Slow Cooker Tortellini Minestrone Soup
User Reviews
5
Slow Cooker Tortellini Minestrone Soup
Description
This Slow Cooker Tortellini Minestrone Soup includes diced onion, carrots, celery, green beans, and butternut squash or potatoes, simmered with garlic, tomato paste, fire-roasted crushed tomatoes, and vegetable stock. Italian dried herbs, basil, parsley, and stock powder build a savory base alongside a bay leaf and optional sugar to balance acidity. After slow cooking for several hours, the soup is enriched with a parmesan rind, zucchini, white and kidney beans, and fresh or dried three-cheese tortellini. The tortellini cooks further until tender, then baby spinach is stirred in to wilt gently.
The soup’s texture blends chunky vegetables, tender pasta, and creamy beans, resulting in a filling, flavorful meal. The parmesan rind adds a mild cheesy undertone during cooking. Serving topped with additional shredded parmesan or Romano cheese enhances richness. The slow cooker method ensures easy preparation, letting ingredients meld over time with minimal active work.
This minestrone provides a satisfying, warm option for lunch or dinner. The variety of vegetables and beans offer nutrition and color, while the tortellini adds comforting pasta substance. Adjusting the broth amount after cooking allows control over the soup’s thickness. Leftovers store well and reheat easily, maintaining flavor. Adding the parmesan rind in the last hour results in a less intense cheese taste compared to adding it at the start.
Ingredients
- 1 white onion large, diced
- 2 carrot large, diced
- 1 celery large, diced, stalk
- 1 ½ cups green beans fresh, cut into three pieces
- 2 cups pumpkin or butternut squash, diced, optional - swap for potatoes if desired
- 6 cloves garlic chopped OR minced
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 32 ounces fire roasted crushed tomato diced
- 6 cups vegetable stock or broth, low sodium
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1 pinch black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons Italian dried herbs
- 1 teaspoon basil dried
- 2 teaspoons bouillon cube or stock powder, crushed
- 3 tablespoons parsley chopped, fresh
- 1 teaspoon sugar optional - offsets the acidity from the tomatoes
- 2 bay leaf
- 1 parmesan rind
- 2 large zucchini diced
- 15 oz Navy beans drained and rinsed, white, cannellini beans
- 15 oz red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 12 oz three cheese tortellini fresh or dried
- 2 cups baby spinach loosely packed
- Parmesan Cheese shredded, for serving, or Romano
Instructions
SLOW COOKER:
- To a 6qt (or litre) slow cooker bowl, add the onions, carrots, celery, green beans, butternut squash (or potatoes), garlic, tomato paste, tomatoes, broth (or stock), salt, pepper, Italian herbs, basil, parsley, stock powder, parsley, sugar (if using), and mix well to combine. Add in the bay leaves, cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
- Once cooked, add in the parmesan rind*, zucchini, white beans, red beans, and tortellini.
- Cook on high heat for an additional 25-30 minutes (for dried tortellini) or 10-15 minutes (for fresh tortellini) until pasta is tender and cooked through.
- Stir in the spinach, cover and allow to wilt in the heat for an additional 5 minutes. Add in 1-2 cups of extra water (or broth) if the soup is too thick for your liking.
- Serve warm topped with parmesan (or Romano) cheese.
STOVE TOP:
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery; sauté until onion is transparent.
- Add in the green beans and garlic, and cook until the garlic is fragrant (a further 30 seconds). Pour in the broth (stock), tomatoes and tomato paste.
- Add the dried herbs and parsley, bay leaves, stock powder, sugar, parmesan rind, and season with salt and pepper to your tastes. Bring to a boil, cover with lid and reduce heat to low-medium.
- Gently simmer while stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Add in all of the beans, zucchini and tortellini. Cover again and simmer for a further 25 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Add the spinach and allow to wilt through the heat of the pot.
- Serve warm topped with parmesan (or Romano) cheese.
Notes
- Adding the parmesan rind in the last hour of cooking provides a milder Parmesan flavor; adding it from the beginning results in a stronger taste.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 10serves
Amount Per Serving
Calories 379 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 379kcal | 19% |
| Carbohydrates | 66g | 22% |
| Protein | 22g | 44% |
| Fat | 4g | 6% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 0.4g | 2% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 0.1g | 1% |
| Cholesterol | 13mg | 4% |
| Sodium | 1.107mg | 0% |
| Potassium | 1.403mg | 0% |
| Fiber | 14g | 56% |
| Sugar | 10g | 20% |
| Vitamin A | 5.706IU | 0% |
| Vitamin C | 25mg | 28% |
| Calcium | 251mg | 25% |
| Iron | 9mg | 50% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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