This Slow Cooker Hamburger Minestrone is loaded with fresh vegetables, ground beef, and pasta. A hearty soup that is a meal in itself. Slice up a loaf of crusty bread, pour a glass of wine, and dinner is served!
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We are in the midst of what feels like a very long winter, but hang on friends, spring is coming! In the meantime, I thought a hearty, soul-satisfying soup was in order and this one definitely fits the bill. It’s based on my sweet stepmom Bonnie’s legendary minestrone recipe which I’ve adapted for the slow cooker. To up the comfort factor, I decided to add some ground beef, two kinds of beans, and little ditalini pasta. The result is a wholesome meal that will satisfy the entire family. Â
This is my second in a series of three great slow cooker recipes to get you through to the spring months. Be sure to check out the Slow Cooker Drip Beef if you missed it last month. It’s a good one!
We start with a pound of cooked, crumbled, and drained ground beef and some chopped veggies including, zucchini, onion, celery, carrot, and some minced garlic.
Add 4 cups of low-sodium beef broth. Always go with the low-sodium variety. You can always add additional salt if you feel it’s necessary but I’m betting you won’t.
In goes a big can of Italian style crushed tomatoes.
The seasonings consist of basil, oregano, thyme, and a bay leaf. Cover the slow cooker and cook the soup on LOW for 5 to 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.
Are you feeling how easy this is?
After the initial cooking time, add a can of rinsed and drained kidney beans and cannellini beans and 1 cup of dry, uncooked ditalini pasta. You could go with any small dry pasta you happen to have on hand but I love ditalini in soup.
When adding beans and pasta to slow cooker recipes, you always want to do it towards the end of the cooking time. You don’t want to know what happens to beans and pasta if they spend too much time in the slow cooker, trust me on this one.
And, last, about 1/2 cup of Parmesan. A little Parmesan makes everything better! Cover and cook on HIGH for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked al-dente.
This soup was consumed with gusto in our house and it is long gone. It will be on the menu again very soon.
Soups that contain pasta tend to thicken quite a bit when refrigerated so if you’ve got leftovers, just add a little water or additional beef broth to thin it a bit and it will reheat beautifully.
SLOW COOKER HAMBURGER MINESTRONE
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Slow Cooker Hamburger Minestrone
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup peeled and chopped carrot
- 1 cup chopped zucchini
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 4 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed Italian style tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dry basil
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup ditalini pasta, uncooked
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook, stirring to break up. Season with salt and pepper and cook until no longer pink. Drain off as much of the grease as possible and transfer the cooked beef to the slow cooker. Add the onion, carrot, zucchini, celery, garlic, beef broth, crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf to the slow cooker with the beef. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW 5 to 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.
- After initial cooking time, add beans, ditalini pasta (uncooked), and Parmesan. Cover and cook on HIGH for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until pasta is al-dente.
Recipe Notes
This soup freezes very well. Place leftovers in freezer safe containers for a great make-ahead meal.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving Size | |
| Amount Per Serving | As Served |
| Calories 293kcal Calories from fat 87 | |
| % Daily Value | |
| Total Fat 10g | 15% |
| Saturated Fat 3g | 15% |
| Transfat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 33mg | 11% |
| Sodium 651mg | 27% |
| Carbohydrate 31g | 10% |
| Dietary Fiber 7g | 28% |
| Sugars 5g | |
| Protein 21g | |
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
| Calories | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | Less than | 65g |
| Sat Fat | Less than | 25g |
| Cholesterol | Less than | 300mg |
| Sodium | Less than | 2,400mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 300g | |
| Dietary Fiber | 25g | |
This minestrone soup looks fantastic! I haven’t tried those Reynolds slow cooker liners yet, but will definitely have to give them a try since I hate cleaning my slow cooker! 🙂
You definitely should, Danae! Thanks so much 🙂
Whoooooaaaaa, yeah! Not working nights anymore, definitely gonna ask wifelet to whip this up for me, slow cooker meals like this are right up her alley.
Thank ya, ma’am. Thank ya verry much!
He’s back! You should definitely have her give this one a try RL, it’s a good one. It’s good to hear from you 🙂
Finally got to try this, was SO GOOD, perfect meal for a fall day!
Thanks, Valerie!
It’s one of my favorites, RoadLord. So glad you enjoyed it!
This looks SO good, and I want to make it for my family this week.
I’m just questioning cooking already-cooked hamburger, for 7+ more hours in the slow cooker. What is the reason for that? Doesn’t the burger get overcooked, or tough, or something?
You definitely want to cook the beef and drain off the grease before adding it to the slow cooker. All slow cookers vary but the cooking range is 3 to 4 hours on HIGH or 5 to 7 hours on LOW – it will need that much time to cook and soften the veggies and the beef will be just fine. I had a fabulous result at this cooking time but I always suggest that you make adjustments to the power level and cooking time based on your experience with your own appliance.
This recipe looks fantastic!! I am going to make this recipe using lean ground chicken or turkey and I will try some organic vegetables. My hubby and I love using our crockpot for delicious and healthy recipes!!
It will be fabulous with either, Kim! Enjoy 🙂
I recently started using these liners and I’m obsessed! This soup is just what I need with this weather
They are pretty awesome, aren’t they? The soup definitely hit the spot for us. Thanks, Lauren 🙂
This soup look delicious and super easy. Love that it’s made in the slow cooker.
This looks so hearty and delicious! I am always looking for new slow cooker soup recipes, thank you!
Those liners save the day! I am always up for trying ANY recipe with the word “legendary” in the title. 🙂
First of al,l I love all the ingredients in this soup, such great flavor. Second of all, I never use the crock pot without one of those liners. They are totally worth it.
Soups like this just warm me up and with all this chilly weather this is needed! Plus slow cooker dinners are a no brainer 😉
I love finding new recipes for my slow cooker. This sounds really delicious!
I’ve been using the Reyonds Crockpot Wrap for a while now. They are very useful in quick clean up.
This recipe is delicious!!! Serve it with a salad and a loaf of Italian Bream……perfect for cold winter evenings!!!!!
This looks so good! I want it now! I’m hungry!
Made this last week… Big hit with the whole family. Not a fan of chunky vegetables so I shredded them… It was awesome!!! I have been using the crockpot liners for years. LOVE them!
That’s awesome, Michelle. Good tip on the veggies for those with little ones who might be wary of them. Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Love this soup. Thank you.
Prep Time is way off. It takes me 10 minutes to assemble the ingredients, then the prepping which can go up to 45 minutes.
Hi Betty. The prep time includes the amount of time it took me to chop the veggies which is pretty much the only prep needed for this recipe. I included everything else, from cooking the beef through the rest of the recipe, in the cooking time.
agree with Betty! no way 10 minutes to line the crockpot, open cans, rinse beans, peel onion, garlic, wash peel and chop rest of vegetables, measure spices, heat oil,cook and drain ground beef. will take 10 minutes just to gather the ingredients from pantry spice cabinet and fridge even though all next to each other. Guessing you have a prep person has it all lined up on your counter washed ready to chop, crockpot pre-lined etc.
Hi Carmen. I chop my veggies while the beef is cooking, stopping to stir it occasionally. You can also prep the veggies the day before if you’re looking to save time. The time calculated for prep assumes you have all of your ingredients ready to go and doesn’t include the time gathering them from the pantry.
I have a Type 1 diabetic daughter. We carb count. Would you know the nutritional value of this recipe?
I currently don’t include a nutritional breakdown on my recipes so I recommend running it through one of the many free nutritional calculators available online.
Personally, I think I would hold back on the zucchini until I add the beans and pasta. I can’t stand mushy zucchini. Otherwise, it looks like a really good recipe.
Hi Terri. Mushy zucchini is not a good thing in my book either but I’ve never found it to be overcooked. I hope you enjoy it if you decide to try it!
Soup was excellent had no.problem with prep time.