Slow Cooker Tortellini Minestrone Soup

5 from 7 votes

Slow Cooker Tortellini Minestrone Soup

Slow Cooker Tortellini Minestrone Soup is a twist on the traditional minestrone, using tortellini instead of plain pasta! Delicious comfort food in a bowl!

Prep Time15

Cook Time4

Total Time4 15

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Minestrone soup, Slow Cooker Soup, Tortellini Soup

Servings: serves

Author: Karina

Ingredients

1 white onion large, diced
2 carrots large, diced
1 celery stalk large, diced
1 1/2 cups green beans fresh, cut into three pieces
2 cups pumpkin or butternut squash, diced, optional - swap for potatoes if desired
6 cloves garlic chopped OR minced
1/4 cup tomato paste
32 ounces crushed fire roasted tomatoes diced
6 cups low sodium vegetable stock or broth
1 pinch salt to taste
1 pinch pepper to taste
2 tablespoons Italian dried herbs
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons crushed bouillon cube or stock powder
3 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
1 teaspoon sugar optional - offsets the acidity from the tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 parmesan rind
2 large zucchini diced
15 oz white navy beans, cannellini beans drained and rinsed
15 oz red kidney beans drained and rinsed
12 oz three cheese tortellini fresh or dried
2 cups baby spinach loosely packed
parmesan cheese shredded, for serving, or Romano

US - Metric

Instructions

SLOW COOKER:

To a 6qt (or litre) slow cooker bowl, add the onions, carrots, celery, green beans, butternut squash (or potatoes), garlic, tomato paste, tomatoes, broth (or stock), salt, pepper, Italian herbs, basil, parsley, stock powder, parsley, sugar (if using), and mix well to combine. Add in the bay leaves, cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
Once cooked, add in the parmesan rind*, zucchini, white beans, red beans, and tortellini.
Cook on high heat for an additional 25-30 minutes (for dried tortellini) or 10-15 minutes (for fresh tortellini) until pasta is tender and cooked through.
Stir in the spinach, cover and allow to wilt in the heat for an additional 5 minutes. Add in 1-2 cups of extra water (or broth) if the soup is too thick for your liking.
Serve warm topped with parmesan (or Romano) cheese.

STOVE TOP:

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery; sauté until onion is transparent.
Add in the green beans and garlic, and cook until the garlic is fragrant (a further 30 seconds). Pour in the broth (stock), tomatoes and tomato paste.
Add the dried herbs and parsley, bay leaves, stock powder, sugar, parmesan rind, and season with salt and pepper to your tastes. Bring to a boil, cover with lid and reduce heat to low-medium.
Gently simmer while stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Add in all of the beans, zucchini and tortellini. Cover again and simmer for a further 25 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Add the spinach and allow to wilt through the heat of the pot.
Serve warm topped with parmesan (or Romano) cheese.

Notes

*For a stronger parmesan flavour, add in the parmesan rind at the beginning of cooking along with the onions, carrots, etc. We like a milder flavour, so we add ours in the last hour of cooking.

Nutrition