Minestrone Soup
This minestrone soup recipe made with a tomato-y broth is packed with sweet potatoes, carrots, celery and green beans. But what sends it over-the-top is the extra kick of hearty flavor the minestrone gets from the addition of ground Italian sausage. It’s the perfect soup recipe for a chilly night at home!
Servings: 5 servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
- 5 celery stalks, chopped
- 5 carrots, cut into rounds
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup dried pasta shells
- 6 cups 48 fluid ounces chicken or beef broth
- 1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, about 1 whole lemon’s worth of juice
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a large pot on the stovetop over medium heat.
- Once the olive oil is hot, add the garlic and onion. Stir, cooking until the mixture is fragrant and the onions are translucent (3-5 minutes). Be sure not to overcook and brown the garlic and onions here, as they’ll continue to cook with the sausage!
- Add the Italian sausage to the pot with the sauteed onions and garlic. Cook and crumble the sausage until fully cooked through and crispy.
- Add the celery, carrots, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, sweet potatoes, kidney beans, and noodles to the pot. Then, pour in the broth.
- Bring the soup to a simmer, then cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, add the green beans, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes more, or until the green beans are tender and bright green.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with parsley, and serve!
Notes
- Make it gluten free - use a gluten free pasta (that's what we did) or swap the pasta for rice to make this recipe gluten free.
- Swap the veggies - if you don’t like a certain veggie included in the soup, swap it for one you do love. If you aren’t a fan of kidney beans, swap them for a bean you like or omit them altogether.
- Make it vegetarian - leave out the Italian sausage and swap the chicken (or beef) broth with veggie broth.
- Use a different protein - if you want to keep the meat component in this recipe, but you don't want (or have) Italian sausage, feel free to swap it for simple ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey, or ground pork.
Nutrition
Calories: 657kcal | Carbohydrates: 60.1g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 35.7g | Saturated Fat: 11.5g | Cholesterol: 68.9mg | Sodium: 1872.4mg | Fiber: 13.1g | Sugar: 17g