Instant Pot Minestrone Soup is a one pot Italian soup brimming with flavor and textures thanks to the tender veggies, buttery beans, pasta, and a delicious broth. It’s delicious, highly nutritious, and so easy to make!
Instant Pot black bean soup, Instant Pot ham and bean soup and Instant Pot 15 bean soup are other budget friendly soups we make year round.
Table of Contents
This Instant Pot minestrone is hearty, chunky, filling, and so delicious thanks to all of the veggies, beans, pasta, and seasoned broth! It’s a restaurant style soup that is as easy to make and customize as a dump-and-set recipe by using any firm veggies you have in your fridge.
Minestrone is a complete vegetarian meal that is easy enough for busy weeknights with leftovers for the week!
Ingredients and Notes
- Firm veggies: Carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. I like to add potatoes because they make the soup thicker and hearty. Just like I like my borscht. Must be the Ukrainian in me!
- Soft veggies: Zucchini can be added before and after cooking with pasta if you like firm squash. Bell pepper comes out bright red and looks pretty in minestrone.
- Aromatics. Onion and garlic, of course!
What’s the difference between minestrone and vegetable soup? As mentioned above, the difference is in the addition of beans and pasta! It turns a thinner soup into a chunky, heartier soup.
- White beans: You can use dried beans or 2 x 14 oz cans of beans. I prefer cannellini beans but Great Northern or white navy beans work.
- Pasta: You can use any short pasta (macaroni and seashells are classic). The healthier choice would be whole grain, brown rice, quinoa, chickpea, or any whole food pasta. But white regular pasta works too.
- Diced tomatoes: They add chunks of veggies and flavor keeping the soup a lighter broth than if you were to use tomato sauce. I use no salt added.
- Broth: Homemade vegetable broth or chicken broth, or use vegetable or chicken bouillon cube with water.
- Seasonings and garnish: Dried rosemary, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Fresh parsley and Parmesan for garnish.
What Pasta Is Best for Minestrone Soup?
Any small shell pasta will do! The pasta is not the star of the show but rather a supporting character so you don’t want it to overpower anything else in this delicious soup. Bite-sized pieces will go nicely with the chunky veggies and beans and will be easier to get a bit of everything in every spoonful. If you want olive garden minestrone copycat, use the smaller shell pasta.
If you’re familiar with chicken noodle soup, then any pasta you’d use in that, you could use in a minestrone!
How to Make Instant Pot Minestrone
- Prep: In 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot, add onion, carrots, other veggies, garlic, dried beans (see below for canned beans), diced tomatoes, rosemary, bay leaves, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and water. It is important to have tomatoes on top and not to stir to avoid Burn. Close the lid and set the valve to Sealing.
Why no stir? Some recipes are very specific about how to layer the ingredients and this happens to be one. We do this to avoid the burn notice. Tomatoes will cook down quickly and their sugars will burn before everything else has a chance to cook (especially the dried beans). Keeping them on top separated by everything else will help to avoid this.
- Cook for 30 mins with dried beans: Press Pressure Cook on High or Manual button for 30 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 30 minutes to come to pressure and then cook for another 30 mins.
Using canned beans? Do not add canned white beans in the beginning otherwise, they will become mushy. Reduce broth to 5 cups and pressure cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Then, we will add rinsed adn drained beans at the end with pasta.
- Allow pressure to come down naturally for 15 minutes: After cooking is finished, wait 15 minutes and only then turn the valve to Venting. Don’t do it right away because the releasing pressure will splatter soup all over your counters.
- Add pasta: Add pasta to cooked soup, close the lid and let it sit in a pot turned off (or Keep Warm) for 10-15 minutes. You don’t need to turn any cooking cycle on. If you add pasta with all other ingredients, in the beginning, it will become mush. If using canned beans, they can go in now too.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese and serve.
Variations
- Other beans: If out of white beans, you could also use black-eyed peas or red kidney beans, just like chili, it’s flexible. The color of the soup will change slightly.
- Long pasta: If all you have on hand is spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine, break them into small pieces or make Instant Pot spaghetti or alfredo instead.
- Tomato sauce instead of diced tomatoes: You can add tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes. I would use only one 14 oz can then. Minestrone will be a deeper red and have a thicker broth, similar to yummy tomato soup.
- Other herbs: Thyme, oregano, Italian seasoning, and basil are all wonderful herbs that could be added.
- Other veggies: Green beans are great! Cut them up into 1″ pieces. Add some baby spinach in at the end to wilt like I do in lentil spinach soup, or perhaps some kale, cauliflower, or little broccoli florets.
- Protein: If you’re not interested in keeping it vegetarian, throw in some leftover rotisserie chicken, Italian sausage, or diced ham, bacon, or pancetta for added protein, flavor, and texture.
- Slow cooker: Make this in the slow cooker by adding everything except the beans and pasta and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high. Then, add the beans and pasta and continue cooking for another 25 minutes. Add any very soft veggies (leafy greens, etc.) at the end.
Tips for Best Results
- To cut back on sodium: If your broth or tomatoes are not low sodium or no salt added, then cut back to 1/2 tsp salt and adjust more to taste after cooking, if necessary.
- 3 quart Instant Pot: Cut ingredients in half and cook for the same time.
- Can I double the recipe? Original Instant Pot minestrone recipe fits 6 quart Instant Pot. You can make 1.5 times the recipe in 8 quarts and possibly double in 10 quart Instant Pot. Keep the same cook time though. It is important not to go over 2/3 max fill line, otherwise, the pot will not pressurize.
- For a deeper umami flavor: Toss in a bit of parmesan rind to the pot with the other ingredients.
- Finish off the soup: With a squirt of lemon juice to finish it off on a bright note!
FAQs
Unless you’re using chicken broth or Instant Pot chicken broth instead of water or adding in any meat protein or Parmesan cheese, this soup is vegan.
Gluten hides in places, so to be extra careful you want to check labels and use certified gluten free ingredients for added assurance. Other than that, as long as you use gluten free pasta, this can be made completely gluten free!
You can if you omit the pasta! You could also swap the beans with lupini beans which are lower in carbs, or omit them and turn the minestrone into a delicious bowl of vegetable soup to enjoy.
Sure you can, if you prefer to! They come with a much fresher flavor and no added sodium, so you’ll probably want to use the amount of salt as directed. Then, adjust to taste afterward, to see if you need a little more.
What Can You Serve Minestrone With?
Minestrone is definitely a meal on its own complete with veggies, protein, and carbs! A generous amount of fresh Italian parsley and a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan is all it takes.
If you’re looking for a few side options to serve a hungry crowd, try these:
- Bread: Whole wheat crusty bread, low carb almond flour bread, cauliflower breadsticks, or olive oil bread dip as a starter are some great ways to recreate the Olive Garden experience.
- Salad: Cucumber and tomato salad, Italian chopped salad, or lettuce salad recipe. A garden salad or caesar salad are classic choices too!
- Dessert: It’s considered a side, right? Finish off a hearty bowl of soup with a tasty dessert like Greek yogurt cheesecake or almond flour carrot cake.
How to Store and Reheat
Storing: Minestrone will be fine in the fridge for a maximum of 2 days because pasta soaks up liquid as it sits and becomes mushy. Store in the inner pot of the Instant Pot with a silicone or glass lid or transfer to an airtight container.
Reheating: You can reheat the soup right in the pot on the stove or pour the desired amount into a saucepan. Always reheat only what you are going to eat at the time.
Freezing: You are better off freezing leftovers same day soup is cooked once completely cooled. When freezing and thawing the soup, pasta does get a bit mushy. If you freeze it the next day it’ll have been given the chance to become mushy first overnight.
Thinking ahead! If you know you’re cooking a pot of minestrone for the sake of freezing it for later, consider not adding the pasta at all. Then, when it comes time to reheat it, you can add it then. Either uncooked or cooked separately.
Enjoy this Instant Pot minestrone!
More Vegetable Soup Recipes to Try
More Favorite Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot split pea soup
- Instant Pot lentil soup
- Instant Pot zuppa toscana
- Instant Pot butternut squash soup
- Instant Pot goulash
- Instant Pot chicken and rice soup
- Instant Pot stuffed pepper soup
- Instant Pot lasagna soup
Browse all Instant Pot recipes.
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 large carrots chopped
- 4 cups chopped veggies like potato zucchini, pepper, celery etc.
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 cups cannellini navy or white beans, dried
- 28 oz can diced tomatoes no salt added or low sodium
- 1 tbsp rosemary dried or fresh
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- 8 cups water+bouillon cube or low sodium stock
- 1 cup uncooked small shape pasta macaroni, sea shells
- 1/2 cup Italian parsley finely chopped
- Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- In 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot, add onion, carrots, other veggies, garlic, beans, diced tomatoes, rosemary, bay leaves, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and water. Do not stir.
- Close the lid, turn pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High or Manual for 30 minutes. Please see notes for cooking with canned beans.
- After Instant Pot has finished cooking, let pressure come down on its own for 15 minutes (otherwise soup will splatter too much). Then release remaining pressure using Quick Release method by turning valve to Venting and open the lid.
- Add uncooked pasta, stir, cover and let sit for 10 minutes. Pasta will cook.
- Add parsley and stir.
- Serve hot garnished with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
- Serving: Minestrone is truly a one pot meal. A generous amount of fresh Italian parsley and toasted whole grain bread complete the meal nicely.
Notes
- Store: Store in the fridge for maximum 2 days. Pasta soaks up liquid as it sits and becomes a mush. Store in inner pot of Instant Pot with silicone or glass lid and reheat on the stove right in it. Or pour desired amount in a pot.
- Freeze: Freeze leftovers same day soup is cooked. Pasta does get a bit mushy when thawed.
- Using canned beans? Do not add canned white beans in the beginning otherwise, they will become mushy. Reduce broth to 5 cups and pressure cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Then, add rinsed and drained beans at the end with pasta.
- Other beans: You could also use black eyed peas or red kidney beans. Color of the soup will change slightly.
- 3 quart Instant Pot: Cut ingredients in half and cook for same time.
- Can I double the recipe? Original recipe fits 6 quart Instant Pot. You can make 1.5 times the recipe in 8 quart and possibly double in 10 quart Instant Pot. Keep same cook time though. It is important not to go over 2/3 max fill line, otherwise pot will not pressurize.
- Slow cooker: Make this in the slow cooker by adding everything except the beans and pasta and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high. Then, add the beans and pasta and continue cooking for another 25 minutes. Add any very soft veggies (leafy greens, etc.) at the end.
Guess what?? My husband just told me that this is the best soup that I’ve ever made!!! And he was right. Also, my picky 13 year old daughter ate it all (except the potatoes, which she doesn’t like for some very strange reason). I love your recipes because they are not intimidating. They have simple ingredients and are very straightforward. They are healthy and taste delicious! This is why I LOVE your website. It is hands down my favorite! I made this exactly as written, except I added a lot more garlic (several heaping teaspoons for the jarred minced garlic). I used dried black eyed peas for the beans. I used 2 medium zucchini and red pepper and one potato for the 4 cups of veggies (in addition to the onion and carrots). Thank you Olena!!!! I love your recipes:)
Thank you for taking the time to share such awesome feedback. I really appreciate it Julie 🙂
So yummy!! The rosemary flavor combined with fresh parsley flavor is sooo good. The cannellini beans were perfectly done (slightly al dente, but my husband said perfect and not al dente). I used zucchini, potato, carrot, celery as my 4cups of veggies. The pasta was perfect. My 18 month old loved it as well as my husband and my 10 yo. My 7yo and 6yo picky eaters missed out. So good.
Glad this recipe was enjoyed by most of your family Anna!
All good love theses recipes..I’ll try while indoors 95%of my time
Hope you enjoy, Freeda.
I made this in a 6 quart pot, and there was no room to add 16 cups of broth or boullion & water. I was only able to add 6 cups.
Nancy, recipe says 8 cups. I make it all the time in my 6 quart. 6 cups liquid will work just as fine, this is minor adjustment. In Ukraine, we even eyballed all ingredients. 🙂 Enjoy!
Made it with kale, potatoes, celery, carrots, great northern beans..***next time fresh rosemary……definately my new go to!! Good stuff!!
Thanks for sharing your positive feedback Joan!
One of my go to recipes. This was one of this first things I made in my Instant Pot. Loved it then, love it now!
awe, this makes me so happy Julie!
Delicious!
Bay leaves are listed in the directions but not the ingredients , 3?
Yes, 3 works.
I made the recipe a few times,it is excellent
A new family favourite! Thankyou for sharing!
Thank you for wonderful review, Tasha!