This recipe for slow cooker spicy minestrone soup is perfect for a cold winter night and also fits in with my new healthy eating idea of having a Meatless Monday.
Winter is my favorite time to try out new crock pot recipes. My husband and daughter like it year round, but I’ve always been a “soup in the winter” kind of gal.
Hearty soups (like my vegan butternut squash soup) are a great way to add some healthy fiber and nutrition to your menu.
They are full of flavor and really comforting when the weather moves into the colder temperatures during the winter months.
Heat up your winter nights with this slow cooker spicy minestrone soup.
For today’s soup, I gathered some spices and lots of veggies as well as some vegetable broth and my beans. I used a 16 bean blend for this soup. I loved the mix of beans in it and it makes a wonderfully flavorful soup that is very hearty.
I’m making my soup in my slow cooker. If you have never tried to make soup this way, you don’t know what you are missing!
Everything just goes into the crock pot and all the ingredients and flavors come together while you can carry on about your day.
You can even leave it in the morning and come home to a hearty soup at dinner time with no kitchen work after the day is done.
Look at these veggies! Basically, you can use what you have on hand, but for today’s pot of soup, I had celery, carrots, onions, sweet yellow and red peppers, and garlic, as well as a can of diced tomatoes.
Cumin, chili, Kosher salt and cracked black pepper were added too. The crock pot gets covered now and everything cooks for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.
An hour before the end of the cooking time, I added some multi grain pasta to the crock pot and continued cooking it. I used penne pasta but any will do.
This soup is just amazing. All of the vegetables blend so beautifully with the beans and spices. It has a bit of heat but not too much and has a very savory flavor.
Garnish the soup with some slices of avocado and some sour cream or grated cheese and settle in for a warm and comforting bowl of spicy minestrone soup.
A crusty bread heated in the oven for the last 20 minutes of cooking time will round out the meal beautifully. Have I said yet that I LOVE Meatless Monday?
Slow Cooker Spicy Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup of 16 bean soup mix
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, sliced small
- 2 sticks of celery diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 can of diced tomatoes (14 ounce)
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste
- 4 cups of vegetable broth
- 2 tsp of cumin
- 2 tsp of chili powder
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup of multi grain penne pasta
- to Garnish:
- Slces of avocado
- Sour Cream
- Grated cheese
Jill
Tuesday 25th of August 2020
This looks amazing and I can't wait to try it - probably tomorrow! I love the 15-bean mixes but right now all I have dry is black, pinto, and white cannellini beans, so I'll use those. I love crockpot cooking - set it and walk away. Thanks for such a delicious looking and healthy recipe.
Pam Hampton
Friday 8th of May 2020
Should you add some liquid to it?
Carol
Friday 8th of May 2020
Hi Pam. Thanks for alerting me to my typo. Yes, vegetable broth is added in the crockpot - 4 cups. I mentioned this in the page up top but neglected to put it in the recipe card. It's fixed now. Thanks again!
Kathleen
Friday 9th of March 2018
Are the times and cooking temperatures switched? It seems like you would cook longer on low and shorter on high. Thanks.
Carol
Tuesday 13th of March 2018
Hi Kathleen. You are SO right. Thanks for letting me know. I've fixed it. Carol