Fall Minestrone Soup

We’re ringing in soup season with this Fall Minestrone Soup. This soup is loaded with a bounty of produce, from butternut squash and sweet potatoes, to kale and carrots, making it a farmers market in your bowl while also giving your immune system a boost. It features a heart-warming fire-roasted tomato broth lightly sweetened with a touch of nutmeg. And it’s vegan and vegetarian friendly (just skip the parm).

Ingredients in Fall Minestrone Soup

Here’s just a quick look at all the powerhouse ingredients at work in this soup:

• Butternut Squash – subtly sweet, tender squash that embodies savory fall flavor. Plus, butternut squash is loaded with immune-boosting alpha and beta-carotene.
• Sweet Potatoes – another sweet addition to this soup. Sweet potatoes are also bursting with antioxidants and vitamins, especially Vitamin A and are rich in soluble and insoluble fiber, which promote gut health.
• Cannellini Beans – a hearty plant-based protein source. Cannellini beans are also rich in fiber, copper, iron and folate.
• Kale – for a dash of greens. As an added bonus, kale is among the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. It’s low in calories, packed with vitamin A, C and K (among others), and is high in antioxidants.
• Mirepoix – onions, carrots, and celery mix that adds some crunch.
• Fire roasted tomatoes – create a delicious broth full of cozy warmth.
• Broth – vegetable or chicken broth forms the base of this soup.
• Pasta – small pastas, like mini shells, ditalini, or mini bowties work best, but you can swap in any kind you like!
• Seasoning – fresh garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, dried thyme, ground nutmeg, and salt and pepper load this soup up with tons of flavor.

So if you are even feeling slightly under the weather, whip up a big batch of this Fall Minestrone Soup or keep a few batches in your freezer, because this soup is the perfect dish to put your immune system into overdrive.

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How to Make Fall Minestrone Soup

Step 1: Prepare Produce

There is a lot of produce to prep in this recipe. Make this recipe easier by preparing all of the ingredients before heating up your Dutch oven.

Mince the garlic. Chop the carrots and onion. Slice the celery. Cube the sweet potato and butternut squash. De-vein the kale and coarsely chop.

Step 2: Cook the Vegetables

In a large Dutch Oven or stockpot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, and celery. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onion becomes fragrant.

Next, add the sweet potato and butternut squash. Cook covered for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom of the pan.

Step 3: Create the Soup

Next add the broth and fire-roasted tomatoes to the sauted vegetables. Season with basil, oregano, thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir well to distribute the seasonings and tomatoes.

Reduce to a simmer on medium-low heat. Simmer for roughly 10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are slightly soft.

Step 4: Add Pasta, Beans, and Kale

Once the potatoes begin to soften, add the pasta and drained cannellini beans. Cook the soup another 7 to 8 minutes, or until the pasta is done.

Just before serving, fold in the kale. The kale will wilt quickly, after about 30 seconds. Stir again to make sure the kale is well incorporated.

Divide among bowls and garnish with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Quick Tips for This Recipe

• Shortcuts – If you’re short on time, here are some quick shortcuts:
  • Use pre-cubed butternut squash–its located in most store refrigerator sections.
  • Buy pre-wash, packaged kale or frozen kale.
  • Swap out carrots and celery with frozen mixed vegetables.
  • Break out your food processor and let it do the work of chopping your produce.
• Keep pasta and broth separate –
  • My BEST tip for making amazing soup that reheats well and doesn’t turn pasta to mush is to actually cook the pasta separately from the broth. When you are ready to eat, ladle the pasta into the bowl and top with broth.
  • To store, store the broth in one container and the pasta in another.
  • To reheat, warm the broth in a sauce pot. Add the desired amount of pasta to a bowl and top with hot broth.

How to Store This Soup

Refrigerating

When storing this soup, we recommend storing the vegetables and pasta separately from the broth. To do this, use a slotted spoon to strain the broth from the vegetables and pasta. Transfer the strained vegetables to one container. Pour the remaining broth in a second container. See the Quick Tips section (above) for an alternate method of cooking the pasta and preventing soggy noodles.

Keep the soup and noodles refrigerated for up to a week.

Freezing

This soup is super freezer friendly! In fact, we highly recommend freezing a few batches ahead of time for when you need a quick dinner or for giving you an immunity boost during cold and flu season.

To freeze, ladle enough soup into a freezer quart baggie so that it is about 3/4 full. Don’t fill it too full or it may rip the bag when it freezes and expands.

Lay the freezer bags of soup flat on a large baking sheet. Arrange the baking sheet flat on the freezer shelf. Freeze for several hours, until the soup has set inside the baggie. Remove the soup from the baking sheet and store as desired in the freezer.

For ease of freezing, we recommend making the soup in its entirety, except do not add the pasta.

Reheating

Thaw frozen soup overnight in the refrigerator. To reheat, add the soup to a large Dutch oven or sauce pot and warm over the stove. In a separate pot, cook fresh pasta. Ladle cooked pasta into a bowl and top with warmed broth. Alternately, you can add the pasta straight to the warming soup to cook. See the Quick Tips section.

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Check out more of our cozy soups

• Chickpea Minestrone Soup
• Summer Minestrone Soup
• Spicy Sausage and Chickpea Soup
• Chicken Gnocchi Soup
• Coconut Chickpea Green Curry