Instant Pot Minestrone Soup

This Vegetarian Minestrone Soup is an easy, healthy, and full of flavor soup recipe combining vegetables, beans, and pasta made in the Instant Pot pressure cooker or stovetop and is an Olive Garden Copycat. Gets done in under 30 minutes and can be easily made vegan and gluten-free!

During the fall and winter months, when the weather turns cool, soup is one of my go-to comfort foods. You can make it the way you like with the available vegetables, beans, and pasta. It’s SO delicious, I promise you!

I’ve made this both on the stovetop and Instant Pot, and I prefer the Instant Pot version. I feel like the flavors infuse well together more quickly when pressure cooked, and it saves the same.

Ingredients

• Fresh Veggies: You can also use seasonal veggies or whatever you have on hand, like celery, carrots, zucchini, yellow onion, spinach, garlic, and parsley. Other veggies that go well are green beans, potatoes, squash, yellow zucchini, and kale.
• Beans: You can use any canned beans you have on hand – red kidney beans, white kidney beans(cannellini), and northern beans. Chickpeas will also work. In this recipe, I pre-cooked the kidney beans in the instant pot. Soak the beans in insufficient hot water for 2 hours and cook them for 25 minutes at high pressure in the instant pot. Then, use them in this recipe.
• Pasta: I have used shell pasta here, but you may use elbow macaroni or any small pasta. You can use gluten-free if you’d like.
• Diced tomatoes: I have used fresh diced tomatoes in this recipe. But you can also use one 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, which is about 2 cups.
• Tomato Sauce: To make the soup thicker and tomato-based, I have used a store-bought one 8 oz can of tomato sauce, which is about 1 cup. But you can either skip it or just blanch & puree 2 tomatoes and then add.
• Vegetable Broth: Try using low sodium store-bought vegetable broth or use water.
• Dried herbs: I have used dried Italian seasoning, or you can also use a mix of basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme 
• Parmesan: for serving (skip if vegan) and use nutritional yeast instead.

The best part about this vegetarian minestrone soup recipe is its versatility! Traditionally, minestrone is a little thicker, but again, you adjust as per your preference and taste.

How to make Minestrone Soup in Instant Pot

Firstly, press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add oil, and once it’s hot, add minced garlic and onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes till onions soften.

Add the diced carrot, celery, zucchini, and diced tomatoes, tomato sauce into the pot. Then add in the Italian seasoning, paprika, salt, and pepper.

Next, add in the pasta, canned or cooked red kidney beans, vegetable broth, or water. Stir it all up.

Furthermore, close the lid on the pot, set the instant pot to "MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK" (High Pressure) for 6 minutes.

When the instant pot beeps, Quick Release (QR). Open the lid.

Add in the baby spinach, Stir for 2 minutes until the leaves wilt.

You can adjust the consistency by adding more vegetable stock at this stage.

Lastly, sprinkle some fresh parsley and grated parmesan cheese (skip if vegan) into the soup. If you are a vegan, you can sprinkle nutritional yeast on top.

Serve Instant Pot pressure cooker minestrone soup hot with garlic bread.

Stovetop Pot Method

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot. Saute garlic and onion till onions turn soft. Then, add carrots and celery. Saute for another 2 minutes.
2. Add in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, vegetable broth, canned kidney beans, and seasonings, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes on medium-low flame.
3. Stir in the zucchini, spinach, and pasta, and cook for another 8 minutes until the pasta is al dente.
4. Sprinkle some fresh parsley, and grated parmesan cheese, and serve hot with garlic bread.

Serving Suggestions

Serve olive garden minestrone soup with rustic garlic bread or salad.

Recipe FAQs

More Instant Pot Soup Recipes

• Cauliflower Soup
• Creamy Tomato Soup
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Broccoli Spinach Soup
• Cream of Asparagus Soup
• Vegetable Lentil Quinoa Soup
• Green Lentil Soup

Check out my 18+ Instant Pot Vegetarian Soup Recipes you must try.

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