Thanks for joining Sarah and me for Meatless Monday today. I am such a soup lover and enjoy eating it year round so I am looking for fun twists to mix up my recipes. This Slow Cooker Spring Minestrone was my recipe for club this month and a perfect way to enjoy all of the delicious spring produce coming out.
Slow Cooker Spring Minestrone
What’s Soup Club? Each month, our group of about 10-15 friends divides up into smaller groups of 3-4 to make soups to swap with each other. We usually have at least one vegetarian group and one non veggie group. We each make enough of the same soup to swap with our smaller group. We then leave with fabulous lunches for the week. Sometimes we even share with the rest of our families. You can read more about how it works and how to start your own soup swap here.
Using the crock pot for this Spring Minestrone allows me to cook some of the veggies for longer and slower and then having the luxury to come back later and add the last few items. Veggies like carrots and onions taste better when slow cooked for longer. Asparagus and Swiss Chard need only a short cooking time.
I like soups to have veggies of differing textures. Adding in the asparagus towards the end maintains the crunchiness and gives variety to the Spring Minestrone. I use Swiss Chard in soups as I find it holds it’s texture better than spinach does. Kale also works well.
Some people like to cook their pasta in the soup which is fine. I personally like to prepare it separately so it does not soak up all of the liquid in the soup. Also I think the Spring Minestrone freezes better without the pasta.
Using these CrockPot disposable liners is a game changer! No clean up needed at all. Where have these been all of the these years? They do come in different sizes as well.
Ingredients
- 1 onion chopped
- 2-4 garlic cloves minced
- 4 large carrots- peeled/sliced
- 2 28 oz cans of diced tomatoes
- 2 15 oz cans of Cannelli beans rinsed & drained
- 2 32 oz boxes of reduced sodium vegetable stock
- 1 large bunch of asparagus cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 12 oz bag of frozen peas (no need to defrost)
- 1 bunch of Swiss Chard (chopped including stems)
- 8 oz box of small shaped pasta cooked al dente
- salt, pepper, oregano, basil, thyme to taste
- optional Parmesan cheese to top and or rind for cooking
Instructions
- In a large crock pot add onion, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, stock
- add pinch of all seasonings
- Add rind of Parmesan if desired
- cook at high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours
- Add in asparagus, peas, Swiss Chard, beans
- season to taste
- cook on high for 30 min
- Serve w a 1/2 c of cooked pasta for each bowl
- sprinkle of parmesan if desired
Ingredients
- 1 onion chopped
- 2-4 garlic cloves minced
- 4 large carrots- peeled/sliced
- 2 28 oz cans of diced tomatoes
- 2 15 oz cans of Cannelli beans rinsed & drained
- 2 32 oz boxes of reduced sodium vegetable stock
- 1 large bunch of asparagus cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 12 oz bag of frozen peas (no need to defrost)
- 1 bunch of Swiss Chard (chopped including stems)
- 8 oz box of small shaped pasta cooked al dente
- salt, pepper, oregano, basil, thyme to taste
- optional Parmesan cheese to top and or rind for cooking
Instructions
- In a large crock pot add onion, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, stock
- add pinch of all seasonings
- Add rind of Parmesan if desired
- cook at high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours
- Add in asparagus, peas, Swiss Chard, beans
- season to taste
- cook on high for 30 min
- Serve w a 1/2 c of cooked pasta for each bowl
- sprinkle of parmesan if desired
This Spring Minestrone is the perfect lunch or dinner to get you excited about spring veggies. Can be gluten free and vegan. Hope you enjoy it as much as my Soup Club did!
Minestrone is my mom’s favorite soup so having a slow cooker recipe would be perfect for her. I will definitely be telling her about this recipe Deborah!
Well thanks so much! It’s light and very easy
Minestrone is my favorite soup and this looks so good.
Thanks it’s one of my faves too!
Soup club is a brilliant idea! I don’t think I have enough close by friends but I really want to join one!
I love minestrone and your take on it looks delicious.
Soup club is lots of fun and we all look forward to it as well. Minestrone is one of my faves!
I love minestrone soup but I don’t tend to make soups that often. A soup swap is such a great idea! I bet you get to taste all kinds of fabulous recipes!
We all love our soup swap days!
What a perfect meal for Spring, which is “supposed” to come this week!
That’s what I hear! 🙂 Fingers crossed
YUM! I am so excited for fresh spring veggies! And I like the wheel pasta.
I like the wheel pasta too!
Sounds delicious! I usually cook my pasta in the soup but hadn’t thought about the freezing issue. That’s a really good point 🙂
It is definitely easier to cook the pasta in the soup but I find it really soaks up a lot of the broth
Hi!! This sounds so good! I also LOVE that you do this with your friends. SO sweet.
I’m also a make the pasta on the side girl. I used to make it in the soup– but it just gets soggy.
Yes on the side works better I think. Love my soup club group
I’m with you, I too enjoy eating soup all year round! There’s just something so comforting about tucking into a piping hot bowl of soup after a long day! This minestrone looks delicious!
Thanks and yes I absolutely agree!
Soups are always a great easy dinner!
I love them on a chilly day!
Mmm one of my favourite soups! Love using whatever I have on hand for soups like this!
Yes definitely very versatile
Minestrone is one of my faves! Such a great idea to make it in the slow cooker, especially once the weather heats up!
It’s “souper” easy!
This is such a great idea to swap with friends! I love minestrone soup so I will definitely give this a try!
Swapping with friends is always a bonus. Hope you try it out
Oh, Deborah! This sounds so yummy! I’m not a huge soup fan, but it’s my own fault because I never think to make it LOL I love chili (traditional and white chicken), and have tried some fancy tomato soups (ahem), but really don’t experiment much with different vegetables. And Ihave two slow cookers (different sizes), so shame on me. Thanks for another recipe to add to my stash 😉
2 slow cookers!? I do love chilis as well but now that it’s warming up a bit, I like a little lighter meal. I have to decide what to make when you all visit!
There are some type error and I have missed some words
My line was: But I have one request could you Please share amazing recipe on White sauce pasta?
Hmm I will try to work on that! Thanks for the idea
Another winner, for sure!
I love the idea of adding the pasta separately so it doesn’t get mushy in leftovers!
I think it works better that way too! Thanks
Craving all the veggies right now and this looks so good! Wish I had a big bowl.
Wish I could bring you and the family some food! Congrats again to all of you
This looks like such a yummy recipe! I’ve been looking for some good soup slow cooker recipe and will definitely save this one!
Have a great day, Deborah!!
thanks so much hope you try it out
So confession – I have never been able to recreate a good minestrone soup. I’ve tried so many recipes, but none have worked.
That sounds like a challenge to me! Really such an easy soup I know you can do it