Olive Garden Minestrone Soup Recipe
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Olive Garden Minestrone Soup has been a favorite copycat recipe on my site since I first shared it by special request back in 2015. I wanted to recreate that hearty restaurant soup at home, with plenty of vegetables, beans, pasta, and that flavorful tomato-based broth. After all these years, it’s still one of those cozy soups I look forward to when the nights turn crisp and soup season begins.
One thing that makes my Olive Garden minestrone soup recipe a little different is the flavor I add at the end. Along with the spinach and pasta, I stir in red cooking wine and a splash of red wine vinegar. The wine adds depth to the tomato broth, while the vinegar gives it just enough brightness to balance all of those hearty vegetables and beans.
This copycat minestrone soup is made in one big pot with simple ingredients like zucchini, cabbage, carrots, green beans, white kidney beans, spinach, and small pasta shells. It’s hearty enough for dinner, easy enough for a weeknight, and even better when there’s some crusty bread nearby for dipping.
Why You’ll Love This Copycat Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
Loaded with Vegetables: Zucchini, cabbage, carrots, green beans, and spinach make this a hearty, veggie-packed soup.
Easy One-Pot Dinner: Everything comes together in one large pot, which means less cleanup after dinner.
Simple Ingredients: This recipe uses mostly pantry staples and easy-to-find vegetables, beans, pasta, and seasonings.
Hearty and Filling: White kidney beans and small pasta shells give the soup enough substance to serve as a meal.
Great for Leftovers: The flavors continue to develop as the soup sits, making it a great make-ahead lunch or dinner.
Olive Garden Minestrone Ingredients
You don’t need anything complicated to make this Olive Garden minestrone recipe at home. The soup starts with plenty of vegetables and builds flavor with a tomato-and-vegetable broth, Italian seasonings, beans, pasta, and a couple of ingredients that add a little extra depth.
Ingredient Notes and Easy Substitutions
Vegetable Broth: Vegetable broth keeps the base light and flavorful while keeping the soup vegetarian.
Zucchini and Cabbage: These add plenty of texture and bulk to the soup. Cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces so you can get a little of everything in each spoonful.
Green Beans: I use canned Italian-cut green beans and drain them before adding them to the pot.
White Kidney Beans: Also called cannellini beans, these make the soup heartier without overpowering the vegetables.
Tomatoes and Tomato Paste: Diced tomatoes form the tomato base, while tomato paste gives the broth a richer, more concentrated tomato flavor.
Spinach: Frozen chopped spinach is convenient and works well here because it can be stirred directly into the soup toward the end of cooking.
Small Shell Pasta: I use small shells, but another small pasta such as ditalini or elbow macaroni will also work.
Red Cooking Wine: This is one of the ingredients I’ve used in this recipe since I originally published it. It adds another layer of flavor to the tomato broth.
Red Wine Vinegar: You only need a small amount. It adds a little brightness and helps balance the rich tomato flavor.
Ingredients at a Glance
| 🥕 Step 1 – Sauté the Vegetables | 🍅 Step 2 – Build the Soup | 🍝 Step 3 – Finish the Soup |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil | Vegetable broth | Frozen chopped spinach |
| Zucchini | Water | Red cooking wine |
| Cabbage | Diced tomatoes | Red wine vinegar |
| Sweet onion | White kidney beans | Small shell pasta |
| Shredded carrots | Tomato paste | |
| Italian-cut green beans | Fresh parsley | |
| Oregano | ||
| Salt & pepper | ||
| Basil | ||
| Thyme |
How to Make Copycat Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
Step 1: Sauté the vegetables.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini, cabbage, onion, carrots, and drained green beans. Cook for 5–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften and become fragrant.
Step 2: Build the soup.
Pour in the vegetable broth and water. Stir in the diced tomatoes, white kidney beans, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, basil, thyme, salt, and pepper.
Step 3: Simmer.
Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes to soften the vegetables and allow the flavors to come together.
Step 4: Add the finishing ingredients.
Stir in the frozen chopped spinach, red cooking wine, red wine vinegar, and small shell pasta.
Step 5: Cook the pasta.
Continue cooking for about 10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and the spinach is heated through.
Step 6: Taste and serve.
Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings if needed. Serve hot with crusty bread, Parmesan cheese, or your favorite side.
Note: Because of the pasta and beans, this soup thickens as it sits overnight. Add a little broth or tomato sauce to loosen before reheating.
What Is the Secret Ingredient in Olive Garden Minestrone Soup?
Olive Garden describes its minestrone as fresh vegetables, beans, and pasta in a light tomato broth. While the restaurant doesn’t publish a secret ingredient, longtime copycat recipes have pointed to a couple of details that help recreate that familiar flavor at home.
One is vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, which keeps the broth light and lets the vegetables and tomato flavor come through. Another interesting addition is red wine. Adding red wine to minestrone helps balance the earthy flavors of beans and vegetables, makes the tomato base taste fresher, and brings out a rich, savory depth similar to a classic Italian broth.
That’s especially interesting to me because red cooking wine has been in my recipe since I first shared it. I add it near the end along with a splash of red wine vinegar. The wine adds depth to the tomato broth, while that little bit of vinegar brightens the soup and balances the rich tomato flavor.
Melissa’s Expert Tips for the Best Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
Cut the vegetables into similar-sized pieces. This helps them cook evenly and makes it easier to get vegetables, beans, and pasta together in every spoonful.
Don’t add the pasta too early. I add the small shells during the last 10 minutes of cooking. They have plenty of time to become tender without simmering so long that they turn mushy.
Don’t skip the initial vegetable sauté. Giving the zucchini, cabbage, onion, carrots, and green beans several minutes in olive oil before adding the broth starts softening them and builds more flavor into the soup.
Expect leftovers to thicken. The pasta and beans continue absorbing liquid as the soup sits. When reheating, add a splash of vegetable broth or tomato sauce until it’s back to the consistency you like.
For meal prep, consider cooking the pasta separately. If you know you’ll be storing most of the soup for later, keeping the pasta separate prevents it from continuing to soak up the broth.
What to Serve with Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
This Olive Garden minestrone soup is hearty enough to serve as a meal on its own, but I love it with something on the side for dipping into that tomato broth.
Bread: Serve it with warm crusty bread, garlic bread, or breadsticks for soaking up the broth.
Salad: Pair it with a simple green salad for an easy soup-and-salad dinner.
Parmesan Cheese: A little freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano over the top adds a salty, savory finish.
For the Olive Garden experience: Soup, salad, and warm breadsticks make this copycat minestrone feel like a restaurant-style meal at home.
How to Store and Freeze Minestrone Soup
Refrigerator: Let the soup cool, then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3–4 days.
Freezer: Freeze the cooled soup in airtight, freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months. Leave a little room at the top of the container for expansion.
Reheating: Reheat the soup gently on the stovetop over medium heat or in the microwave until heated through. Add a splash of vegetable broth if needed to thin the soup.
Freezing Tip: Pasta continues to absorb the broth as it sits and can become softer after freezing. If you’re making this copycat minestrone soup specifically for the freezer, you can leave out the pasta and add freshly cooked pasta when you reheat it.
Melissa’s Tip
Don’t worry if your leftover minestrone looks much thicker the next day. The beans and pasta soak up quite a bit of the broth overnight. I usually just add more vegetable broth or a little tomato sauce while reheating until it looks like soup again.
Variations
One of the nice things about minestrone is how easy it is to adjust with ingredients you already have on hand. If you make substitutions, I’d keep the tomato and vegetable broth base intact so you don’t lose the flavor we’re going for in this Olive Garden minestrone recipe.
Change the Pasta: I use small shell pasta, but ditalini or elbow macaroni are both good substitutes. Stick with a small pasta shape that fits easily on a spoon with the vegetables and beans.
Add More Vegetables: Have vegetables that need to be used? Corn, peas, celery, or bell peppers can be added to the soup. Keep in mind that harder vegetables may need a little extra cooking time.
Change the Beans: Cannellini (white kidney) beans are what I use, but another mild white bean can work in a pinch.
Make It Spicy: Add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes along with the other seasonings for a little heat.
Add Meat: The Olive Garden-style version is vegetarian, but if that’s not important to you, cooked Italian sausage or shredded chicken can turn this into an even heartier meal.
Frequently Asked Questions About Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
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Olive Garden Minestrone Recipe
Equipment
- 1 large soup pot or dutch oven
- Wooden spoon
- cutting board
- sharp knife
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
Step one
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 small zucchini sliced
- ½ small head of cabbage – chopped
- ½ small sweet onion – chopped
- 5 oz. shredded carrots about 1/2 box
- 15 oz. Italian cut green beans – drained
Step two
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 28 oz. diced tomatoes
- 15 oz. white kidney beans drained
- 8 oz. tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley – chopped
- 1&1/2 tsp. oregano
- 1&1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper
- ½ tsp. basil
- ¼ tsp. thyme
Step three
- 8 oz. frozen chopped spinach
- ¼ cup of red cooking wine
- ½ Tbsp. of red wine vinegar
- 5 oz. small shells pasta
Instructions
- 1. Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini, cabbage, onion, carrots, and drained green beans. Sauté for 5–10 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften.
- 2. Add the vegetable broth, water, diced tomatoes, white kidney beans, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper, basil, and thyme. Stir to combine.
- 3. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- 4. Stir in the frozen spinach, red cooking wine, red wine vinegar, and small shell pasta.
- 5. Cook for about 10 minutes longer, or until the pasta is tender and the spinach is heated through.
- 6. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. Serve warm.
