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!
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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!
- Storage, Reheating, and Freezing:
- 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.
- 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 tomato soup in the refrigerator overnight or submerge the freezer container in room temperature water for a quicker thaw. Easily reheat on the stovetop.
- 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.
- 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.
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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!
Can’t wait to make this! After browning the sausage , can I throw everything in the crock pot and go from there?
Hi Nickie, we really recommend browning the aromatics, too, since it helps to build so much flavor. But after that step, you’re definitely welcome to use a Crock Pot if you prefer!
This is by far the BEST minestrone soup I have ever had… it’s so delicious and hearty! I love the spice it has to it and it’s perfect with some crusty bread on a cold day!
We are so glad you enjoyed, Keely! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment – it means so much!
Really the best Minestrone Soup. I used whole wheat Orzo for the pasta. I did squeeze the garlic bulb into the soup. I garnished with fresh grated Parmesan . I toasted a loaf ofFrench bread with butter, grated Parmesan and fresh parsley and cut it up like large croutons.
This turned out absolutely delishious for 38 degree weather , and the fireplace going !
This whole situation sounds absolutely PERFECT – love the idea of big bread croutons (& a fire, of course!!)
This was the best minestrone ever. After the initial simmer period, I pulled the garlic out and let it cool a sec, then used a fork to get all of the cloves out, mashed them with a fork and added back to the soup. No cannellini beans on hand, so subbed one can red kidney and one can of green beans. Added about half a large container of baby spinach in the last 5 minutes. This will be a go-to soup recipe for me from now on. Thank you for sharing, and I so love the way the garlic was used. I’m thinking I’ll be doing that for all my soups from now on.
Hey Jen!! The garlic is SUCH a game-changer, we totally agree! Thanks for the kind words!! 🙂
I made a double batch of Hearty Minestrone soup last night so I could deliver to a couple of sick friends before work today. The soup was fantastic for dinner last night and I can’t wait to enjoy it for lunch today. I love the halved bulb of garlic tip, makes a surprisingly huge difference. I doubled the carrots and celery because I love all the veggies!
Hi Doreen! So so glad to hear you loved this soup & we’re able to share with friends – we couldn’t agree more about the garlic (it’s such a flavor booster!). Thanks for leaving a comment!
Soup season is heeeeeere! This was delicious! Paired it with some pull apart dutch oven dinner rolls and I’m in soupy carby heaven. Thank you for helping me kick off my fav food season!
So glad you enjoyed, Ria – Dutch oven pull-apart rolls sound absolutely divine, the perfect pairing!
This was hands down the best minestrone I have ever made, and I am a good soup maker! Like any cook, I made my tweaks and adjustments for taste, ingredients and amount desired. Only one thing I would comment about on this recipe: don’t figure prepping time of ingredients in the time stated on the recipe! LOL
Hi Carol! Thank you so much for sharing, we are so glad you enjoyed this minestrone – it’s the perfect cold weather soup!
Now that the weather is turning cooler, I’m looking forward to making this again. So much flavor and a perfect dish to enjoy the leftovers all week! We pair it with a crusty bread and NOM!
Looks great! I have a mostly fully jar of marinara I’d like to use up. Do you think I could make some swaps to this dish to not let the marinara go to waste?
Thanks!
Hi Maddie! We’ve never tested the recipe using a substitute for the crushed tomatoes & because marinara sauces vary so much, it is hard to say how it would compare. If you do try, let us know how it goes!
I didn’t think I liked minestrone, but this recipe totally changed my mind! AMAZING. One of the best soups I’ve ever made, and I definitely will be making it again!
Thanks Rachel! This soup is definitely a PWWB fave & we are SO SO glad you enjoyed! 😁 💜
I love Minestrone soup… That said I have never made it from scratch. Campbells was my go to and it is good. However, your recipe is simply over the top! Fresh herbs were not on the menu, instead I used 3 table spoons of Italian seasoning and being lazy I cleaned and tossed a whole head of garlic in the mix. Thank you. My stomach is now your friend.
Hi Eric! We are SO glad to hear that you enjoyed & we’re able to substitute with what you had on hand – it sounds like it was delicious! Thank you for sharing!!
I know the season for soup is leaving, but I still had to try this recipe. So glad I did! Delicious! This recipe is a keeper. Followed recipe as written. Thank you!
This soup was amazing, I switched out the kale for spinach.
We use spinach as a sub as well! So glad to hear you enjoyed – thanks for leaving a comment! xx
I made this soup and it was wonderful! A solid solid recipe. 5 stars!
YAY, I’m so glad you loved it, Rose! Thanks for sharing!! xx
I made this recently and it was AMAZING! I have never liked minestrone, but I loved this!
I made this soup this week. I forgot to buy carrots so dug through a bag of frozen mixed vegetables for every carrot cube. Still made a great pot of minestrone full of herby sausagey tomatoey goodness.
I have never been a minestrone fan until this recipe. We have made it at least 6 times in 6 months. its always in the rotation when i think about making a soup. Highly recommend
This is my most favorite soup recipe! It’s so easy and so hearty. Obsessed.
Mine too! I’m so glad you love it as much as we do!! xx
Made this soup as meal prep for lunches this week! Added a ton of extra kale and zucchini to get even more veggie goodness. LOVE the tip about storing the pasta separate. I hate soggy noodles in soup and this worked so much better
So good!
Couldn’t agree more! xx
I’m a old guy and have to make meals that are simple. The minestrone soup looks like it would meet that need. I have begun to use a Instant Pot so I can set the controls and wait for the beep. Have you a recipe for pressure cooking.
hey david! totally understand – i love using my instant pot! i’m hesitant to say this recipe would work in a pressure cooker because a) i’ve never tested it out, & b) because taking the time to brown the meat & sweat out the veggies on the stovetop builds the flavor of this minestrone in a way that i think would be lost if all of the ingredients were simply placed in the IP. feel free to give it a try & report back with how it goes, though!
I make this in my instant pot every time! I used sauté function and then set for 10 minutes on high.
This is great to know, I’ll add that to the Recipe Notes – thanks, Nicole!
This is a winter staple at our house! Super flavorful (do not skip the Parmesan rind!) and hearty but also full of healthy veggies. Easy to make and your house will smell delicious. Jess has awesome soup recipes but this is one of my favorites!
Agree, the parmesan rind is a MUST! I’m so glad you love it as much as we do at our house!!!