Slow Simmer Minestrone
A soup built to forgive a long day — the longer it sits, the better it gets.
Beans and vegetables get better the longer they simmer — soft, melded, and full of flavor by hour eight or nine. Empty the cans in before you leave for your shift, and it's waiting when you walk back in. One pot, enough for a few meals.
Steps
- 1
Canned mixed vegetables
canned beans
canned diced tomatoes
broth, if on hand
5–6 cups water
Bonus, if you have it:
Zucchini, carrots, or other fresh vegetables
Empty all cans into the Crock-Pot with the water. If using bonus vegetables, dice them small and add them too. Stir once to combine.
- 2
—
Set to low and cook 8–10 hours, unattended. Walk away — this is the point.
- 3
Small pasta shapes, or broken pasta
While the soup is boiling in the Crock-Pot, add small pasta shapes, or broken pasta. Let cook for 8–10 minutes, or more, then turn off the heat.
- 4
Crushed crackers
Bonus, if you have it:
Shelf-stable grated Parmesan
Crumble crackers or sprinkle Parmesan over each bowl at serving, whichever you have.
- 5
Salt, pepper, favorite seasoning
Season to taste and serve.
Make it yours
Minestrone just means "big soup" in Italian — minestra for soup, plus -one for big. That's really all it's ever needed to be: whatever's in the kitchen, simmered until it comes together. The beauty of minestrone is that it's historically humble, everyday food — which means it's cheap, easy, and naturally filling. It really can be any canned beans you have on hand: cannellini, navy, kidney, garbanzo, whatever's in the cupboard. Add a can or two of vegetables, some tomatoes, and whatever spices remind you of Italy — oregano, basil, garlic powder, it all works. This soup is built to be hearty: plenty of protein from the beans, plenty of vitamins from the vegetables, enough to actually fill you up.