Vegetable Minestrone Soup (No Pasta, No Beans)
Vegetable Minestrone Soup is a healthy and hearty soup perfect for a chilly day. This low carb and keto version of vegetable minestrone is made without pasta or beans, so enjoy this easy comforting Italian classic!
I love cold weather. Don’t get me wrong -I’m not above complaining when temperatures dip below freezing, but I will take Virginia’s cooler springs and falls over the year round heat wave in South Carolina ANY DAY.
Now that I can look forward to chilly Virginia weather, I can also look forward to making soups and stew, like the best minestrone soup recipe without pasta recipe! Its better than the Italian one at Olive Garden and you can tailor it to make it your own.
This healthy minestrone soup without pasta is made without any carb-heavy ingredients or beans, so it’s ideal for keto and low carb diets. Although not traditional, the variety of nutrient-dense vegetables provides plenty of fiber and nutrition to keep you feeling full until your next meal. This easy vegetable minestrone soup without beans is seriously the best!
💗 Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Veggie-loaded. A pot of minestrone is a great way cook with fresh seasonal vegetables and use up extra veggies you may have on hand.
- Cooking options. This soup can be made on the stove or in the Instant Pot.
- Amazing flavor. The variety of vegetables, herbs and spices bring an incredible depth in flavor to this soup.
- Diet-friendly. Gluten-free, low carb, keto and paleo.
🥘 Ingredients You’ll Need
- Onion (diced) & Celery (diced) – The first layer of flavor comes from the aromatics of onion and celery.
- Garlic (minced) – continues to build and enhance flavor.
- Carrot Chips (frozen) & Green Beans (frozen) – Using frozen carrots and green beans keeps them from getting too soft and mushy while simmering. Using frozen also saves you time on prepping.
- Zucchini (diced) – helps thicken the soup and adds another layer of nutritious vegetables.
- Butternut Squash (cubed & precooked) – helps thicken the soup while adding flavor and texture.
- Large Russet Potato (diced) – omit for low carb/Keto.
- Diced Tomato – 14 ounce can.
- Tomato Sauce – You don’t need to open a fancy jar of expensive tomato sauce. A simple 14 ounce can is fine.
- Chicken Broth – is the base/liquid component of this minestrone.
- Dried Oregano, Dried Basil, Dried Thyme & Dried Rosemary – enhance flavor and seasons soup.
- Avocado Oil – is used to coat the pot to prevent sticking.
- Salt & Pepper – to taste
🍠Minestrone Soup Vegetables
- Turnips
- Rutabaga
- Parsnips
- Mushrooms
- Lima Beans
- Cannellini Beans
- Peas
- Kale
- Cabbage
- Pumpkin
- Sweet Potato
- Cauliflower
- Spinach
📖 How to Make Vegetable Minestrone without Pasta
1️⃣ Sauté aromatics: In a large stock pot, heat avocado oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add celery, onion, carrots, garlic and dry herbs to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté until the vegetables begin to soften and herbs become fragrant (about 5 minutes).
2️⃣ Add remaining vegetables: To the pot, add zucchini, potato, green beans and butternut squash. Stir well and sauté until potato begins to soften (about 5 minutes).
3️⃣ Add liquid and simmer: Add chicken broth, diced tomato and tomato sauce. Stir. Raise the heat to HIGH and bring the soup to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes before lowering the heat, bringing the soup down to a simmer. Simmer over low heat until potatoes are completely cooked through (about 1 hour). Serve hot and enjoy!
⏱️ Instant Pot Minestrone Without Pasta Or Beans
1️⃣ Set Instant Pot to SAUTE. Add avocado oil to the pot and warm until hot but not smoking. Add celery, onion, carrots, garlic and dry herbs to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until the vegetables begin to soften and herbs become fragrant (about 5 minutes).
2️⃣ Next, add zucchini, potato, green beans and butternut squash. Stir well and continue sauteing until potato begins to soften (about 5 minutes).
3️⃣ Add chicken broth, diced tomato and tomato sauce. Stir. Secure the lid and make sure the pressure valve is sealed. Set the Instant Pot to cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 30 minutes. It will take 10 to 15 minutes to reach temperature.
4️⃣ When the timer goes off, you can let the pressure release naturally or manually release the steam. Stir once more. Serve hot and enjoy.
👩🏻🍳 Chef’s Tips
- There’s really no right or wrong vegetable to toss into a pot of minestrone so get creative, use seasonal vegetables and whatever else you have on hand.
- The potato will take the longest to cook through, so be sure to dice the potatoes small and all the same size.
- If you can have dairy, place the rind from a wedge of parmesan cheese in the soup while it simmers. This trick adds incredible flavor.
- This vegetable minestrone soup without pasta is fantastic as is, but you are welcome to add regular noodles or gluten-free noodles. Boil noodles separately and then add cooked noodles to individual servings of minestrone.
- Vegetable minestrone soup can be served as an appetizer with a delicious Italian feast or as a light meal served with a slice of crusty bread (or a simple side salad to keep things diet-friendly).
- How many carbs in minestrone soup without pasta? This depends on your serving size and what ingredients you use. This soup can be anywhere from 5 to 10 grams of carbohydrates per serving if made without the potatoes and butternut squash.
🔁 Variations
You can enjoy this minestrone plain or with a variety of mix-ins and toppings.
- Keto minestrone soup: Make a low carb minestrone soup that’s suitable for a keto diet. Omit the potatoes and butternut squash and increase the low carb veggies (zucchini, celery, mushrooms).
- Vegan minestrone soup: This low carb minestrone soup can easily be made vegan. Simply swap the chicken broth for a vegetable broth and ensure the rest of your ingredients have no animal products.
- Before serving, top hot no pasta minestrone soup with a spoonful of pesto, freshly grated parmesan and cracked black pepper.
- With quinoa: Instead of pasta, you can add quinoa in the last 15 minutes of cooking until it absorbs all the liquid.
- Slow cooker minestrone: To adapt this recipe for the slow cooker, simply combine all the sauteed diced vegetables, minced garlic, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried herbs, and chicken broth in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours until the vegetables are tender, and the flavors come together, adding salt and pepper to taste before serving.
- You could also beef up this soup quite literally by adding a protein. Seasoned cooked ground beef, cooked shredded chicken or cooked white fish and/or crab meat are great proteins to stir in once the soup is finished.
- And if you can tolerate grains and legumes, try adding lima beans, kidney beans, barley, rice, etc.
🔁 Storing & Freezing
Storing – This no bean minestrone soup stores very well in the fridge for 5 to 7 days. It can be quickly reheated in the microwave or over low heat on the stove.
Freezing – To freeze, let soup cool completely to room temperature and then freeze in freezer-safe bags or containers for 3 to 4 month’s. The textures of the softer vegetables like zucchini will not be exactly the same once minestrone is frozen and thawed.
❔FAQ
It depends on the recipe. To make this vegetable minestrone soup recipe vegetarian and vegan, simply use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth.
The best vegetables for minestrone soup are in-season vegetables you actually enjoy. The options are endless. Pumpkin, butternut squash, zucchini, potato, carrots, green beans, turnips, etc.
The potatoes in vegetable minestrone are a good source of protein. You can add more protein by adding meat, beans any other high-protein vegetables (spinach, sweet potatoes, broccoli, etc).
🥣 More Soup Recipes
Vegetable Minestrone Soup (no pasta, no beans)
Ingredients
- 1 Onion diced
- 2 tsp Garlic minced
- ½ cup Celery diced
- ½ cup Carrot Chips frozen
- 1 cup Green Beans frozen
- 1 Zucchini diced
- 1 cup Butternut Squash frozen cooked and cubed
- 1 Russet Potato diced
- 14 oz Diced Tomato canned
- 1 14 oz can Tomato Sauce
- 4 cups [Chicken Broth]
- 2 tsp Dried Oregano
- 2 tsp Dried Basil
- 2 tsp Dried Thyme
- 2 tsp Dried Rosemary
- 1 tbsp Avocado Oil
- Salt/Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In large stock pot, add 1 tbsp avocado oil and heat over medium high heat.
- Add in carrots, celery, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and all dried herbs and saute for about 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften.
- To the pot, add zucchini, potato, green beans and butternut squash. Saute all together for another 5 minutes.
- Add chicken broth and canned tomato and stir once again.
- Bring up heat to high until soup comes to a boil. Let it boil for 10 minutes before bring it back town to a low heat or simmer. Simmer at low for about 1 hour or until potatoes are cooked through evenly.
