The weather is cooling down and I'm getting in the mood for something to warm me up! This Slow Cooker Copycat Olive Garden Minestrone will do the trick!
I know the list of ingredients looks really long, but most of them are herbs and spices which you should have on hand. Many of the other ingredients are veggies! This Minestrone is hearty and full of flavor.
When my husband and I were dating on of my favorite places to go on a date was Olive Garden. My charming husband would always refer to the server as Aunt or Uncle…because “When you're here, you're family.” Fast forward 10 years and few kids and date nights don't happen as often as we'd like. That's why I love to make recipes like this. All the taste of a restaurant but the comfort of home!
Make sure you add this Minestrone recipe to you recipe box or pin it. This hearty soup will keep your warm all winter long!
Slow Cooker Copycat Olive Garden Minestrone
Ingredients
4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
2 cups water
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 cup diced celery (3 stalks)
1 cup diced carrots (2 carrots)
1 cup diced yellow onion (1 small)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or 2 tsp dried)
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 1/3 cups diced zucchini (1 small)
1 1/3 cups shell pasta
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can white navy beans or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups packed chopped fresh spinach
Finely shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Add vegetable stock, water, tomatoes, celery, carrots, onion, parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves and sugar to your slow cooker.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook on low heat 6 - 8 hours or high
3 - 4 hours.
About 30 -40 minutes before serving add in zucchini, pasta, garlic, kidney
beans and white beans and cook on high until pasta is tender. Stir in spinach
and Italian green beans and cook several minutes until heated through.
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