Hearty veggie-packed vegan minestrone soup. This delicious soup is the best comfort food. High in protein and fiber and a perfect 1-pot meal.
This vegan minestrone soup came about from a reader suggestion (love those, keep ’em coming!) and I am now a huge fan of minestrone soup.
Maybe I’ve been living under a rock, because I have never had this before.
Of course I’ve heard of this soup, and maybe I’ve had a packet version before or something, but a hearty wholesome homemade version like this? Never.
And it is so delicious and absolutely worthwhile to make. It’s definitely going to become a regular thing in our house.
It’s extremely easy to throw together, consists of really simple ingredients, and it’s a full meal.
This is more of a main course than an appetizer, you have everything but the kitchen sink in this soup. It’s got beans and rice and all kinds of veg. It’s a totally well balanced meal in one pot.
It’s also more like a stew than a soup. You’ll be shocked and stunned by how tasty it is.
You’ll also love our vegan corn chowder, our vegan chicken noodle soup and our vegan zuppa toscana.
How To Make Vegan Minestrone Soup
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
You start by throwing some chopped onions, crushed garlic, dried oregano, dried thyme and dried basil into a pot with some olive oil and sautéeing until the onions are softened.
Then you add in some chopped celery and carrots, sliced mushrooms and kidney beans into the pot and toss that all up together.
Then you add in some canned chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, vegetable stock, water and soy sauce and bring that all to the boil.
When it’s boiling, you throw in some brown rice, turn down the heat and leave it to simmer for around 35 minutes until the veggies are soft and cooked and the rice is cooked.
Then you add in some baby spinach and stir in until just wilted. Add in a little coconut sugar to balance out the flavors perfectly, add salt and pepper to taste and you have a perfect pot of soup!
Chef’s Tips
The mushrooms add some delicious umami flavor as does the soy sauce, and the tomatoes with the vegetable stock create a delicious broth.
That being said though, this is not a super broth-y kind of soup. As I mentioned above, it is really like a soup/stew.
If you want it to be thinner, you can add in an extra cup of water or vegetable stock. Just keep an eye on it and if it’s thicker than you’d like you can add in some more water or stock at any stage.
It also thickens up the next day so the next day it is even more like a stew, but oh wow, it is so tasty. You can always add more water when reheating it the next day if you want to thin it out.
Some minestrone soup recipes use pasta instead of rice, but I really like rice for this as it really creates a wonderful heartiness. But if you do want to use pasta instead, that is an option too.
Storing and Freezing
Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for up to a week in a sealed container. This soup also freezes very well for up to 3 months. Just thaw it in the fridge and then reheat on the stove.
More Vegan Soup Recipes
- If you love potatoes (and who doesn’t) then our creamy vegan potato soup is going to be right up your street. As will our vegan potato leek soup and our vegan sweet potato soup.
- Our vegan butternut squash soup is made with roasted butternut and is thick, creamy and divine, and our vegan pumpkin soup is so easy you’ll want to make it almost every day.
- Our vegan lentil soup is perfect for when you want something high in protein and super hearty and our vegan cauliflower soup is so thick and creamy you can barely believe that cauliflower is the main ingredient.
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 1 teaspoon Crushed Garlic
- ½ teaspoon Dried Oregano
- ½ teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Dried Basil
- 3 Stalks Celery Chopped
- 2 Large Carrots Chopped
- 2 ½ cups White Button Mushrooms (240g) Sliced
- 2 (15-ounce) Cans Kidney Beans Drained
- 14 ounces Canned Chopped Tomatoes (400g)
- ½ cup Tomato Paste (130g)
- 5 cups Vegetable Stock (1200ml)
- 2 cups Water (480ml)
- 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 cup Uncooked Brown Rice (185g)
- 3 cups Baby Spinach (90g)
- 1 Tablespoon Coconut Sugar
- Salt and Pepper To Taste
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a pot with the chopped onions, crushed garlic, oregano, thyme and dried basil and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Then add in the chopped celery, carrot, sliced mushrooms and kidney beans and toss with the onions and spices.
- Add the canned chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, vegetable stock, water and soy sauce. Bring to the boil.
- When boiling, add in the uncooked brown rice and turn down the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and leave it to cook for around 35 minutes or so until the veggies and rice are cooked.
- Add in the baby spinach and stir in until just wilted.
- Add the coconut sugar and stir in. Taste test and add salt and pepper as needed.
Video
Notes
- Use a gluten-free soy sauce or tamari if you want to make this entirely gluten-free.
- You can use a mix of brown and wild rice in this soup as well, that’s also really tasty.
- Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for up to a week in a sealed container. This soup also freezes very well for up to 3 months. Just thaw it in the fridge and then reheat on the stove.
This delicious soup is a BIG treat in my house. We are all plant based and we love soup. I love how easy it is to make and it’s not expensive!!! Thank you for creating this recipe and sharing it.
Thanks so much Stacey!
Hello, can I leave out the coconut sugar or substitute it with monk fruit with erythritol?
You can leave it out.
This is the first ever soup I’ve ever made and it was fantastic! I’m really surprised how easy and quick this was. I used your instructions exactly. I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes, thank you for sharing this. 🙂
Awesome Jody! So happy to hear that. Thanks for posting!