Olive Garden Minestrone Soup

By Addie

On a cold winter night, you can make up a batch of the hearty soup for dinner. There’s nothing like the aroma of this soup when you walk in the house from a cool evening out.

Olive Garden™ Minestrone soup not only tastes amazing, it leaves you feeling quite full. One of the most searched for restaurant recipes, you’ll be proud to serve this to your family or friends. This isn’t the quickest recipe, but it’s definitely worth the effort.

I heard the real secret on this is to add a bit of red wine to the stock. I didn’t put that into the “official” recipe, but you can feel free to experiment.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup minced white onions (about 1 small onion)
• 1/4 cup chopped zucchini
• 1/4 cup frozen cut italian green beans
• 1/4 cup minced celery (about 1/2 stalk)
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
• 4 cups vegetable broth (Swanson is good. Do not use chicken broth!)
• 1 (15 ounce)can red kidney beans , drained
• 1 (15 ounce)can small white beans or great northern beans , drained
• 1 /2 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup carrots , julienned or shredded
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1/3 cup small shell pasta
• Free Coupons

Preparation

Step 1

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.

Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.

Add vegetable broth to pot, plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices.

Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency.

Makes about eight 1 1/2 cup servings.
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REVIEWS:

This soup is wonderful and tastes just like O.G.

Thanks for the recipe! Turned out great. My husband went back for thirds!

This was a huge hit! I used my homemade veggie broth with no salt and omitted the 1 tsp salt in the recipe due to dietary restrictions of some I was serving. Still was really good and those that wanted a bit of salt just added some to their own bowl. Added a bit more tomato too.

I have made this or one similar in the past and I have used chicken broth. Any reason you say not to, unless you don't do meat? I am also one who uses a lot of recipes as a guide but don't follow them to the letter.

This is a great recipe! It tasted similar to olive gardens. I followed the recipe except for I used 2 cans of stewed italian style tomatoes undrained in the soup. I also added garlic salt and increased the amount of the dried and fresh herbs.

I just made this soup, I have to say that it is awesome.. I do not live close to an olive garden, but from memory, this soup taste just like theres..thanks for posting this great recipe.

Very very good. Not exactly Olive Garden but reasonably close. My daughters both loved it too...definitely going to make again soon! Thank you for this!

I eat OG's minestrone soup all the time, and this does not taste anything like it. That being said, this soup is still VERY GOOD and is one of my new favorite recipes! Will be making this often : ) -
This is honestly one of the best recipes on Spark. It is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

I make this all the time. I add a few changes; I use 2 non drained cans of fire roasted tomatoes. 1 can of corn drained. I add 2-3 stalks celery. handful of snow peas. about 1/4th cup white wine. also add garlic salt, celery salt, and onion powder to taste. original is great too though !

It was delish. I changed it a bit -- i didn't drain the tomatoes and didn't add the hot water. Used the whole can of tomatoes and added more veggies. Used whole wheat shells. Would definitely make it again.

My family just loves this one. I've tried lots of copy cat recipes, but this one is best. Also, if you are a WW person, it is only 4 points! Woo Hoo!

This soup is delicious and has a ton of flavor. I used the whole can of tomatoes, but next time I won't drain them. I doubled most of the veggies, and used whole wheat elbows.

Fabulous, just what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing this! -

I made this soup for lunch for my husband and I and we both loved it. Very healthy and delicious. I added 2 extra cups of vegetable broth and a a tad bit more of the spices, no extra salt though.

Loved by the whole family and none of them have any idea what Olive Garden is. Next American trip will now have to include a trip there. I did use chicken stock which worked out fine plus the whole can of tomatoes. It was also a very easy recipe to make.

I have made this soup several times. It is super tasty! A big favorite!

My husband is a huge fan of this soup at OG & is thrilled with this recipe. His only complaint is the spinach clumps the way it came out when I made it, but he eats around it. I think if I ripped the leaves up pretty small he'd be okay with it.

This is very good. I eat it with some shredded parm. cheese. I cook meat on the side for my husband to add, but I think it is great without meat and would prefer to omit those calories.

I love Minestrone soup at Olive Garden. Hope to make this and enjoy it very soon. It's great, thanks for sharing.

I'm pretty crazy about Olive Garden, i even worked there, and this soup didn't taste the same at all. Despite that, it was DELICIOUS and I will make it again!

This soup is delicious! I've made this more than once and it comes out perfect every time!

This soup is delish. If you're wondering if you should make it, do it.