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    Home > Vegan Soups

    Easy Vegan Minestrone Soup (Gluten-free)

    By My Pure Plants on 06/08/2022 - May contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure.

    Jump to Recipe Print Pin

    To make vegan minestrone soup all you need is a mix of vegetables, legumes, and egg-free pasta cooked in a rich mix of tomato sauce and vegetable broth and you have delicious Italian comfort food.

    White bowl with a red soup full of red kidney beans, chickpeas, potatoes, carrots and shell pasta. It is topped with fresh parsley. A spoon is taking a carrot.

    Do you know anyone who doesn’t love Italian food? Me neither. We have already shared some of our favorite Italian comfort food recipes like this vegan spaghetti bolognese, this quick vegan mushroom risotto, our favorite vegan lentil lasagna, and this 15-minute vegan alfredo sauce.

    Table of Contents hide
    1. Is minestrone soup vegan?
    2. Ingredients
    3. How to make vegan minestrone soup?
    4. Top tips to make it perfectly
    5. What to serve with it?
    6. FAQs and substitutions
    7. More vegan soup recipes
    8. Easy Vegan Minestrone Soup

    Is minestrone soup vegan? 

    There is no set recipe for minestrone, so you can expect several variations even within Italy. However, what they all have in common is that it is a thick tomato- and veggie broth-based soup loaded with seasonal vegetables, beans, and pasta. Naturally, it is seasoned with Italian spices like oregano and basil. 

    But is it vegan? There are two ingredients which you need to pay attention to. The first one is pasta since it often contains eggs. The second one is the broth as certain recipes may use meat stock even if it is a classic vegetable soup.

    2 white bowls with a red soup full of red kidney beans, chickpeas, potatoes, carrots and shell pasta. It is topped with fresh parsley.

    Ingredients

    Lots of veggies and legumes of course! I think the more vegetables you add, the more delicious the soup will be.

    This is also the vegan soup recipe we make if we would like to empty our fridge. It is the perfect recipe to use whatever you can find in your pantry in one go. The more colorful it is, the better. 

    Our favorite ingredients to add to this delicious vegan minestrone soup: 

    • Onion
    • Garlic
    • Potato
    • Carrot
    • Parsnip
    • Celery – my daughter calls this soup “Letter C Soup” as the sliced celery stalks look like the letter C
    • Canned chopped tomatoes
    • Tomato paste
    • Vegetable broth
    • Red kidney beans
    • Chickpeas
    • Shells pasta or elbow pasta
    • Italian seasoning

    🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

    Red soup in a white dutch oven full of carrot slices, diced potatoes, beans, chickpeas and chopped green herbs.

    What other veggies can you add?

    • Traditionally, it was a frugal, peasant dish, so potato, carrot, and celery are the usual ingredients.
    • However, we also tested this recipe with veggies like mushrooms, other root vegetables (like turnip, kohlrabi, rutabaga, or celeriac), and spinach.
    • You can also add zucchini, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale, or other collard greens as well.
    • If you add sweet potato or butternut squash, the soup will turn sweeter as they are high in sugar. So the taste will deviate from the original minestrone flavor. 

    What other legumes can you add?

    • Whatever legumes you have basically. We made this soup with different beans and they all go great with this vegetable soup base. These are usually cannellini beans aka white kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, or borlotti beans aka cranberry beans.
    • Minestrone soup also tastes delicious with green beans as well.
    • We have never tried it with lentils though, as this should be a bean and veggie soup. 

    What pasta should you use?

    • I would say whatever you have. We prefer to use small shells pasta or elbow pasta, but you can use orzo, orecchiette, or even spaghetti (broken into smaller pieces), penne, fusilli, or farfalle. It looks even cuter and more unique with an unusual pasta.
    • You can even ditch pasta and add pre-cooked rice, farro (not gluten-free!), or millet. 
    • Since pasta is not gluten-free, choose a certified GF pasta brand to make this soup gluten-free as well.
    A white bowl with a red soup full of red kidney beans, chickpeas, potatoes, carrots and shell pasta. It is topped with fresh parsley.

    How to make vegan minestrone soup?

    We cook this Italian vegetable soup either in our cast-iron Dutch oven or in a regular stockpot. We made it lots of times and will show you below step-by-step how to cook the best vegan minestrone soup every time.

    Prepare the ingredients

    • Peel and chop onion and garlic.
    • Wash, peel, and dice the potato.
    • Wash, peel, and slice carrot, and parsnip.
    • Wash and chop the celery stalk.
    • We used canned red kidney beans and canned chickpeas so nothing to do here.
    • Cook the pasta of your choice separately according to package instructions. We don’t recommend cooking them directly in the soup as the starch content will be released into the soup which turns the soup too thick.

    Making the soup

    1. Heat a stockpot or a Dutch oven to medium heat and add olive oil and chopped onion. Cook them for 1-2 minutes.
    2. Add chopped garlic, sliced carrot, parsnip, and celery. Stir and sauté them for 5-6 minutes.
    3. Add tomato paste, canned diced tomatoes, and sweet paprika powder. Bring them to boil.
    4. Add the seasoning: salt, black pepper, dried herbs (basil, oregano, and thyme), as well as the dried bay leaves. Stir to combine. 
    Step photos to make easy vegan minestrone soup showing the stockpot from above with chopped onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes. Then tomato sauce and spices are added.
    1. Add veggie broth and simmer the soup for 10 minutes over medium heat.
    2. Add diced potatoes and cook for another 6-8 minutes.
    3. When the potatoes are soft, add canned or cooked beans and chickpeas. Cook them for 5 minutes.
    4. Finally, add pre-cooked pasta and fresh parsley. 
    Last step photos to make easy vegan minestrone soup showing the stockpot with a red soup full of chopped vegetables, beans and chickpeas and freshly chopped herbs.

    Top tips to make it perfectly

    • Chop vegetables evenly – We added carrots and root veggies first as they need the most time to be cooked. The next one should be potatoes, as they need less time to be tender. Mushrooms and leafy greens need even less time to be ready.
    • Dry vs canned legumes – If you’d like to use dry beans and chickpeas, you should cook them separately and only add them to the soup once soft and ready to eat. 
    • Is it hot and spicy? – Well, not really. However, if you prefer a little hotness, you can add a bit of chili powder or red pepper flakes.
    • Thickening the soup – It is a hearty soup and usually, it doesn’t need to be thickened with flour or starch.
    • Don’t cook pasta in the soup – We recommend cooking any type of pasta separately. What happens if you cook them with the soup? Its starch content will be released and it will make the soup cloudy and thick. Especially gluten-free pasta which is made of corn flour. They can totally spoil the minestrone.
    Red soup in a white dutch oven full of carrot slices, diced potatoes, beans, chickpeas and chopped green herbs. A hand holding a ladle is taking a serving. 2 white bowls are already full next to ti.

    What to serve with it? 

    Do you need a garnish at all? It is a one-pot hearty soup, which already has potatoes and pasta. However, it is so satisfying to dunk your bread, cornbread, or even garlic bread into a bowl of soup.

    You can also top it with vegan parmesan cheese, nutritional yeast, and even more fresh basil or parsley. After serving you can also drizzle it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, vegan pesto, or balsamic vinegar. 

    If you make too much (which is nearly impossible I think as I can eat it 3 days in a row without a second thought), you can turn it into a completely different soup. I found this list where they show us 6 ways to mix up minestrone. 

    A hand is dunking a bread and taking a spoonful from a red soup served in a white bowl that is full of red kidney beans, chickpeas, potatoes, carrots and shell pasta. It is topped with fresh parsley.

    FAQs and substitutions

    How to store it?

    This vegan minestrone soup recipe is perfect for batch cooking. You can easily store it in the fridge for 3-4 days without any problem. 

    Can I freeze it? 

    Yes, you can. Minestrone keeps really well in the freezer. We recommend freezing them in batches of 1-2 servings. 

    2 white bowls with a red soup full of red kidney beans, chickpeas, potatoes, carrots and shell pasta. It is topped with fresh parsley. A spoon is taking a carrot.

    This vegan minestrone soup recipe is meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free. It is also suitable for vegan, vegetarian, nut-free, and soy-free diets. It can also be WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) if you cook the onion and the garlic in water or in veggie broth. It is only gluten-free if you choose gluten-free pasta. The vegetable soup part is gluten-free on its own. 

    More vegan soup recipes

    You can browse through our vegan soup recipes or our quick & easy vegan meals collection or check out

    • Mediterranean Cabbage Sweet Potato Soup with Tarragon
    • Vegan Taco Soup in 20 minutes!
    • Lemony Vegan White Bean Soup
    • 30-min Cozy Red Lentil Soup
    • Vegan Cabbage Soup with Sausages (Hungarian)
    • Vegetarian Goulash (Authentic Hungarian Bean Goulash)

    THANK YOU so much for visiting our website. Please comment below if you have tried this recipe. We LOVE hearing from you! If you loved the recipe, please don’t forget to give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ RATING. We appreciate all of our readers.  

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    ⇒ GET OUR FREE 7-DAY VEGAN MEAL PLAN E-BOOK NOW! OR CHECK OUT ALL VEGAN MEAL PLAN RECIPES! ⇐

    Easy Vegan Minestrone Soup

    My Pure Plants
    Minestrone soup is everyone's favorite Italian soup recipe. It is one of the most colorful veggie-packed comfort food that you can make to satisfy the whole family. May they be vegan, vegetarian, or else. 
    5 from 6 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 20 mins
    Total Time 35 mins
    Course Soup
    Servings 6 servings
    Calories 370kcal

    Equipment

    • Cast-iron Dutch Oven (3-quart / 2.8 liter)
    • Stockpot

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 1 Tbsp Olive oil
    • 1 Onion (medium)
    • 3-4 cloves Garlic
    • 1 Potato (large)
    • 1 Carrots (large)
    • 1 Parsnip
    • 1 Celery stalk
    • 14 oz Red kidney beans or any other bean like canellini beans, pinto beans, or cranberry beans
    • 14 oz Chickpeas
    • 14 oz Chopped tomatoes
    • 2,5 oz Tomato paste
    • 6 cup Veggie broth
    • 1 cup Small shells pasta aka Conchiglie (dry) or any other pasta of your choice
    • 1 tsp Oregano ground
    • 1 tsp Basil ground
    • 1 tsp Thyme (dried) ground
    • 1 tsp Sweet paprika powder
    • 1 Bay leaves
    • Parsley (fresh)
    • Salt and Pepper to taste
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    Instructions
     

    Preparing the ingredients

    • Peel and chop onion and garlic. Wash, peel, and dice the potato. Wash, peel, and slice carrot, and parsnip. Wash and chop the celery stalk. We used canned kidney beans and canned chickpeas so nothing to do there.
    • Cook the pasta of your choice separately according to package instructions. 

    Making the soup

    • Heat a stockpot or Dutch oven to medium heat and add olive oil and chopped onion. Cook them for 1-2 minutes.
    • Add chopped garlic, sliced carrot, parsnip, and celery. Stir and cook for 5-6 minutes.
    • Add tomato paste, canned chopped tomatoes, and sweet paprika powder. Bring to boil, which should take 2-3 minutes.
    • Add seasoning: salt, pepper, dried basil, oregano, and thyme, as well as the dried bay leaf. Stir to combine.
    • Add veggie broth and cook the soup for 10 minutes on medium heat.
    • Add diced potatoes and cook for 6-8 minutes.
    • When the potatoes are soft, add canned or cooked beans and chickpeas and cook for 5 minutes.
    • Finally, add cooked pasta and top it with vegan parmesan, nutritional yeast, freshly chopped parsley, or basil. Enjoy!
    Tried this recipe? Can we see it?Please share a picture with us by uploading an image to Pinterest below ours.

    Notes

    Top tips 
    • Chop vegetables evenly – We added carrots and root veggies first as they need the most time to be cooked. The next one should be potatoes, as they need less time to be tender. Mushrooms and leafy greens need even less time to be ready.
    • Dry vs canned legumes – If you’d like to use dry beans and chickpeas, you should cook them separately and only add them to the soup once soft and ready to eat. 
    • Is it hot and spicy? – Well, not really. However, if you prefer a little hotness, you can add a bit of chili powder or red pepper flakes.
    • Thickening the soup – It is a hearty soup and usually, it doesn’t need to be thickened with flour or starch.
    Not to make the printable recipe card too long all other tips like what to serve with it, what other veggies and legumes you can add, and what pasta should you use… are detailed above the recipe card. 

    Video

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Easy Vegan Minestrone Soup
    Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
    Calories 370 Calories from Fat 45
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 5g8%
    Saturated Fat 1g6%
    Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
    Monounsaturated Fat 2g
    Sodium 1149mg50%
    Potassium 1068mg31%
    Carbohydrates 68g23%
    Fiber 15g63%
    Sugar 12g13%
    Protein 16g32%
    Vitamin A 2666IU53%
    Vitamin C 25mg30%
    Calcium 111mg11%
    Iron 6mg33%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in May 2020. More tips, FAQs, and serving suggestions were added and it was republished in June 2022.

    148 shares

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    1. Karlie

      February 15, 2021 at 11:56 pm

      5 stars
      First time ever having this soup, and its so yummy

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        February 20, 2021 at 9:09 pm

        Hi Karlie, thanks for trying our recipe. We are so happy you liked it.

        Reply
    2. Bec

      December 18, 2020 at 8:07 pm

      Do you drain the beans and chick peas? How what size cans of everything? Lacking some good directions.
      Bec

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        January 11, 2021 at 9:50 am

        Hi Bec,

        You are right. The can size and the metrics should have there. No idea why they aren’t. I added them now.

        Reply

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