
- Vegetarian – Make this a vegetable minestrone soup by omitting the meat, or use your favorite plant-based meatless sausage substitute. Use vegetable broth for the soup base.
- Extra Veggies – Feel free to add extra veggies to bulk – like canned (drained) green beans!
- Pasta – You can certainly use little pasta noodles instead of orzo, if you like! Try small shells, ditalini, small elbow pasta, or other small cooked pasta.
How to Make this Healthy Minestrone Soup Recipe:
Step 1: Prep. First, chop your veggies, and cook your sausage. Remove the sausage from the pot but don’t drain the fat.
Step 2: Make the Soup. Sauté the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic to soften them a bit. Then add the diced tomatoes, broth, the cooked sausage, a few sprigs of fresh thyme, and 2 bay leaves.
Simmer this until the veggies are soft, then stir in some torn kale and cooked orzo (or other pasta of your choice). That’s it!
Serving + Storing:
Sprinkle on a flurry of parmesan and/or red pepper flakes and dig in! It’s so flavorful – everyone you share this with will ask you for the recipe, you kitchen rockstar you!
This recipe yields a lot of soup, so it’s perfect for entertaining and meal prep! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Or, freeze individual portions and thaw in the fridge overnight or defrost in a pot on the stovetop before enjoying.
Expert Cooking Tips:
- Al Dente Orzo – Cook the orzo per the package directions, but just to the minimum recommended cooking time. You want the small pasta grains to be toothsome since they’ll continue to cook a bit once added to the minestrone soup.
- Drain the Beans – Also rinse them to reduce the sodium and give the soup a cleaner flavor.
- Add Kale Last – You don’t want the greens to cook but not be limp. Stir in the torn kale at the very end of cooking to keep them tender and hearty.
- Extra Broth – I like to keep a little extra broth on hand to add back to my leftovers when reheating. The orzo tends to soak up a little liquid as the leftovers sit in the fridge.
FAQs:
Traditional minestrone soup recipes have a thinner broth.
Both dishes have meat, pasta, leafy greens, and lots of vibrant spices and herbs. But minestrone has more veggies and also includes canned tomatoes for a zestier broth.
Special Tools:
- Dutch Oven – Use your favorite large heavy-bottom soup pot or dutch oven that lets you evenly cook the sausage and veggies.
More Cozy Soup Recipes to Love:
- Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
- Mom’s Irish Stew
- Vegetable Beef Soup
- Instant Pot Beef Stew
- Best Ever Slow Cooker Chili
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Healthy & Hearty Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb sausage, I like pork sausage, but you can use chicken sausage, ground turkey, or whatever meat you like best
- 3 large carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
- 3 larg cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 tsp salt
- pinch of black pepper
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, for simmering
- 2 large bay leaves, for simmering
- two 14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth, plus 1 cup or so extra – see note
- 1 and 1/2 cups orzo
- 2 large handfuls chopped kale
- 1 can cannellini beans
- parmesan + crusty bread for serving
Instructions
- Prep: Cook the sausage in a large dutch oven over medium heat until completely cooked through, then set aside. Don't drain the fat from the bottom of the pot – this is where all the flavor is!
- Make the Soup: Add the carrots, onion, and celery to the soup pot with the salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme (not the sprigs) and sauté over medium heat and sauté for 4 minutes. Add the garlic, and continue sautéing everything for 3 more minutes, until things are beginning to get soft (the onion will be soft, the carrots and celery will be just starting to soften). Add the diced tomatoes, broth, cooked sausage, fresh thyme sprigs, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring the soup to a boil then reduce the heat to medium low and let it simmer with the lid on, but vented so steam can escape, for 25-35 minutes. While the soup simmers, cook your orzo. Check the carrots and celery to make sure they're soft – the soup is done once they're soft! Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Stir in the chopped kale, cannellini beans, and drained orzo. Taste and add extra seasoning if desired.
- Serve + Store: Enjoy immediately with a sprinkle of parmesan! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Note: The orzo tends to soak up some of the broth as the leftovers sit in the fridge. I always add a little extra broth when reheating a bowl of the leftover soup.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My entire family loves this soup. I make it all the time. We have dairy allergies in the house so we skip the Parmesan but you don’t even need it.
One question I had is should you drain the beans or not?
Hi Erin! I do drain the beans. Glad you love this soup!
I too love minestrone soup. I like to use fire roasted tomatoes.Your version sounds perfect and filling one.
I’ve made it twice already. Delicious!
Glad you like it! 🙂
Minestrone soups are my favorite soups during winter season. This recipe sounds really delicious. I love that is veggie loaded and so easy to make. Will def make this soon!
GREAT RECIPE!! Thank you! xoxo
Thanks Lauren! Glad you liked it. 🙂