Winter minestrone with seasonal vegetables

A bowl of winter minestrone soup made from seasonal vegetables, including butternut squash, sweet potatoes, spinach, and more.

5 from 2 votes

Winter minestrone with seasonal vegetables

Pick your favorite fall & winter veggies to use in this soup: butternut squash, sweet potatoes, parsnips, brussels sprouts, and carrots.

Prep Time25

Cook Time45

Total Time1 10

Servings: 1.5 cup bowls

Calories: 284kcal

Ingredients

Aromatics

2 tablespoon butter
1 yellow onion
3 stalks celery
4 cloves garlic
4 sprigs fresh thyme or substitute 1½ teaspoon dried
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt more or less depending on sodium level of broth
1 teaspoon black pepper

Winter vegetables & broth

6 medium carrots or parsnips
½ butternut squash, peeled or about 1 lb of any winter squash
1 medium sweet potato, peeled or regular potato or celeriac
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
6-8 cups chicken broth
15 oz can of cannellini beans rinsed and drained
1 cups dried pasta ditalini shape or see note for small pasta types and measurements
1 Parmesan rind optional

Garnishes

8 oz spinach or kale or shredded brussels sprouts
½ cup dry white wine optional, any non-sweet white wine or vermouth you would drink
2-3 tablespoon pesto

Instructions

Prep produce

Cut the onion and celery into a small dice, and finely chop the garlic. Cut the carrots, butternut squash, and sweet potato into bite-sized pieces for soup. Roughly chop spinach (or kale, stems and ribs removed).

Make the soup

Cook aromatics, about 10 minutes: Heat butter in a large soup pot (minimum of 6 quarts, see note). Add the diced onion and celery, cook until it smells good and the onions turn translucent (about 6-8 minutes). Add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook 2-3 more minutes until it smells good. (The oils in thyme are fat soluble, so cooking them in fat before broth is added intensifies the flavor).
Add more vegetables & broth, cook 20 minutes: Add the diced carrots, butternut squash, sweet potato, can of diced tomatoes, 6 cups of broth, Parmesan rind (optional), and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften (they will continue to cook after adding the pasta).
Taste, add salt as needed, remove fresh herbs & Parmesan rind. At this point, give it a taste and add salt if needed. Remove the thyme sprigs, bay leaves, and Parmesan rind.
Add beans & pasta, cook 8-10 minutes: Add the can of beans and dry pasta. Cook as long as pasta package indicates.
Thick vs thin soup: at this point, the minestrone is probably pretty thick. Add more broth if you want a thinner soup.

Almost done! Add finishing touches

Add spinach & wine: stir in wine and spinach, cook until the spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes.
Add pesto to the pot or add about 1 teaspoon to each bowl when served (my preferred option).

Notes

Pasta: you want about 2 cups of cooked pasta in the end (give or take, based on your preferences). You can cook the pasta in a separate pot if you're worried about measurements. I like to cook it in one pot to save on dishes. Below is a list of the approximate amount of dried pasta needed to make 2 cups cooked.

Ditalini or tubetti (my favorite for this soup): 1 cup dry
Elbows: just shy of 1 cup dry
Orzo: about ¾ cup dry

Soup pot: the standard dutch oven size is 6 quarts. This recipe will fill it to about 1-2 inches from the top, so anything smaller won't work.

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Nutrition