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Winter Minestrone Soup

December 4, 2019 by Life is but a Dish 4 Comments

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bowl of winter minestrone soup filled with veggies

Warm up with a bowl of my favorite Winter Minestrone Soup! It’s hearty and filled with butternut squash, white beans, spinach, and garlic!

Life is but a Dish Winter Minestrone Soup

Even here in sunny California it does get cold. At night. Sometimes.  For a few hours. Okay, okay, it’s nothing like the freeze that other states experience, but still.  It’s cold enough for a big bowl, or two, or three of this hearty Winter Minestrone Soup! It’s for sure one of my favorite soups. I know that’s saying a lot, because I’ve shared SO MANY soups that I love! But this one really is a favorite.

Life is but a Dish Winter Minestrone Soup

I love rain. Like, I love it so much. And while LA has some of the greatest weather of all time, it certainly doesn’t rain enough for my liking.  Oh, but when it does, you bet your bottom I’m making this soup.  It’s hearty, healthy, extremely comforting, and the perfect meal for jammies and slippers.

Life is but a Dish Winter Minestrone Soup

Winter Minestrone Ingredients

This soup is PACKED with flavor. Don’t you love how colorful it is, too? So many good things adding brightness! Check out all the goodness I pack into one bowl:

  • Onion
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Butternut squash
  • Zucchini
  • Garlic
  • Tomatoes
  • White beans
  • Spinach

You might be thinking OKAY who has the time to do all that veggie chopping?! You can absolutely buy some of this already chopped, or you can put on some of your favorite music and settle in for a dance-and-dice session. Totally up to you.

Life is but a Dish Winter Minestrone Soup

Secret Ingredients in Minestrone Soup

My longtime readers are already shouting it at their screens. LEMON! It’s always lemon, isn’t it? A squeeze of lemon at the end brings it to life. For this recipe I have a second secret ingredient to stir in at the end: a spoonful of pesto. Mmm, pesto. Trust me on this. 

Life is but a Dish Winter Minestrone Soup

More Soups

If you’re feeling that winter chill and want something flavorful and warm in your kitchen, try one of my other soup recipes…

  • Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Soup
  • Healing Turmeric Lentil & Farro Soup
  • Roasted Cauliflower Garlic Soup
  • Butternut Squash Soup
  • Lasagna Soup
  • Instant Pot Split Pea & Lentil Soup
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Life is but a Dish Winter Minestrone Soup

Winter Minestrone Soup

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Description

Warm up with a bowl of my favorite Winter Minestrone Soup! It's hearty and filled with butternut squash, white beans, spinach, and garlic!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 3–4 large carrots, diced (about 2 cups)
  • 4 celery stalks, diced (about 2 cups)
  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced (about 2.5 cups)
  • 2 medium zucchini, diced (about 2 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
  • 1 (26 ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • 6–8 cups chicken stock
  • 3.5 teaspoons Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Pepper
  • 1 (15 ounce) can white beans, rinsed and drained
  • 6 ounces fresh baby spinach
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons pesto

Instructions

  1. In a large pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and butternut squash, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for about 8-10 minutes until veggies begin to soften. Add zucchini, garlic and thyme and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
  2. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, 3 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, and stir to combine. Bring soup to a boil then lower heat to simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
  3. Add the beans and heat through. Add more stock if needed.
  4. Just before serving add the spinach and toss with the soup until wilted. Stir in lemon juice, pesto, and more salt to taste.

Notes

Adapted from Ina Garten

Did you make this recipe?

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Filed Under: Dinner, Gluten Free, Healthy, Soups & Stews, Vegetarian Tagged With: beans, bruschetta, dinner, Life is but a Dish, Minestrone, parmesan, Soup, Spinach, Stew

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. toby kirsch

    December 4, 2014 at 12:18 pm

    OMG can I come over for a bowl or maybe two bowls of soup. The pictures are so great. Would love them blown up for my kitchen wall. You are terrific and I love receiving your blog. Keep it up I can well imagine that everyone is loving your copy the words are not only informative but sometimes even funny.

    Reply
  2. Susan

    December 6, 2019 at 5:04 pm

    Is there an instant pot version of this soup? Looks amazing ?

    Reply
  3. Meghan

    December 9, 2019 at 9:02 am

    Can you make this soup in the Instant Pot? If so, how much time would you recommend?

    Reply
    • Life is but a Dish

      December 19, 2019 at 8:38 pm

      Yes! Prob about 5-6 minutes!

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