This traditional Italian minestrone is a thick, hearty vegetable and borlotti bean soup that is slowly simmered for hours until everything becomes beautifully soft and the flavours meld together.

This is my Nonna’s minestrone, and it’s very much a winter version of the soup. There’s nothing light or brothy about it. It starts with dried borlotti beans, which are cooked first to create the base of the soup, before cabbage, potatoes, carrots, celery and green beans are added and everything is left to slowly simmer on the stove.

The result is the kind of minestrone I grew up with: thick, rustic and incredibly comforting, with the vegetables cooked right down into the broth.

It does take time, but most of that time is completely hands-off. Once everything is in the pot, there’s very little to do beyond giving it an occasional stir and letting it slowly bubble away.

For me, this is exactly the sort of thing to make on a cold, rainy winter day when you’re happy to have a pot simmering on the stove for hours — preferably with some crusty bread waiting for dinner.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s a proper winter minestrone. This isn’t a quick, light vegetable soup. It’s substantial, thick and designed for cold-weather eating.
• The borlotti beans create the broth. Rather than simply adding cooked beans to the soup, they’re cooked first and pushed through a sieve to create a wonderfully thick base.
• It’s packed with vegetables. Cabbage, potatoes, carrots, celery and green beans all cook slowly together.
• Most of the cooking is hands-off. There’s some chopping involved at the beginning, but after that the stove does most of the work.
• It’s excellent for making ahead. Like so many slow-cooked soups, the flavours are even better once they’ve had time to sit.

What Makes This Minestrone Different?

There are countless versions of minestrone throughout Italy, and there really isn’t one definitive recipe.

Some are quite light and brothy, some contain pasta or rice, and the vegetables change depending on the region, season and what happens to be available.

My Nonna’s version is a hearty winter minestrone, and the thing that really distinguishes it is the way she used the borlotti beans.

The dried beans are simmered separately until very soft, then strained. The beans are pushed through a sieve so that their creamy centres become part of the cooking liquid while the skins are discarded.

That thick, creamy bean broth becomes the base for all the vegetables and gives the finished minestrone its characteristic texture without needing flour or cream.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Borlotti Beans

Dried borlotti beans are essential to this particular minestrone because they aren’t simply an ingredient in the soup — they’re used to create its base.

After simmering until very soft, the beans are pushed through a sieve into their cooking liquid. This gives the broth body and a lovely creamy quality before any of the vegetables are added.

Cabbage

Green cabbage slowly softens into the soup during the long cooking time. Don’t expect it to remain crisp or particularly distinct; in this style of minestrone, the vegetables become part of the broth.

Potatoes

Potatoes add even more body to the soup as they cook. Most are finely chopped along with the other vegetables, while two are left whole.

Carrots, Celery and Green Beans

These form the bulk of the remaining vegetables.

Everything is chopped quite finely so that after several hours of simmering, you get a spoonful of vegetables in every mouthful rather than large individual pieces.

Tomato Paste

This isn’t a tomato-heavy minestrone. A small amount of tomato paste adds savoury depth and a little richness without turning the broth into a tomato soup.

Parmesan

You can finish the soup with grated Parmesan or add a Parmesan rind while it cooks.

If you regularly use Parmesan, it’s worth keeping the rinds in the freezer rather than throwing them away. They’re brilliant for adding flavour to slowly cooked Italian soups like this.

The Secret Is the Borlotti Bean Broth

If there’s one step that I wouldn’t change in this recipe, it’s making the bean broth.

It would certainly be quicker to open a tin of borlotti beans and tip them into the soup, but you wouldn’t end up with the same minestrone.

Cooking the dried beans and then pushing their soft centres through a sieve creates a naturally thick broth before the vegetables have even started cooking.

You can make this part the day before if you like. Let the bean broth cool, refrigerate it overnight and warm it again before continuing with the minestrone the following day.

Pro Tips

Don’t rush it. This is deliberately a long-cooked minestrone. Give the vegetables the full cooking time so they soften properly and become part of the soup.

Chop the vegetables quite finely. You’re not looking for large, distinct chunks of vegetables here. The smaller pieces help give the finished soup its thick, cohesive texture.

Make the bean broth ahead. If five-plus hours feels like too much for one day, cook the borlotti beans the day before. It breaks the recipe into two very manageable stages.

Save your Parmesan rinds. Keep them in a bag in the freezer and add one whenever you’re making a long-cooked soup like this.

Make a double batch if you have a large enough pot. Minestrone freezes beautifully and is exactly the sort of meal you’ll be very happy to find waiting in the freezer on a cold night.

What to Serve with Minestrone

For me, you don’t need much more than some good crusty bread alongside it.

The soup is already substantial from the borlotti beans, potatoes and vegetables, so bread is really there for scooping up the thick broth — although a generous amount of butter certainly doesn’t hurt.

You can also finish each bowl with a little freshly grated Parmesan and a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil.

If you love traditional Italian bean soups, my Nonna’s Pasta e Fagioli is another wonderful one to try. It also uses borlotti beans, but combines them with small pasta and homemade brodo for a very different kind of Italian comfort food.

Storage and Freezing

Minestrone is an excellent soup to make ahead, and I often think dishes like this taste even better the following day.

Allow any leftovers to cool before transferring them to an airtight container and refrigerating. Reheat gently on the stovetop until piping hot.

The soup will thicken considerably as it sits, so don’t be surprised if it’s much thicker when you take it out of the fridge. Add a splash of water or stock while reheating if you want to loosen it.

It also freezes very well. Divide the cooled soup into portions and freeze so you can pull out exactly what you need.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is minestrone?

Minestrone is a traditional Italian soup made primarily with vegetables, although exactly what goes into it varies enormously. Beans are common, while some versions also contain pasta or rice.

There isn’t one single recipe for minestrone — it’s the kind of practical home cooking that has traditionally changed according to region, season and what was available.

Does minestrone contain pasta?

It can, but it doesn’t have to.

My Nonna’s version doesn’t contain pasta. Instead, borlotti beans and potatoes give the soup plenty of substance and create its thick, hearty texture.

Can I use canned borlotti beans?

I wouldn’t for this particular recipe.

The dried borlotti beans are cooked and then pushed through a sieve to create the thick bean broth that forms the foundation of the soup. Using canned beans would fundamentally change that process and the resulting texture.

Can I make the bean broth ahead?

Yes. This is actually a great way to split up the recipe.

Make the bean broth the day before, allow it to cool and refrigerate it overnight. Warm it again on the stove before adding the vegetables and continuing with the recipe.

Why does this minestrone cook for so long?

Because this is a long-cooked winter minestrone rather than a fresh, brothy version.

The extended cooking allows the finely chopped vegetables to become very soft and meld into the bean broth, which is what gives this particular minestrone its thick, comforting texture.

Can I freeze minestrone?

Yes. This version freezes particularly well because there is no pasta in it to become overly soft after freezing and reheating.

Let the soup cool completely before portioning it into freezer-safe containers.

Final Thoughts

This is very different from the quick, fresh minestrone recipes you sometimes see. It’s old-fashioned, slow-cooked Italian home food, and that’s exactly what I love about it.

The borlotti bean broth is what makes it special. Once the vegetables have spent hours slowly simmering in it, everything comes together into a thick, hearty soup where it’s almost impossible to separate the broth from the vegetables.

It takes an afternoon rather than half an hour, but that’s part of this recipe for me. Put a big pot on the stove, let it slowly bubble away and enjoy the smell filling the house.

And definitely have the crusty bread ready.