Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Servings: 8 servings
Olive Garden’s minestrone is the soup you order when you want something hearty enough to be a meal but light enough to leave room for breadsticks and an entree. It’s loaded with vegetables, two kinds of beans, small pasta, and fresh spinach in a tomato-based broth seasoned with Italian herbs. Every spoonful is different — you might get a bean, a piece of zucchini, a shell full of broth, or all three at once.
This is the kind of soup that gets better the next day as the flavors meld and the pasta absorbs more broth. If you’re meal prepping, cook the pasta separately and add it when reheating — otherwise it gets mushy overnight.
Minestrone Mastery
- Don’t skip the zucchini. It adds a slight sweetness and body to the broth that other vegetables can’t replicate. Cut it into small dice so it integrates into every spoonful.
- Cook pasta in the soup. The starch from the pasta thickens the broth slightly, giving it that characteristic Olive Garden creaminess. If you cook the pasta separately, the broth stays thin.
- Fresh spinach at the end. Adding spinach in the last 2 minutes keeps it bright green and tender. Add it too early and it turns army green and mushy.
Soup and Breadstick Economics
A bowl of minestrone at Olive Garden is included with your entree, or about $7 on its own. This recipe makes 8 generous servings for about $8 total — $1 per bowl. Make a pot on Sunday and eat it for lunch all week.
More Olive Garden Copycat Recipes
Minestrone is Olive Garden’s vegetarian first act — here’s the full table:
- Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks — the garlic-butter breadsticks that make every bowl of Olive Garden soup better for dipping; non-negotiable pairing
- Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana — the hearty sausage-and-potato soup that covers the other side of the Olive Garden soup menu; make both and let the table vote
- Copycat Olive Garden Salad — the iceberg, red onion, pepperoncini, and crouton house salad that arrives at the restaurant alongside the soup
See all Olive Garden copycat recipes →
