This Chickpea Minestrone Soup is a bowl of rustic, hearty, veggie-loaded soup perfect for any season, anytime. Zucchini, green beans, carrots, chickpeas, and whole wheat rotini are complemented by a simple and delicious tomato broth. It is filling, easy to make, and beautifully simplistic.
Minestrone is an Italian classic that beefs up vegetable soup with beans and pasta. It’s the perfect comfort food.
What’s so great about minestrone is that you can throw in any vegetables you have on hand in the pot and it’s sure to be delicious! Minestrone celebrates fresh, seasonal vegetables. For summer, that means squashes, tomatoes, and green beans. Load ‘em up!
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Step 1: Prepare the Vegetables
Minestrone has a ton of veggies to prep, so I like to have everything ready to go before I even think of heating up my Dutch oven.
Wash all the produce. Peel the carrots. Cut the top and bottom off the celery stalks and slice lengthwise in half. Then, coarsely dice the onions and carrots, and celery. Finely mince the garlic.
Cut the zucchini into half moons by slicing in half lengthwise and then slicing each half into small 1/2” thick pieces.
Trim the green beans and cut into 2” pieces.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Set all prepped veggies aside.
Step 2: Make Broth
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven or 5 quart sauce pot. Once the oil is hot, add the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften.
Add the green beans and chickpeas. Cook another 2 to 3 minutes.
Next add the zucchini, broth, and fire roasted tomatoes. Season generously with basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook at least 30 minutes on a low simmer.
Step 3: Add Pasta and Serve
About 7 to 8 minutes before you’re wanting to eat, add the pasta.
I prefer to use whole wheat pasta in this soup because it is a healthier whole grain option and it is more robust and tends to hold up better in this soup, while other white pastas tend to get soggier and fall apart in the broth. Plus, I’m not typically a huge fan of whole wheat pastas due to their grittier, harder al dente texture. However, this soup masks that aspect of whole grain pasta so I actually enjoy including it in my soup.
Test the pasta for doneness. I always use the “bite test.” Bite the pasta in half and look at the cross section of the pasta. It should no longer be white in the center. It’s a little harder to tell with whole wheat pastas, so continue cooking until the pasta achieves your desired softness.
Fold in spinach about 1 minute before serving.
Ladel soup among bowls and garnish with parmesan cheese, if desired. I like to serve my pasta with a side of garlic bread. It’s perfect for dunking in the tomato broth.
Tips for Storing
To ensure the continued freshness of this soup, I recommend storing the broth and vegetables separately. I use a large slotted spoon to strain the liquid from the vegetables before putting them in their own airtight container. Then I pour the broth into its own container and store both separately in the fridge.
You can also prevent your noodles from absorbing residual liquid by cooking the noodles separately, as you normally would. Then when you’re ready to serve the soup, just add a spoonful of noodles to your bowl and pour broth and vegetables over the noodles. I tend to use this method when making soup because I don’t like soggy noodles. But it’s personal preference!
We hope you enjoy this recipe for Chickpea Minestrone Soup! Leave us a comment with your thoughts! And be sure to tag us in your creations on Instagram @sticksscratchkitchen.
Looking for more soup recipes? Give these a try:
- Loaded Veggie Corn Chowder
- Fall Minestrone Soup
- Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew
- Roasted Carrot and Butternut Squash Soup
Chickpea Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
- 3 celery ribs, diced
- 2 medium zucchinis, cut into half moons
- 1½ c green beans, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
- 1 14.5 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
- 6 c low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 c kale or spinach, roughly chopped
- ¼ c Parmesan cheese (garnish) (vegan or regular)
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables. Dice onions, carrots, and celery. Mince garlic. Cut zucchini into half moons. Trim green beans and cut into 2" pieces. Drain and rinse chickpeas.
- Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a dutch oven or large sauce pot. Once oil is hot, add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, until vegetables begin to soften.
- Add green beans and chickpeas. Cook 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add zucchini, broth, and tomatoes. Season with basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
- Bring soup to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook at least 30 minutes on low at a simmer. Add pasta 7-8 minutes before serving. Add spinach 1 minute before serving. Divide among bowls. Garnish with Parmesan.
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