Vegetable Minestrone
A generous vegetable and bean soup with a handful of pasta, built on a proper soffritto. The kind of pot that stretches further the next day.
By Vegan Cook. Published 5 August 2026
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 1onion, diced
- 2carrots, diced
- 2 stalkscelery, diced
- 3 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1courgette, diced
- 1 cupcooked kidney or cannellini beans
- 1 cupchopped tomatoes
- 4 cupsvegetable broth
- 1/2 cupsmall pasta (ditalini or macaroni)
- 1 tspdried oregano
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 1 tspsalt
- 2 tbspfresh basil, to finish
Cookware
- Large soup pot
Method
Read each step end-to-end before starting.
- 01
Make the base
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for 8 minutes until softened, then add the garlic and oregano and cook 1 minute more.
- 02
Build the soup
Add the courgette, chopped tomatoes, beans, broth and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
- 03
Cook the pasta separately (or not)
Stir the pasta directly into the soup and simmer for the time on the packet, about 10 minutes. Note: if you plan to keep leftovers, cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl — pasta left in the soup overnight turns bloated and soaks up all the broth.
- 04
Finish
Taste and adjust salt. Stir through the fresh basil off the heat and serve with a drizzle of olive oil.
Allergen profile
Every recipe here is fully plant-based. Cross-contamination risk depends on your kitchen, so check all packaging.
Swap note
Contains gluten from the pasta. Use gluten-free pasta or leave it out and add extra beans to adapt.