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Easy single serving minestrone soup recipe made with vegetables, bacon, and pasta. The perfect recipe when you are craving a great bowl of hearty soup but don’t want the leftovers.

Bowl of minestrone soup topped with shaved parmesan cheese

Minestrone soup is an Italian classic. Our version is made with canned red beans, chicken broth, plenty of vegetables, and Parmesan cheese.

If you’re a fan of Olive Garden restaurants in the United States, minestrone soup is one of their most popular menu items. It’s also one of my favorite soups to make at home.

Why This Recipe Works

  • Easy to customize: Minestrone soup, the Italian soup made of mixed vegetables and beans is also a soup that can be made with any number of your favorite vegetables and ingredients. It’s kind of like a “clean your pantry out” soup and the recipe itself is very flexible.
  • Easy to make: Minestrone is an easy soup to make. It’s also hearty enough to be a meal in itself. You really can’t mess up a good minestrone soup. I use canned beans and canned tomatoes along with frozen vegetables to keep it simple. Feel free to use same amounts of fresh vegetables and fresh chopped tomatoes instead.
  • Tasty: This soup is hearty and incredibly delicious!

RELATED: The Best Soup Recipes For One

Ingredients

See below for ways to use leftover ingredients.

There really isn’t a “recipe” for minestrone soup, since it’s usually made with whatever vegetables are in season. You can make your soup vegetarian, add meat, or use a meat-based soup broth such as chicken broth.

The ingredients you put in minestrone soup is really up to you. If you don’t like beans, leave them out. Want to leave out the pasta? It’s perfectly fine to do so. Minestrone is about improvising and using ingredients you love or ones that you have on hand.

Here are the ingredients in my base recipe:

  • bacon
  • chopped onions
  • garlic
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • canned beans
  • diced tomatoes
  • mixed vegetables
  • chicken broth
  • salt & pepper
  • small shaped pasta

How To Make This Recipe

See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.

  1. Begin by cooking the chopped bacon in a 2-quart saucepan. After the bacon has crisped, remove the pieces from the pot and set them on a paper towel-lined plate.
  2. Add the onions and garlic to the pot and sauté until tender.
  3. Add beans, vegetables, tomatoes, the cooked bacon, chicken broth and a splash of Worcestershire sauce.
  4. Finally, add the pasta which will cook while the soup continues to heat. I like using Conchiglie pasta and they look like small seashells.

Expert Tips

  • To make a vegetarian minestrone soup, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and omit the bacon.
  • Cook the pasta in the soup until it is al dente (meaning it has a little bite to it) because it will continue cooking after you remove it from the stove.
  • If you aren’t eating the soup right away, cook the pasta separately and add it to the minestrone when you are ready to eat it. Otherwise, the pasta will get mushy.
  • Remember to customize your soup with ingredients you already have. From small shaped pastas to beans and vegetables, any will work well here.
  • Consider adding a protein to your soup. Make a chicken minestrone using leftover chicken or beef minestrone made with cooked ground beef.
  • Use rice instead of pasta. If you choose to use rice, I recommend cooking it separately to ensure it is properly cooked.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Kinds Of Vegetables Can I Add To Minestrone?

One of the best things about Italian minestrone soup is that it’s a clean-out-your-fridge kind of soup. Use what you have on hand or what’s in season. A few favorites include:
potatoes
zucchini
spinach
green beans

How Do I Store Minestrone Soup?

Minestrone leftovers can be refrigerated for 1 week and reheated either in the microwave or on the stovetop.

You can freeze minestrone soup although the vegetables will tend to soften after freezing and reheating. If you have added pasta to your soup, note that pasta does not freeze well. You may want to freeze the soup without the pasta and then add it after thawing and reheating. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Can This Recipe Be Doubled?

Yes! If you want to make a second bowl, double the ingredients.

A spoonful of minestrone soup filled with noodles, beans, carrots, and other vegetables

Serving Suggestions

You might like to consider serving any of these wonderful single serving side dishes with a bowl of minestrone soup:

What To Do With Leftover Ingredients

If you have any leftover ingredients from this minestrone soup recipe, you might like to use them in any of these single serving recipes:

An overhead view of a bowl of minestrone soup

RELATED: Single Serving Comfort Food Recipes

Other Single Serving Soup Recipes

For more information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page.

For examples of the dishes used at One Dish Kitchen, please visit our Store page.

If you’ve tried this small batch of minestrone soup or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.

Also, if you take a picture please tag us on Instagram (@onedishkitchen) we’d love to see it.


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Recipe

Minestrone Soup For One

4.64 from 11 votes
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
Servings: 1 serving
Easy single serving minestrone soup recipe made with vegetables, bacon and pasta. The perfect recipe when you are craving a great bowl of hearty soup but don’t want the leftovers.

Ingredients 
 

  • 2 strips bacon
  • ½ cup chopped onions
  • 1 clove garlic , minced
  • ½ teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • ½ cup canned red beans , rinsed and drained
  • ½ cup canned diced tomatoes
  • ¾ cup frozen mixed vegetables
  • 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • ½ cup dried small shaped pasta

Instructions 

  • Slice the bacon into 1/4-inch pieces and cook in a medium-sized pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally until bacon is crisp. Remove bacon from pot with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel-lined plate.
  • Add the chopped onions to the pot and cook 2 minutes until translucent.
  • Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.
  • Stir in the Worcestershire Sauce, the red beans, the diced tomatoes and the mixed vegetables. Stir for 1 minute.
  • Add the chicken broth and stir in the cooked bacon.
  • Season with salt and pepper and bring to a gentle boil.
  • Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the pasta and cook on low heat until pasta is al dente, about 4 minutes.
  • Pour into a bowl and enjoy hot.

Notes

Expert Tips
  • To make a vegetarian minestrone soup, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and omit the bacon.
  • Cook the pasta in the soup until it is al dente (meaning it has a little bite to it) because it will continue cooking after you remove it from the stove.
  • If you aren’t eating the soup right away, cook the pasta separately and add it to the minestrone when you are ready to eat it. Otherwise, the pasta will get mushy.
  • Remember to customize your soup with ingredients you already have. From small shaped pastas to beans and vegetables, any will work well here.
  • Consider adding a protein to your soup. Make a chicken minestrone using leftover chicken or beef minestrone made with cooked ground beef.
  • Use rice instead of pasta. If you choose to use rice, I recommend cooking it separately to ensure it is properly cooked.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 538kcal, Carbohydrates: 82g, Protein: 32g, Fat: 22g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 29mg, Sodium: 339mg, Potassium: 1355mg, Fiber: 13g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 7072IU, Vitamin C: 25mg, Calcium: 127mg, Iron: 5mg

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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23 Comments

  1. This soup is gorgeous! I am a huge fan of minestrone soup, and I am loving how easy this recipe is! I can't wait to try it!

  2. Yum! I love minestrone soup! This recipe looks delish! I'm always looking for new soup recipes for the fall and winter!

    xo Ashley

  3. I love fall for so many reasons, but one is because it's soup season!! Love this tasty version of minestrone!