These Vegetarian Minestrone Soup Jars are a high-protein meal prep idea that come together in less than 30 minutes.
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How to make minestrone soup
- Dice up all the veggies.
- Sauté the veggies until softened.
- Add in tomato paste, garlic, Italian seasoning and salt.
- Cook until fragrant.
- Divide veggies evenly amongst mason jars.
- Top each jar with kidney beans, pasta shells, half a bouillon cube and spinach.
- Store jars in the fridge.
- Pour in water, microwave and enjoy!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – any neutral oil can be used, such as avocado, olive, canola, etc.
- Carrots – other veggies that are similar in texture, like parsnips, celery, summer squash or daikon, also work as great substitutes.
- Yellow onion – white onions can also be used. Onion powder or onion flakes may also be used to keep that flavour.
- Garlic cloves – hand minced or store-bought minced garlic can both work. You may also try using garlic powder, garlic flakes, granulated garlic or garlic salt instead.
- Tomato paste – tomato puree can also be used, as well as tomato sauce.
- Italian seasoning – a homemade or store-bought blend both work great. You can use a mix of garlic powder with dried oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil, rosemary and sage to make a beautiful Italian seasoning from scratch.
- Salt – use to taste.
- Kidney beans – pinto beans, black beans, white beans, and anasazi beans are all great substitute options. These can also be omitted, if preferred.
- Chickpea pasta shells – this is a great option to make this meal gluten-free. You can also use the pasta shells or noodles of your choice instead.
- Vegetable bouillon cube – chicken and beef can also be used too, if preferred.
- Baby spinach – you can use other leafy greens too, such as kale, collard greens, etc.
What’s in minestrone soup?
Minestrone soup is full of delicious seasonal veggies and often rice or pasta. There’s no specific list of ingredients because it normally varies depending on what’s in season. I like to add in some kidney beans for extra protein.
Is minestrone soup healthy?
Yes! Minestrone soup is full of vegetables and healthy nutrients. This recipe has 320 calories per serving and is super filling.
What sandwich goes well with minestrone soup?
This soup is high in protein so it will be plenty filling on its own, but if you want to serve it as a side instead of a main, I recommend cutting down on the portion size. It would go great with my Green Goddess Grilled Cheese Sandwich!
Storing and reheating
To store, prep all of your ingredients then layer them into your 4 mason jars. These can be sealed and stored in the fridge until ready to be served. These can be kept for up to 5 days.
When ready to serve, fill them up with to the top with water then microwave on high for 5-6 minutes. Allow them to sit for 2-3 minutes before serving in your bowl of choice.
Freezing this soup
To freeze this soup, allow it to cool completely then place it in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag that can be sealed tightly. This can be kept in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. If you're storing it in mason jars or plastic containers, be sure to leave a little under an inch of space between the soup to the top.
For soups that use pasta or noodles, some recommend to leave the noodles out when freezing, then add them in once ready to be eaten, but this is done by preference. You can thaw your soup then serve by heating in the microwave for 6 minutes or until hot.
More mason jar recipes
- The Ultimate Vegetarian Mason Jar Salad (Two Ways!)
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad Jars
- Sweet Chili Chicken Salad Jars
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Freeze the cooked recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months
- These are the mason jars I used in this recipe
- You can get larger 32oz mason jars too!
Vegetarian Minestrone Soup Jars {Grab & Go}
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium-sized Carrots
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 small yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 can kidney beans, drained
- 1 box Chickapea Pasta, shells
- 2 vegetable bouillon cubes, cut in half
- 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
Instructions
- Roughly chop up carrots, celery and onions. Place in Vitamix and pulse on level 2 for 5-10 seconds until veggies are finely chopped. Alternatively, chop vegetables into a small dice.
- Heat olive oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Add veggies and sauté for 5-6 minutes until softened. Add tomato paste, garlic, Italian seasoning and salt, cooking another 5-6 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat.
- Divide veggies evenly among 4 large Mason jars. Top each with kidney beans, Chickapea pasta shells, half bouillon cube and spinach.
- Keep jars in fridge up to 5 days; when looking to serve, fill just to top of spinach and microwave for 5-6 minutes. Let sit for 2 minutes before pouring into a large bowl. Pasta will continue to cook as you serve - enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Diane P says
Ok, HANDS-DOWN my new favorite food-prep recipe this winter!!! I also add 57g Upton’s Chorizo Seitan, 50g steamed (frozen) broccoli and 1/2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, to up the protein since I’m weight-training. My macros are: 412 cals, 55.4g carbs, 36.8g protein, 6.5g fat.
Thank you soooooo flippin much for this recipe!!! <3 <3 <3
Heather says
Hey Taylor! Love what you’re doing here girl! Thank you for all the great recipes. I’m going to try them in a pot instead of the microwave…no sense killing all those good nutrients! If you don’t mind me adding to the amazing help you’re providing here…Amazon.ca sells lunch size crockpots that you can literally carry like a lunch pail and heat your food right at your desk/lunchroom. They have a couple of different sizes & different colors to choose from.
I send stuff that way for my husband and the ripple effect through his office was phenomenal! He showed people how easy it was to eat healthy, hot meals with variety! People always ask him what smells so good.
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you so much for the kind words Heather and the tip ion the lunch size crockpots! Never heard of those!
Annalisha says
This sounds amazing and I can’t wait to try! You said large mason jars… how large? I’m going to be meal prepping these for myself and friends and I need to grab the right size!
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Annalisha – they are 32oz jars!
Abby Campbell says
I am trying to convert your recipe to use as a gift jar for Christmas to just make soup-not for grab and go. If I am using dried kidney beans and dried vegetables for let’s say 1 box of Chickpea pasta, I’d say on the directions to precook the beans. I’d like to use sundries tomatoes instead of tomato paste. My question is, after the beans are cooked how much broth or vegetable bouillon cubes with water Would I need to say to add on the directions to cook the pasta and rehydrate the vegetables. I need to mail this gift so I need to use non-perishable items.
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Abby – you are making many substantial changes to my recipe so I’m unable to advise.
Elizabeth Wilson says
How much water do you use?
Taylor Stinson says
You fill the water just to the top of the spinach and then microwave 🙂 If I had to guess it’s about 1-2 cups of water?
bubbles says
I had serious doubts that pasta would cook from dry by microwaving it in water for 5-6 minutes. I mean if that worked that’s how people would cook pasta instead of boiling water for 10 minutes then cooking pasta for 3-15 minutes depending on shape. I tested it on some small rigatoni pasta (three rigatoni in a bowl of water microwaved for 6 minutes, sat for 2) and the pasta came out raw on the inside. Then I tried it again starting with boiled water from the kettle, microwaved for 6 minutes, sat for 5 minutes, and it was still raw. I thought maybe that rigatoni just takes to long to cook, so I bought some very small orecchiette that are supposed to cook for 9 minutes (the small shells take about the same time to cook as well). The orecchiette also came out raw. The only success I had was soaking small rigatoni for 90 minutes or so (while I went to the store). Those were cooked after 2 minutes in the microwave. I don’t know if there’s something special about pasta made from chickpeas and lentils that makes them cook faster when microwaved but I doubt it.
Taylor Stinson says
You are only supposed to use gluten-free chickpea/lentil pasta in this recipe – I never claimed that regular pasta would work in this recipe. Chickpea pasta cooks in 3-5 minutes in boiling water so it definitely works in this recipe, which I developed specifically for gluten-free pasta. If you had seriously doubts about regular pasta cooking in this recipe, you could have asked and I could have clarified that it would not work.