This thick, hearty soup is so easy and delicious – it’s almost like a stew! I don’t know about you, but to me, there’s nothing as satisfying as a big warm bowl of soup on a cool, crisp night. YUM!
Update: Now that I’m grain-free, I replace the gluten-free pasta with zoodles instead. Learn how easy and delicious it is to make zoodles in my step-by-step “How to Spiralize“ post.
Hearty Minestrone Soup (Grain-Free option)
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups of soaked & cooked white beans (or two 15oz cans, drained and rinsed)
- 1 1/2 cups fresh organic baby spinach leaves
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp organic tomato paste
- 15-18 ounce jar organic diced tomatoes with Italian herbs (we like Jovial Foods brand)
- 4 cups filtered water
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 cup of thinly sliced organic zucchini
- Optional: 1/2 cup your favorite gluten-free elbow pasta (if grain-free, omit and use zoodles instead)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add 1/4 cup of beans and mash well with a fork, set aside. (This will help to thicken the soup.) Remove stems from spinach and rough chop; set aside.
- Heat a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, onion and garlic. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion softens and becomes translucent. Add salt, pepper, tomato paste, whole beans and mashed beans. Cook, stirring until beans are well coated with tomato paste.
- Add diced tomatoes with juice, water, thyme, red pepper flakes, sliced zucchini and pasta (if using). Bring soup to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Allow soup to simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until pasta is cooked.
- Turn off heat. Add chopped spinach leaves, also add zoodles, if using. Then stir and cover. Allow soup to sit about 5 minutes before serving.
Hi Kelly, I was wondering, Do I add the pasta to the soup pre-cooked or do I add it raw? I know it seems like an obvious question but it’s my first time cooking! It looks so healthy and delicious. After I read it last night, I instantly went out the the grocery store and bought all the ingredients so I could make it tonight. Thank You for posting all your recipe’s and meal plans! It really is a life saver and I love that it’s all healthy. My husband will be so happy when he see’s I can finally cook.
Hi. Eden! That’s great that you’re wanting to start cooking for your hubby. As far as your question, you can do either. You can add the uncooked pasta to the soup and cook it with the soup, as described in step #3, or you can add leftover already cooked pasta shells or elbows at the end of the cook time to warm them up. You would do this in step 4 – just toss in the spinach and your already cooked leftover pasta shells/elbows. Of course, you want to be sure the leftover pasta you’re using is plain (no sauces on it). Hope this helps clarify. Lots of blessings, Kelly 🙂
Thanks for the swift response Kelly! I’m going to try it the way you intended, in the original recipe(putting the pasta in uncooked at step #3). Bless you 🙂
You are so welcome! Hope you and your hubby enjoy it. Blessings, Kelly 🙂
Very hearty recipe for a winter night! Thank you!
Is the measurement for the beans the same when they’re uncooked? I mean, do they “grow” after they’re soaked and cooked?
Thanks!
Hi, Sarah. Yes, this measurement is for cooked beans and beans do expand when they cook. So be sure to use only cooked beans in this recipe because the cook time for beans is significantly more than called for in this recipe. An easy way to soak and cook beans is to use a crockpot. And of course, if you’re wanting to make this using canned beans, that’s an option as well since all canned beans are already cooked. Hope this helps. Blessings, Kelly
Hi! Although the Muir Glen brand is organic, it is part of General Mills and opposes labeling GMOs. If you can, please support other organic brands, not Muir Glen. Your soup is awesome! Thanks!
Thanks for the info, Jennifer. I appreciate you taking the time to educate me/us on this issue! One of my favorite other brands – is Jovial Foods, so I’ll switch to their tomatoes – they are amazing! Thanks again! 🙂
This looks soo yummy, and healthy!! I’d like to go get the ingredients for it to be tonight’s dinner!
I’m not certain I’ll be able to find that brand of diced tomatoes, and would be more interested in just dicing up my own fresh tomato(s). Would that work the same way, or is there a certain amount of extra liquid that would come in that bottle, that I’d need to account for?
And what would I need to add to account for the included ‘italian herbs?’ Would some dried basil and oregano maybe do the trick?
I’m also thinking this could be good with an added meat like ground beef/turkey or even shredded chicken, and maybe even chicken stock in lieu of water…what are your thoughts?
Thanks so much for this awesome recipe, and for your time, help, and consideration of my questions!
Hi, Krystal! The great thing about soup is it tends to be very forgiving, so it’s a lot easier to adjust ingredients than say a baking recipe 🙂 As far as the diced tomatoes go, I would stick with a jar or BPA-free can of diced tomatoes, because they are peeled and slightly cooked. So it has a richer, deeper tomato flavor. Fresh tomato would work, if you take the time to peel it, otherwise you have the peel in there which usually separates from the tomato as it cooks and isn’t so palatable at least in my humble opinion. You can make up for the Italian Herbs by adding 1/2 tsp Italian Herb seasoning to the soup, or make your own blend, just google it and you’ll find a bunch of recipes for homemade Italian seasoning. And yes, you could definitely add meat for extra flavor and protein; and sub out the water for an equal amount of stock – a very healthy option indeed! 🙂 Enjoy!
Thank you so much for your thoughtful/helpful reply! I appreciate all the info : ) [Didn’t previously realize store-bought diced tomatoes were peeled and cooked…thanks for teaching me something new!]
My pleasure to help. I think most people do not realize that diced tomatoes are peeled (using hot steam). Technically, they aren’t “cooked” but because they are heat treated to remove the peel and they are heat-sterilized during the canning process, they are a bit cooked so to speak. 🙂
Hi we are grain free so no pasta for us. 🙂 I might want to add celery and carrot. Should I cook them with the onions and garlic or put them in step three? I would like to add ground beef. Should I use 1/2 lb. or 1 lb.? I don’t want to bulk it up to much. 🙂 Thanks for your recipe!
Hi, Rebecca. Yes, if you’re grain-free omit the pasta, I recommend using zoodles instead in my meal plans. You can find how to make zoodles here: http://thenourishinghome.com/2014/04/how-to-spiralize/ If you are wanting to add celery, carrot and ground beef, I would add cook them with the onions and garlic and then add the beef. A half-pound would be more than enough, if you’re wanting to just have beef as an accent and not overtake the soup, I’d recommend using less than a 1/2 lb. Enjoy! 🙂
Awesome thank you! I’m going prep my veggies tonight and put it all together after church tomorrow! I don’t have a spiral cutter yet so I’ll just dice the zucchini this time. Does zucchini freeze well in soup? I might make a double batch to freeze portions for hubby’s lunches for work.
You can freeze the soup, but the zucchini will be very mushy when reheated. It will still taste great though. Enjoy! 🙂