Heat olive oil in a pan; add onion followed by garlic, and sauté for a few seconds on high flame until the onion begins to brown slightly.
Add carrots, green beans, celery, oregano, and thyme, and stir to combine.
Next add tomatoes, kidney beans, salt, black pepper, and chili flakes, and cook on medium flame until tomatoes turn a little mushy.
Add broth and bay leaves, cover, and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
Stir in pasta and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chopped basil and switch off the heat.
Sprinkle chopped cilantro on top; serve hot and enjoy!
Notes
Customizable: Minestrone soup is extremely customizable. For example – you can add bell peppers, zucchini, spinach, kale, potatoes, butternut squash, etc to it or you can replace them with other ingredients such as green beans and celery.
Serve With: To finish off your italian minestrone soup, you can serve with parmesan cheese or sour cream.
Protein Pasta: Use protein plus or chickpea or other legume based pasta to snack in more protein.
Instant Pot: You also make this recipe using an instant pot starting with the saute setting then switching to pressure cook.
Meat Minestrone Soup: You can make minestrone soup with meat, just add cooked ground meat to this recipe. Or use shredded rotisserie chicken to make chicken minestrone soup.
Parmesan Rind: To get more flavor in this soup use this italian secret ingredient soup hack by adding a parmesan cheese rind to the pot while this vegetable soup cooks