Hearty Vegan Minestrone Stew with Butternut Squash

You know those soup recipes that are mostly broth with maybe six noodles and about four chunks of carrot per bowl? Yeah well, this hearty vegan minestrone is not one of those soups. (Thank goodness for that.)

I have a personal soup-making philosophy that definitely errs on the side of "more is more" and this is especially true for my vegan minestrone.

And why not? We're talking about butternut squash, sweet corn, pasta, and zippy fall flavorings like garlic, ginger, and fresh sage and thyme. All things this world could use a little bit more of, as far as I'm concerned.

My only concern is, at what point do I need to call it a stew? Because we're nearing that fine gray line 'round these parts.

In addition to nearing stew status, I have one more very important requirement for a truly delicious vegan minestrone experience: non-mushy noodles! Because nothing ruins a perfectly delicious minestrone soup like mushy noodles.

That's why my whole wheat penne doesn't even touch my soup until I'm ready to eat. Just cook noodles to al dente ahead of time scoop into bowls before adding the soup and serving. Leftovers can also be stored separately (add a little olive oil to your cooked pasta if it's sticking), so you'll never have to eat blobby, gelatinous leftover minestrone ever again.

Not that leftovers will  necessarily be a problem with this recipe. Dan and I ate this right up in a matter of 24 hours. In fact, it's all gone, and writing about vegan minestrone has me thinking about making it again (and in a bigger batch this time too).

Returning home from our trip to Quebec and Vermont (recap on the way) and gearing up to move into our new home(!) has me thinking more and more about the magical wonderfulness that is batch cooking.

And by thinking about it, I mean wishing I had done more of it as my kitchen slowly loses its functionality to piles of boxes and packing paper.

Do you have any tips for delicious healthy recipes that are moving-friendly? I need some more inspiration, so I just asked the same question to my fellow dietitians and healthy food bloggers. Roundup with their best recipes is in the works. (Totally selfish idea for a blog post, I know.)

But who am I kidding, in reality, we have the piles of boxes, but we haven't started the actual packing yet. I just know that the annihilation of my apartment's kitchen is coming. It's inevitable and I'm happy-sad about it.

Man, apparently vegan minestrone soup gets me all sorts of sentimental but just think of all the hearty soups stews I'll be cooking up in the mountains. It's about to get real nice and cozy here on TGG this winter, I can tell you that much.

📖 Recipe

Hearty Vegan Minestrone with Butternut Squash

Stephanie McKercher, RDN

This chunky vegan minestrone soup with butternut squash and sweet corn is hearty, filling, and perfect for fall.

4.1 from 20 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course entree, Soup

Cuisine fall, vegan

Servings 4 -6

Ingredients

  

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil or cooking oil of choice
• 1 large about 1 cup onion, diced
• 3-4 cloves about 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 2 carrots about ½ cup, peeled and chopped
• 2 stalks about 2 tablespoons diced celery
• 1 cup cubed butternut squash
• 2 ears about 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (I used fresh in recipe testing)
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes with basil (I used Muir Glen brand in recipe testing)
• 1 15.5 ounce can white kidney beans, including liquid (may also drain and rinse if desired)
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast plus addiitonal for serving if desired
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper plus additional for serving if desired
• 3 fresh sage leaves
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• 2-3 cups cooked whole grain pasta for serving

Instructions

 

• Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and salt and cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, carrot, and celery and cook additional 2-3 minutes. Add squash and corn and cook 2-3 more minutes, adding more salt as needed throughout cooking process.
• Stir in broth, tomatoes, beans, nutritional yeast, oregano, crushed red pepper, and black pepper to taste. Add fresh sage and thyme and bring to a boil before decreasing to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until soup is hot and flavors have melded.
• To serve, spoon cooked pasta into separate soup bowls and ladle minestrone on top. Stir to combine and sprinkle with more nutritional yeast and crushed red pepper if desired.
• Store cooked pasta separately from leftover soup to prevent mushy noodles upon reheating. Soup may be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week or stored in the freezer (hold the pasta) for up to three months.