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Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe

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This light and healthy Easy Minestrone Soup recipe is a vegetable-packed light lunch or dinner with kidney beans, store-bought pesto sauce, and pasta. 

An overhead shot of Easy Minestrone Soup. The soup is served in a cream-colored bowl with a dark brown stripe at the top. The soup is hearty, with lots of visible red kidney beans, carrots, wilted spinach, ditalini pasta, and orange carrots, with a silver spool to the top right side. In the background on the left are a bunch of green parsley, for zest, and and on the right are a dark brown bread.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This easy minestrone soup recipe is light and flavor-packed, thanks to store-bought pesto. It’s also quite satisfying, thanks to kidney beans, and full of vitamins and minerals from all the veggies.

We’ve been making this summery basil soup for years, and it’s delicious hot (or cold) the next day!

This is one of our most popular Pressure Cooker Soups for late summer and early fall, along with Creamy Instant Pot Tomato Soup with Basil and Parmesan and Instant Pot Garden Fresh Minestrone Soup. 

Update: This is an old standby recipe for us, so we’ve updated the recipe with new tips and photos for you!

an overhead, horizontal shot with all of the ingredients needed to make minestrone soup. Starting at the top left is a large glass measuring dish filled with vegetable broth, two cans of petite diced tomatoes and one can of dark red kidney beans, underneath these are salt and pepper shakers, a small white bowl of diced onion, three long peeled carrots, a small white bowl of pesto, a clove of garlic, bay leaves, then at the bottom are a square bowl filled with dark green spinach, a small silver measuring cup of green celery, and a white bowl filled with ditalini pasta

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED

Here’s what you need to make this Easy Minestrone Soup recipe in your pressure cooker:

  • Olive oil. Use this to saute the aromatics and veggies in the pressure cooker. 
  • Onion, carrots, and celery. This combo is a key flavor-builder for any delicious soup.
  • Garlic. You’ll need four whole cloves for this soup!
  • Tomatoes. Look for canned diced tomatoes. 
  • Stock. You can use vegetable stock to keep this soup vegetarian or swap in chicken broth if you prefer. 
  • Bay leaves. These add a subtle flavor as they simmer in the soup. 
  • Pasta. We like tiny ditalini pasta because it’s spoon-able and cute!
  • Spinach. Baby or regular spinach will both work. 
  • Beans. We use kidney beans to add some protein to the pesto soup. 
  • Pesto. You can use your favorite store-bought or homemade pesto. 
An overhead shot looking into the Instant Pot after pressure cooking the minestrone soup, with carrots, celery, red kidney beans, and spinach visible, with a long wooden stirring spoon in the lower right corner

How to Make Minestrone Soup in an Instant Pot

✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.

Start by cooking the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery in the oil in the pressure cooker pot using the saute feature. 

Once the vegetables are softened, add the diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, bay leaves, and salt.

An overhead shot of carrots, onions, and celery being softened in an Instant Pot. A small white shaker of salt and pepper are visible above the Instant Pot, and a small bowl of ditalini is partially in frame on the lower right corner of the photo.

Lock on the lid and cook on high pressure for five minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for five minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release. 

When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid and remove the bay leaves from the soup. Add the cooked pasta, baby spinach, and rinsed beans. Add more salt and pepper to taste if you like, then switch to the Keep Warm setting to heat everything through. 

When you’re ready to serve, stir in the pesto sauce. 

An overhead photo of a freshly cooked bowl of minestrone soup. The soup is in a linen-colored bowl with a dark stripe across the top. There is a silver spoon sticking toward the lower right corner of the frame. And a small bowl filled with grated parmesan cheese and a small basket of brown whole-grain bread is partially in frame on the right side.

Important Tips for Making Easy Minestrone Soup

  • Slice the onion, carrots, and celery into equally sized, small pieces so they cook at the same rate and are easy to eat on your spoon. 
  • You can use a different style of pasta if you like, but we recommend something short. 
  • Cook the pasta just until al dente, because it will continue to cook in the hot soup. 
  • You can use a different kind of beans, such as white beans or chickpeas instead of kidneys if you like. 
  • Avoid measuring and adding the pesto sauce until just before you serve the soup. Otherwise, it may turn brown. 
A close-up shot of minestrone soup that really showcases the texture of the dish. A sliver spoonful of soup is along the left-center of the photo, and the ditalini, wilted spinach, red tomatoes and kidney beans, and orange carrots are visible throughout the bowl

Frequently Asked Questions about Our Minestrone Soup recipe

What’s the best pesto to use?

You can use any store-bought pesto you like, or make your own with fresh basil, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts. We like refrigerated pesto rather than jarred, as it’s fresher tasting and brighter green.

Can I add toppings to the basil soup?

Of course! If you’d like to add some crunch, top your soup bowls with croutons. For extra creaminess, add a dollop of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream. A sprinkle of parmesan would be great as well!

How should I store leftovers?

Store leftover pesto soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. You can enjoy it chilled or reheat servings on the stove, in the microwave, or in the pressure cooker. 

Can I freeze pesto soup with beans and the pasta already added?

Yes, we often freeze this soup. If you’re sensitive to texture, the pasta definitely is a little soft after it’s been frozen and reheated. In this particular pasta, I usually don’t worry that the leftovers aren’t as firm as I like.

An overhead shot of a bowl of minestrone soup, with a small Instant Pot visible in the background, along with some fresh parsley, a small bowl of grated cheese, and a small bread basket filled with a gray napkin and dark brown slices of whole-grain bread.

MORE Instant Pot Soup Recipes

If you’re looking for a cozy dinner, try these popular Instant Pot recipes next:

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An overhead shot of Easy Minestrone Soup. The soup is served in a cream-colored bowl with a dark brown stripe at the top. The soup is hearty, with lots of visible red kidney beans, carrots, wilted spinach, ditalini pasta, and orange carrots, with a silver spool to the top right side. In the background on the left are a bunch of green parsley, for zest, and and on the right are a dark brown bread.

Easy Minestrone Soup with Basil Pesto

Servings: 10 cups
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Easy Minestrone Soup is a light and healthy dinner made with red kidney beans, mixed vegetables, and store-bought pesto sauce.
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Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 carrots diced
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • 2 cans 14.5 oz, each diced tomatoes
  • 5 cups vegetable stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
  • 2 cups digitali pasta cooked
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 1 can 14.5 oz kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons basil pesto to taste

Instructions

  • Select Saute to preheat the pressure cooking pot. When hot, add the oil and distribute evenly to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, and celery. Keep stirring and cook about 5 more minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, bay leaves, and salt. Lock the lid in place, select High Pressure and 5 minutes cook time.
  • When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release.
  • Remove the bay leaves and discard. Add the pasta, spinach and kidney beans. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Set pressure cooker to Keep Warm setting to hold the soup until ready to serve. Stir in the pesto just before serving.

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originally published September 23, 2023 — last updated July 26, 2024
Categories: Soup
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