This Instant Pot Minestrone Soup tastes better than Olive Garden! Full of veggies, beans, and pasta in a flavorful tomato-based broth.
Minestrone Soup
If you’re a fan of Olive Garden’s Minestrone Soup, then you are going to love today’s recipe! Not only is this version quick and easy, but I think it tastes better, too! Plus, we all love Instant Pot recipes!
If you’re not familiar, Minestrone Soup is a thick soup of Italian origin. It is pronounced “mi-nuh-strow-nee.” Most often, it has vegetables with pasta or rice, or sometimes both. Some of the most common ingredients in this soup recipe are beans, carrots, celery, onion, stock, and tomatoes.
This is one of our favorite soup recipes during the fall and winter months because of how comforting a bowl of this soup is on a cold night. Usually, we top it off with some shredded Parmesan cheese, but that is totally optional.
Ingredients
- olive oil
- sweet onion
- carrots
- celery ribs
- zucchini,
- garlic
- fresh basil
- low-sodium vegetable broth
- water
- diced tomatoes
- tomato sauce
- red kidney beans
- cannellini beans
- dried oregano
- thyme
- rosemary
- black pepper
- balsamic vinegar
- mini shells pasta
- baby spinach
How to make Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
- Press the ‘SAUTE’ button. Once the indicator says ‘HOT,’ add the olive oil. Then add onions, garlic, carrots, celery. Saute the vegetables until the onions are translucent and fragrant for approximately 3 minutes.
- Then add zucchini, fresh basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and black pepper. Be sure to keep the sides and bottom scraped.
- Add balsamic vinegar and continue to saute another 2 minutes.
- Add ½ cup of your vegetable broth and deglaze the instant pot. Once deglazed, add the remainder of the vegetable broth and 1 cup water.
- Then add your diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, rinsed kidney, and cannellini beans. Stir so that all ingredients are well mixed. Once again, ensure the sides are scraped.
- Secure the lid and move the valve to the ‘sealing’ position. Press the cancel button. Set the Instant Pot to PRESSURE COOK for 5 minutes. Allow soup to decompress for 5 minutes. Then release the remaining pressure using the ‘venting’ valve.
- Press the ‘SAUTE’ button and bring the soup to a boil. This should not take long. Add the mini shells. Stir the ingredients together, making sure the mini shells are well combined. Continue to cook for about 5-7 minutes or until all of the mini shells float to the top.
- Add spinach and blend it well. Once the spinach is wilted and mixed, you are ready to serve.
- Serve with grated parmesan and some chopped Italian parsley.
Minestrone Soup FAQs
This soup can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days.
Reheat in a saucepan or similar vessel over medium-high heat until the soup is hot throughout, stirring occasionally. Note, when reheating refrigerated soup with the pasta in it, you may need to add additional vegetable broth to thin the soup out as the pasta will continue to soak up the broth while in the refrigerator.
You can freeze it one of two ways.
1. Cool the soup completely and transfer it to freezer-safe containers. Freeze for up to 2-3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the fridge then reheat.
2. My personal choice. I think the shells tend to disintegrate slightly when frozen and reheated. For this method, skip “step 7” and prepare the shells on the side and add to the soup during the last few minutes when you have reheated the frozen soup.
Yes, you can!
– You can use other types of pasta such as small elbow, penne, cellentani, or farfalle if you prefer. Refer to the cooking instructions on the package for exact cooking times.
– If you like more vegetables, add different beans, yellow squash, broccoli, and even sweet potatoes!
– If fresh basil is not available, feel free to use dried basil.
Enjoy this recipe with a simple side salad and warm bread, Cheesy Breadsticks, or Soft Italian Breadsticks.
Recipe Tips
- Releasing the pressure during decompression in step 6 may take some time. Allow to fully decompress before opening.
- You can make this recipe low sodium by choosing low sodium vegetable broth, low sodium tomato sauce, and low sodium diced tomatoes.
- You can make this soup gluten-free by choosing gluten-free pasta.
- This soup is vegan if you eliminate the parmesan cheese.
- If you are watching your carbs, leave out the pasta!
Other recipes you may enjoy
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium sweet onion chopped
- 2 carrots chopped and quartered
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- 1 medium zucchini thicker chunks halved
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth 32 oz carton
- 1 cup water
- 1 can diced tomatoes 28 oz.
- 1 can tomato sauce 15 oz.
- 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed 15 oz.
- 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 15 oz.
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon rosemary
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup mini shells
- 1 cup baby spinach
Instructions
- Press the ‘SAUTE’ button. Once the indicator says ‘HOT,’ add the olive oil. Then add onions, garlic, carrots, celery. Saute the vegetables until the onions are translucent and fragrant for approximately 3 minutes.
- Then add zucchini, fresh basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and black pepper. Be sure to keep the sides and bottom scraped.
- Add balsamic vinegar and continue to saute another 2 minutes.
- Add ½ cup of your vegetable broth and deglaze the instant pot. Once deglazed, add the remainder of the vegetable broth and 1 cup water.
- Then add your diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, rinsed kidney, and cannellini beans. Stir so that all ingredients are well mixed. Once again, ensure the sides are scraped.
- Secure the lid and move the valve to the ‘sealing’ position. Press the cancel button. Set the Instant Pot to PRESSURE COOK for 5 minutes. Allow soup to decompress for 5 minutes. Then release the remaining pressure using the ‘venting’ valve.
- Press the ‘SAUTE’ button and bring the soup to a boil. This should not take long. Add the mini shells. Stir the ingredients together, making sure the mini shells are well combined. Continue to cook for about 5-7 minutes or until all of the mini shells float to the top.
- Add spinach and blend it well. Once the spinach is wilted and mixed, you are ready to serve.
- Serve with grated parmesan and some chopped Italian parsley.
Notes
- Releasing the pressure during decompression in step 6 may take some time. Therefore, allow to fully decompress before opening.
- You can make this recipe low sodium by choosing low sodium vegetable broth, low sodium tomato sauce, and low sodium diced tomatoes.
- You can make this soup gluten-free by choosing gluten-free pasta.
- This soup is vegan if you eliminate the parmesan cheese.
- If you are watching your carbs, leave out the pasta!
Nutrition
Please note that the nutritional information listed on this page is an estimation based on the products I used. Ingredients and nutritional information can vary significantly between brands. Always be sure to read labels. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Likewise, recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them.
Is it okay to sub the zucchini for yellow squash? I ordered my groceries online and they gave me squash instead.
That should be fine.