Crock Pot Chunky Minestrone Soup

I love minestrone soup but it drives me crazy when I open a can of it and I see one noodle, a couple of beans and barely any veggies. I want a hearty soup that will fill me up! Not just broth. So I set out to make my own minestrone… a chunky minestrone with all the ingredients I love. And that is the best part of this recipe. You can customize it how you like. Add more or less of your favorites. Don’t like spinach? Swap it out for zuchinni! I have lots of extras in the freezer as well. I also want to note that I used frozen veggies to make it easy, but of course you could use fresh or seasonal veggies.

Ingredients:
– 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
– 1 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes
– 2 cups vegetable broth
– 1 15oz can kidney beans rinsed and drained
– 1 15oz can cannellini beans rinsed and drained
– 1 1/2 cups cooked Rotini pasta. Boil pasta for no more than 7 minutes.
– 1 cup sliced carrots or throw in a bunch of frozen crinkle cut carrots like I did 🙂
– 1 onion chopped or a bag of Birds Eye Recipe Ready frozen chopped onions (I keep these well stocked in my freezer).
– 8oz of frozen cut leaf spinach or chopped spinach (I used half of a 16oz bag)
– 2 teaspoons minced garlic ( I have a jar of Litehouse freeze dried garlic… much easier to keep on hand and you can use it just like fresh garlic).
– 1/2 teaspoon basil
– 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in crock pot EXCEPT for kidney beans, cannellini beans and the rotini pasta.
2. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I cooked mine for 6 1/2 hours.
3. Add beans and pasta. Cook for another 30 minutes or until heated throughout.
4. Serve and enjoy! Makes about 8 servings.
You can even top it with a little shredded parmesan cheese. Delicious!

If you have leftovers sitting in your fridge and you notice it has absorbed most of the broth. Add more vegetable broth, mix and re-heat.