Never Boring or Bland – Seriously, the Best-Ever Hearty Minestrone Soup!
This Hearty Minestrone Soup is one of my all-time favorite soup recipes. Minestrone is a classic Italian soup that is too often served as a bland bowl of soggy vegetables.
But – and there is a major BUT here – there’s nothing boring or bland about this hearty sausage minestrone.
It’s a recipe I’ve been making since my college days, well over 10 years ago. I’m telling you, you’ll never taste a minestrone soup as bold and flavorful as this one!
This incredible rich depth of flavor comes from a few simple PWWB tweaks to a traditional minestrone:
- Ground Italian sausage browns inside the soup pot to build a base of rich flavor.
- The addition of finely shredded kale and pasta bulks up the soup when paired with classic white beans and veggies.
- And simple aromatics like fresh herbs, a whole head of garlic, and a parmesan rind infuse the classic tomato broth with fresh and savory bold flavor as it simmers.
Best of all, this hearty minestrone soup with sausage is a minimum effort-maximum reward recipe. It takes under an hour to make and is the most cozy, flavorful, and filling meal – the perfect warm and comforting antidote to even the coldest winter days. You’re going to LOVE it!
Love Cozy Italian Soups? ⇢ For a similar classic Italian soup that is also plant-based, try our Ribollita next! Both soups feature vegetables and an aromatic tomato broth, however, classic minestrone recipes is typically served with pasta and ribollita is usually meatless and thickened with bread.
All the Recipes You Need for Soup Season!
14 warm and cozy recipes for soup lovers (plus bonus soup sides!)
Key Ingredients
While a typical minestrone soup will include tons of veggies, beans (usually kidney or white beans), some type of grain (pasta, lentils, or quiona), and a light, tomato-y broth, you’re going to need a few extra ingredients to make this homemade minestrone soup.
You will need…
- Italian Sausage – I like using spicy Italian sausage, but a mild or sweet Italian sausage also works great too – use what you love best! No matter what type of Italian sausage you choose, it’s best to use full fat pork sausage here – its rich, round flavor creates a bold base of flavor for the entire pot of soup.
- A whole head of garlic – Yep, A WHOLE head of garlic. Cut a whole head of garlic in half crosswise, remove any excess papery peelings, and toss the whole darn thing into the minestrone. The garlic infuses so much flavor into the broth as it simmers!
- Fresh herbs – I like to use a combination of fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme, which is often packaged together as a ‘poultry blend’ at the grocery store.
- Parmesan rind – Another soup season secret weapon! A parmesan rind infuses rich, savory flavor into soups, sauces and stews. Check the Recipe Notes, below, for sourcing info!
- Pasta – This minestrone is so hearty that it doesn’t necessarily need pasta, but you can certainly add it! I recommend a small short noodle (like ditalini). Be sure to always boil and store the pasta separately to prevent it from drinking up all of the delicious broth and becoming soggy.
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Buy Now → How to Make Hearty Minestrone Soup
This hearty minestrone with sausage is super easy to make – it takes less than 1 hour! So let’s clean out your fridge and get cooking.
You’ll have a fresh, flavorful, and mega satisfying dinner ready in no time.
Brown the Sausage. Start by adding spicy Italian sausage to a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Cook a few minutes, browning the sausage so all of the juicy, flavorful bits start to cook and crumble. Once browned, transfer the sausage to a paper-towel-lined plate, but be sure to leave all of that delicious sausage fat in the bottom of the pan! Why? ⇢ Using sausage helps bulk up this hearty minestrone soup recipe & adds a wonderful base layer of flavor. It becomes a built in cooking oil for our next step!
Cook the aromatics. Use the rendered sausage fat at the bottom of the pan to cook our vegetables (why let that flavor go to waste?!). Toss in your onion, carrots, and celery. Once the veggies begin to soften, add the secret ingredients: a whole halved head of garlic, parmesan rind, and fresh herbs.
Meal Prep Tip!
If you don’t mind a rustic soup, there’s no need to spend time finely chopping the fresh herbs! Leave the herbs whole instead, simply tying them together with kitchen twine to create a little bundle for easy removal.
Simmer. Pour crushed tomatoes and chicken stock into the Dutch oven, stir to combine, and let everything come to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. Then, simply add the cooked sausage back into the pot with your beans and kale, stirring well until everything is warmed through. Tip! ⇢ This is a great time to make use of whatever you have on hand in the kitchen. Have spinach instead of kale? Chickpeas instead of kidney beans? Some extra cooked veggies you need to get rid of? Throw them in!
Finish the soup. Once the soup is simmered to perfection, simply remove and discard the spend herbs and parmesan rind. You can also discard the garlic, but I like to carefully squeeze the cooked cloves out of the bulb and into the soup. Every once in a while you’ll get a jackpot bite with a perfectly tender clove of garlic – it’s so good! 😋
Serving Suggestions
To make your hearty minestrone soup even heartier, serve it with some pasta. Be sure to boil the pasta separately, spoon it directly into your soup bowls, and ladle the soup over top.
Whatever you do, do not dump the warm noodles directly into the soup pot! Warm pasta soaks up liquids like broths and stocks like crazy. When it comes to soup, this results in soggy pasta in your leftovers and it also messes up the overall ratio of liquid in the soup. No good, but it’s simple to avoid. Simply store the pasta separately, then add it into your bowl when you reheat the minestrone. No more soggy pasta!
Storage and Freezing
Minestrone soup gets even better as it sits and its flavors meld together – to store, transfer leftover soup to an airtight container and pop the cooked noodles in a separate airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or store the minestrone with sausage in the freezer for up to 3 months. Check the Recipe Notes, below, to learn more!
Go ahead, make a double batch of Hearty Minestrone Soup…it is sure to be a new soup season favorite and I promise you won’t regret it!
If you do give it a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo and tag @playswellwithbutter on Instagram. We LOVE seeing your PWWB creations! ♡ Happy cooking!
Print Bold and Hearty Minestrone Soup with Italian Sausage
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: serves 6-8 1x
- Category: soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This Best-Ever Hearty Minestrone Soup with Sausage is absolutely packed with rich flavor thanks to a few secret ingredients: Italian sausage, a whole head of garlic, loads of fresh herbs, and a parmesan rind. It’s seriously flavorful, extra-cozy, and super-satisfying.
Ingredients
- 1 pound spicy Italian sausage (see Recipe Notes)
- olive oil, as needed
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 head garlic, halved crosswise and excess paper removed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 (one) 0.75-ounce pack “poultry blend” fresh herbs (or approx. 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 2 sprigs fresh sage, and 10–12 sprigs fresh thyme)
- optional: parmesan rind (see Recipe Notes)
- 1 (one) 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 64 ounces low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 (two) 14-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 bunch kale, destemmed and finely shredded (approx. 2 cups packed)
- optional: 1 cup ditalini or short pasta of choice, cooked according to package directions
- kosher salt and ground black pepper, to season
- for serving, as desired: shaved parmesan, crusty buttered bread
Instructions
- Brown the sausage: Add the sausage to a 7-quart Dutch oven or a large pot over medium-high heat. Brown the sausage for 5-7 minutes, using a wooden spoon to break the sausage into bite-sized crumbles as it cooks. Once browned, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
- Cook the aromatics: Turn the heat under the Dutch oven down to medium. The sausage should have rendered a bit of fat, but if you need to, add a splash of olive oil to the Dutch oven. Add the onion, carrots and celery to the Dutch oven. Season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and ground black pepper as desired. Stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are softened, 5-7 minutes.
- Build and simmer the minestrone: Once the veggies are softened, add in the halved head of garlic, and the bay leaves, fresh herbs (I like to leave the herbs whole, using kitchen twine to tie all the herbs together into a little bundle for easy removal), and parmesan rind (if using.), crushed tomatoes and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Increase the heat to medium-high to bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer. Simmer 20 minutes.
- Optional: Boil pasta: Meanwhile, as the soup simmers, you can boil some pasta if you’d like to add it to your minestrone. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook to al dente according to package directions. Strain and set aside for serving.
- Finish the hearty minestrone soup: Once the minestrone has simmered, add the sausage back into the pot, along with the beans and kale. Stir to combine well. Cook an additional 5 minutes, until the sausage and beans are warmed through and the kale is wilted. Taste and season with additional kosher salt and ground black pepper as desired – the amount required depends on the saltiness of the sausage and chicken stock, so be sure to taste and season as needed!
- Serve: Just before serving, remove and discard the bay leaves, herb bundle and parmesan rind. You can also remove and discard the garlic – but I like to carefully squeeze the cooked cloves of garlic out of the bulb and into the soup…so good! To serve, spoon some of the cooked pasta to the bottom of a large soup bowl. Ladle the minestrone over top. Finish with a sprinkling of grated parmesan and serve with crusty buttered bread as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Ingredient Notes:
- Sausage: The spiciness of a good spicy Italian sausage is great in this minestrone! You can definitely use a mild Italian sausage, if you prefer, or a turkey Italian sausage. Turkey sausage renders much less fat than a traditional beef and pork Italian sausage, so be sure to add extra olive oil as needed to brown the sausage and cook the aromatics in Steps 1-2.
- Parmesan rind: A parmesan rind is the tough outer edge of a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and it’s my absolute favorite soup season secret. Toss a parmesan rind into any cozy soup you make this cold season; as it simmers, it infuses a rich, parmesan-y flavor into the broth. It’s an easy way to add an extra depth of flavor to soups, stews, and sauces, especially when the recipe comes together quickly. Parmesan rinds are usually sold at cheese shops or grocery stores with a more curated cheese selection (I buy mine at Whole Foods). Store them in your freezer all soup season long!
Meal Prep, Storage, and Freezing:
- 15-Minute Meal Prep: All of the prep work involved in this recipe is chopping veggies. Chop them all in advance, storing in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. When you’re ready to prep your soup, all you have to do is get cooking – seriously so easy!:
- Dice 1 large yellow onion, 2 medium carrots (peel as desired), and 2 ribs celery. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Destem and finely shred 1 bunch kale. Transfer to a zip-top bag, removing as much air as possible. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Storage and Reheating: This hearty minestrone soup is incredibly make-ahead friendly – it stores so well and it’s one of those things that gets even better as it sits and its flavors meld together. Transfer the cooled soup to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat the soup on the stovetop or in the microwave until warmed through.
- Reminder ⇢ Pasta Storage: If you made pasta for your minestrone, store it in a separate airtight container in the refrigerator. It’s so important to store pasta separately – if left in broth or stock for a long period of time, it will absorb liquid like crazy, which not only makes the pasta soggy when you reheat it, but also messes with the overall ratio of liquid in your soup.
- Freezer Instructions: This hearty minestrone soup is also incredibly freezer-friendly. Transfer the cooled soup to a freezer container or divide between multiple freezer containers for smaller portions. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the frozen minestrone soup in the refrigerator overnight or submerge the freezer container in room temperature water for a quicker thaw. Easily reheat on the stovetop.
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Family loved it!
So glad to hear that, Kimberly!
Great soup. Exactly what I was looking for, which is like a Zuppa Tuscana without cream. I added potatoes, and used greenbeans instead of kidneys. Would make again.
So glad you loved the minestrone, Daniel! It’s one of our favorites! 🙂
Wow!! What an amazing soup. My tastebuds are so very happy. I used homemade sausage, which is seasoned to our taste. This is going to become a regular in our house.
Homemade sausage sounds absolutely incredible, Shelly! So happy to hear the minestrone turned out great for you! 🙂
I love soup but my husband normally does not consider it ‘dinner’ but this one was so different! We both loved it and fought over the leftovers. Great flavors.
This is one of our faves for that exact reason, Katie!! So happy to hear that you and your husband loved the Minestrone as much as we do! 🙂
Where’s the zucchini? Dont see it mentioned in the recipe???! Added about 2 Cups chopped AND fantastico!!!!!
Adding zucchini is a great idea, Rebekah! So happy you loved the minestrone as much as we do! 🙂
Wow! I followed the recipe to a T and it did not disappoint. This is the best minestrone soup I have ever had. Fantastic recipe!
So happy to hear you loved the minestrone as much as we do, Ev!
Just made the Minestrone, then ate it. Fabulous. I didn’t have fresh herbs in house bu t everything else so substituted dried. Wish I hadn’t. Still a great, easy soup.
So glad it still turned out great despite the dried herbs, John!
Thank you for such an amazing recipe! I’ve made minestrone before but it’s never had the depth of flavor this one did. The aromatics and cheese rind were the keys!! I will only be making it this way going forward
We couldn’t agree more – this minestrone is one of our favorites! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, Anabel!