Hearty Vegan Minestrone Soup

It’s starting to get wet and cold here in Vancouver, which makes me want to crawl into my bed forever. Instead of giving into my bear instincts and hibernating this winter, I have been welcoming the dark season with endless bowls of warm, comforting soup.

When you’re sick or feeling run down, soup has always been my go-to. It’s like a warm, delicious hug for your insides. It’s usually very nutritious, makes you feel better, AND it warms you up when you are cold. A longtime favourite of mine has always been the classic Italian minestrone, since it simply has everything you’d ever want in a soup. Light and flavourful tomato broth? Check. Veggies and beans? Check. Adorable pasta shells? Check. Packed with plant protein and fibre, this vegan minestrone soup is perfect for lunch or dinner. It’s also a very hearty soup that’s sure to keep you full all day, plus it’s an easy way to hit your daily vegetable requirement.

This recipe was passed onto me by my mother who has always made the most tastiest, heartiest soups in town. With a few modifications, such as swapping the chicken broth for vegetable stock, and subbing nutritional yeast flakes for parmesan cheese, I was able to successfully veganize her recipe. Now I’m stuck eating vegan minestrone soup for days and I’m not even upset about it. Make this recipe and you will happily be eating soup all week with me! Yay. 

NOTE: Don’t let the hefty ingredient list scare you out of making this recipe. Most of these ingredients can already be found on hand, or can easily be swapped for vegetables that need to be used up at home. This soup actually works out to be quite cheap as well, since this recipe makes a giant batch enough for 8+ servings. You can store this soup in a container for up to 5 days, or even freeze it if you have more leftover.

Happy souping! 🙂 

Vegan Minestrone Soup

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Serves: 8 Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 45 Minutes

Ingredients

4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups red wine (optional; just adds richness to the flavour of the soup)
3 cups water (or more to desired consistency – I like my soups on the chunkier side)
1 can white cannellini beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 cup small pasta shells
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup cut Italian green beans, cut
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup carrots, diced
4 cups fresh spinach
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1 tsp. agave nectar
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt (or more if needed)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1 1/2 dried oregano
1 tsp. rosemary
Fresh parsley, minced (to top)

Hearty Vegan Minestrone Soup was last modified: December 4th, 2017 by themindfulstrawberry

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium. Add onion, garlic, carrots, zucchini, celery, rosemary, salt and pepper, plus 1 tsp. agave.
2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to turn golden (about 5-8 minutes).
3. Add can of tomatoes and cook until some of the liquid begins to evaporate.
4. Add white beans, red beans and 4 cups of vegetable broth; bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Stir in green beans, spinach, and tiny pasta shells and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
6. Take off heat and serve soup in bowls topped with fresh parsley or basil. Makes 8 servings.

Hearty Vegan Minestrone Soup was last modified: December 4th, 2017 by themindfulstrawberry