Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
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This Olive Garden Minestrone Soup recipe is warm and comforting, perfect for chilly nights. Recreate this popular menu item at home in 30 minutes!
Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
This is one of our favorite Olive Garden™ soups!! The recipe is budget-friendly and can be customized based on what you have on hand.
Fresh vegetables, red and white beans, and tender pasta are simmered in a rich tomato broth for a hearty, filling meal.
If you love this copycat Olive Garden minestrone soup recipe, try our homemade versions of their Zuppa Toscana or Chicken Gnocchi Soup.
I’ve even got a Chicken Vino Bianco recipe, which was my favorite dish before they pulled it from the menu!
Ingredient Notes
- Use fresh onions, celery, and carrots. Known as the “holy trinity” in many cuisines, this creates the base of flavor for soups and stews.
You will get much better results with fresh versus frozen. - Fresh versus frozen green beans. Fresh veggies always taste best in this Italian minestrone soup, but using frozen works perfectly too.
You can also use canned, but if so, we recommend rinsing them so they aren’t too salty. - Broth substitute: Chicken broth is the gold standard for soups because it generally adds more flavor.
However, this is often served as a vegetarian dish, so feel free to use vegetable stock instead. - Add zucchini, spinach, and pasta at the end. The squash and noodles cook quickly and will become soggy if they are in the pot the entire time.
Spinach simply needs to wilt, so you can easily stir it in just before serving. - Want a different pasta? Feel free to use whichever variety you prefer, though smaller shapes will be ready faster.
Pay close attention to the measurements – it soaks up more broth than you’d expect!
Serving Suggestions
This minestrone soup Olive Garden meal wouldn’t be complete without salad and breadsticks!
While they may not be bottomless, you’ll save plenty of money by recreating your restaurant favorites right at home.
You could also pair this Italian minestrone soup with a gourmet grilled cheese for your very own lunch combo.
Or, keep it simple by crushing a handful of crackers over the top.
Olive Garden Minestrone Soup Recipe Equipment
- Large Stock Pot or Dutch Oven – Perfect for soups, roasts, and one pot meals!
- Quality Knives and a big solid Cutting Board make prepping a breeze and are well worth the investment.
- Ladle – A must for dishing up this Italian minestrone soup!
Minestrone Soup Olive Garden FAQ
While we can’t know exactly how the restaurant prepares its recipes, we know the main ingredients are essentially the same.
The restaurant has updated its menu in recent years and now shows this dish as a vegan option. A simple swap of vegetable stock for the chicken broth will give you the same results!
Allow leftover copycat Olive Garden minestrone soup to cool before transferring it to an airtight container and storing it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat on the stove until warmed through, adding extra broth if needed.
You can also freeze Italian minestrone soup, but I recommend cooking the noodles separately and adding in a handful just before serving.
Take a look at this slow cooker version for the minestrone soup Olive Garden recipe with detailed instructions. The ingredients and measurements are a little bit different, but the end result is pretty much the same.
Feel free to change up which vegetables you add to this soup. Choose whatever you like and what is in season. Some great choices would be sweet potatoes, leeks, kale, and russet potatoes.
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 2 medium yellow onions, diced (1 cup)
- 2 stalks celery, diced (1 cup)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large carrots, diced (1 cup)
- 1 cup fresh green beans, cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 15 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes (including the juices)
- 15 ounce can white beans (navy or cannelini), drained and rinsed
- 15 ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 zucchini, lightly peeled and sliced
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 2/3 cup small shell pasta
- parsley for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, saute onion and celery in the olive oil until softened.
- Add the carrots, green beans, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, white beans, kidney beans, broth, and Italian seasoning.
- Stir and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add zucchini, spinach, and pasta and continue cooking until the pasta is al dente tender (about 10 minutes longer).
- Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Donna’s Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published November 2021, updated and republished January 2023
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Your copycat recipes are always on par, or better than the original! In this case it’s so much better. Soups are so easy to make and I love how you can change them up to suit your needs. I make at least one of your soup’s every week!
I had a minestrone years ago with a more beefy broth, almost like thin gravy. Can I use some beef broth. Maybe thickened?
use some cornstarch, mixed with water to thin consistency to desired broth thickness
I just made this soup and it was delicious! My only tweaks were to add more vegetable broth, cut the the zucchini slices in quarters and used elbows since I couldn’t find “mini” shells in the store. Thanks for the recipe! I will make this again.