Copycat Olive Garden™ Minestrone Soup

Recipes
  • Prep 55 min
  • Total1 hr10 min
  • Ingredients18
  • Servings8

This Copycat Olive Garden™ Minestrone Soup and garlic breadsticks combination has all the flavor you get in the restaurant from the comfort of your home. It’s a great way to use the veggies you have sitting around and hearty enough to be a full meal. This Olive Garden™ Minestrone Soup recipe may require a few extra ingredients, but you won’t be disappointed with this restaurant-worthy rendition. Your family will be amazed when you give them the full restaurant experience by serving this comforting soup with a copycat version of the iconic buttery, perfectly soft Olive Garden™ breadsticks made easy with Pillsbury™ Original Breadsticks.

Ingredients

Soup

  • 2
    tablespoons olive oil

  • 1cup finely chopped green cabbage
  • 1/2cup matchstick carrots
  • 1/2cup diced onion
  • 1/2cup sliced celery
  • 1tablespoon finely chopped garlic
  • 2teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 2tablespoons seasoned vegetable soup base (from 8-oz jar)
  • 1can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes, undrained, cut up or coarsely chopped
  • 1can (15 oz) dark red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
  • 1can (15.5 oz) cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
  • 3/4cup uncooked small pasta shells
  • 1can (14.5 oz) Italian green beans, drained, rinsed
  • 1medium zucchini, cut lengthwise in half, then cut into 1/4-inch slices (1 cup)
  • 1cup packed fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

    • Breadsticks

    • 1
      can (11 oz) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Original Breadsticks (12 count)

    • 2tablespoons butter, melted
    • 1/4teaspoon garlic powder

      • Steps

      • 1In 5-quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add cabbage, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, Italian seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened.
      • 2Stir in 6 cups water, the vegetable base, tomatoes, kidney and cannellini beans. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook 15 minutes.
      • 3Stir in pasta, green beans, zucchini and spinach. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.
      • 4Meanwhile, bake breadsticks as directed on can. Remove from oven; immediately brush tops with melted butter. In small bowl, mix garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt. Sprinkle mixture lightly onto buttered breadsticks; serve warm with soup.

      • For more authentic Olive Garden™ minestrone flavor, stir in 1/3 cup Chianti wine after sautéing vegetables, and cook until wine is reduced by half. You can also substitute 2 teaspoons of the vegetable soup base with a mushroom soup base, which is a concentrated flavored paste that is added for umami flavor. It can be purchased in the soup aisle of the grocery store, near the bouillon and chicken base.
      • Since this Olive Garden™ Minestrone Soup recipe includes pasta, it will gradually soak up some of the broth during cooling and in storage. You may need to add more water when reheating to thin out, based on your preference.
      • Breadsticks are also great sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. After removing them from the oven, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with garlic powder, but leave out the salt since the Parmesan will add salt.

      Nutrition Facts

      Serving Size: 1 2/3 Cups Soup and 1 1/2 Breadsticks
      Calories
      360
      Calories from Fat
      80
      % Daily Value
      Total Fat
      9g
      14%
      Saturated Fat
      2 1/2g
      13%
      Trans Fat
      0g
      Dietary Fiber
      9g
      38%
      Sugars
      10g
      % Daily Value*:
      Vitamin A
      45%
      45%
      Vitamin C
      20%
      20%
      Calcium
      10%
      10%
      Iron
      25%
      25%
      Exchanges:
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