This Gluten-Free Vegan Creamy Vegetable Minestrone soup is an easy and healthy recipe made with clean, real food ingredients. It's a delicious creamy twist on the classic soup that's full of fresh vegetables, is a hearty one-pot meal that's ready in about 30 minutes, and is perfect for busy weeknights!
Here's Why This Recipe Works
My top three favorite reasons:
- It's Has a "Creamy" Base Instead Of a "Broth" Base
- A One-Pot Meal That's Ready In Under 30 Minutes
- Made With Clean, Real Food Ingredients
It Has A "Creamy" Base Instead of A "Broth" Base
This clean eating Creamy Vegan Vegetable Minestrone Soup is a twist on the traditional broth-style minestrone soup you may be used to eating.
If you've had the chance to try one of the most popular recipes on my website, Creamy Red Lentil and Kale Soup, it kind of came about the same way.
Instead of making the regular broth-style soup, I added a can of organic full-fat coconut milk to give it a thicker, creamier texture and it's delicious!
A One-Pot Meal That's Ready In Under 30 Minutes
You'll love how you can make this hearty soup in under 30 minutes using only one pot!
For example, after prepping the veggies, simply saute them for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are soft.
Then add the remaining ingredients and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes and it's ready to enjoy.
Made With Clean, Real Food Ingredients
I love how this recipe has so many veggies like spinach, onions, carrots, and fresh herbs like celery, parsley, and garlic.
To give it a creamy base I used organic full-fat coconut milk to replace dairy traditionally found in creamy soups.
This is a versatile recipe that can be made with a wide variety of vegetable and seasoning substitutions and is plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, oil-free, nut-free, and Medical Medium® compliant.
How To Make This Recipe: Step-by-Step Instructions
Here is how to make this recipe and I'll show you with step-by-step instructions below.
Step1: Prep the Veggies
Firstly, you'll need to take a few minutes to prep the veggies by dicing the onions, carrots, tomatoes, and celery into small pieces.
Next, chop the spinach and parsley into small pieces as well.
Step 2: Saute' the Veggies
Secondly, add all the veggies + seasonings needed for the saute' to a large saucepan.
Saute' on medium/high heat for about 2-3 minutes, or until the onions are soft.
Step 3: Add the Liquid Add-Ins
Thirdly, add the liquid add-in which includes the veggie broth, entire can of full-fat coconut milk, and drained cannellini beans.
Let the mixture simmer uncovered for about 10-15 minutes.
Step 4: Add the Veggie Add-Ins
Fourthly, add the veggie add-ins which include the chopped spinach and parsley.
Stir until well combined and just long enough for the spinach to wilt.
Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference.
Garnish with extra chopped parsley and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
Step 5: How To Store The Minestrone Soup
Lastly, store any leftovers in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator.
Karielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions
Here are some of my expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:
Cannellini Beans. (aka White Kidney Beans) This bean variety is the key ingredient in traditional minestrone soup. I highly recommend using the Eden Organic brand because they are a) organic, b) pressure cooked making them lectin-free, and c) come in a BPA-free can. You will need to use the entire can for this recipe but don't forget to drain them before adding them to the recipe.
Vegetable Broth. You can use "salted" or "low-sodium" vegetable broth, just make sure the brand you use doesn't contain citric acid. Keep in mind that you may need to adjust the amount of added salt in the recipe depending on whether you use "salted" or "low-sodium" vegetable broth.
Coconut Milk. I added this ingredient to give the soup a "creamy" base as a replacement for dairy. It does have a slight coconut flavor so if you 100% don't like the flavor of coconut you may want to omit it, however, the soup will have a "broth" type base instead of a "creamy" base. Make sure you use "full-fat" coconut milk and use the entire contents of the can in the recipe - coconut water + coconut fat.
Roma Tomatoes. I like to use the "Roma" tomato variety because they don't have as much liquid as a regular tomato. However, you can substitute with your favorite tomato variety. You will need about 1 cup of diced tomatoes.
Red Pepper Flakes. If you don't like spicy food or will be serving this to children, you can reduce or omit the red pepper flakes.
Himalayan Pink Salt. This is my salt of preference, however, you can always substitute it with sea salt. Feel free to add more salt to the recipe if you prefer.
Want More Healthy Plant-Based Soup Recipes?
Check out these:
- Dr. Group's Liver Cleanse Soup
- Creamy Mushroom Soup
- Tomato Basil Soup
- or my After The Cleanses™ Medical Medium® Compliant Meal Plan Program with 42 plant-based vegan + gluten-free recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
Did You Make This Recipe?
I'd love to hear about it! Please give it a rating and leave a comment below...it would make my day! : )
Gluten-Free Vegan Creamy Vegetable Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
For the veggie saute':
- 1 cup organic onion (diced)
- 3 organic carrots (diced)
- 2 organic Roma tomatoes (diced)
- 1 stalk organic celery (diced)
- 2 cloves organic garlic (freshly crushed)
- 1 tablespoon organic vegetable broth
- 2-3 teaspoons organic red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
For the add-ins:
- 4 cups organic vegetable broth
- 1 can organic cannellini beans (15-ounce can, drained)
- 1 can organic full-fat coconut milk (13.5-ounce can)
For the vegetable add-ins:
- 2 cups organic baby spinach (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons organic fresh parsley (chopped)
Instructions
Prep the veggies:
- Prepare the veggies: dice the onions, tomatoes, celery, carrots and chop the spinach and parsley.
Prepare the veggie saute':
- Add all ingredients for the veggie saute' to a large pot or saucepan and saute on medium/high heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the onions are soft.
Prepare the soup:
- Add the cannellini beans, vegetable broth and entire can of coconut milk and simmer uncovered on low heat for about 10-15 minutes.
- Add the chopped spinach and parsley and stir until everything is well combined, and just long enough for the spinach to wilt.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference.
- Store leftovers in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Hi, I'm Karielyn! I'm the published cookbook author of CLEAN DESSERTS and content creator of The Healthy Family and Home™ website since 2012. I specialize in creating easy, healthy plant-based and Medical Medium® compliant recipes that are gluten-free + vegan and made with clean, real food ingredients that you can feel good about eating.
Genevieve says
This looks good! How much spinach do I put in?
Karielyn Tillman says
Hi there Genevieve! I apologize for the mistake in the recipe...when I updated the recipe card I omitted the spinach as an ingredient. It should be (2) cups of organic baby spinach (chopped).
I have updated the recipe to show this correction...thanks so much for letting me know and I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Tami Rossignol says
I made this tonight! Really loved it! Instead of regular veggie broth I used an organic Vegan Protein Broth that is made with legumes and vegetables. I did not add the coconut milk since this was already creamy, but I think it would have added another dimension to it. Still very very good! Great comfort soup and loved the spice! I would recommend this recipe! You certainly could add broccoli instead of spinach or maybe peas..simply for color or flavor. .I did add a potato too because I needed to use it up....yummy!
Karielyn Tillman says
Hi there Tami! I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe and LOVE the idea of adding potatoes to it...perfect!
Thank you so much for trying out my recipe and for taking the time to let me know you liked it...I sincerely appreciate it 🙂
Maureen says
Just made this soup for a nice healthy lunch. After cooking the veggies, I used my immersion blender to chop everything up and then added the spinach, parsley and coconut milk. Still not sure about the coconut flavor in this soup, next time I might just leave that out but otherwise a great nutritious bowl of soup. I really like the kick of the red pepper flakes!
Karielyn says
Hi there Maureen! I like the way you used the immersion blender in the recipe...great idea!
I added the full-fat coconut milk to give the soup a creamy texture, but you could leave it out if you don't like it (or use regular heavy cream if you didn't need it to be vegan). It would be more of a broth-type soup which would also be really good.
Thanks for trying out the recipe and for taking the time to let me know you liked it...I really appreciate it 🙂
Janet says
This was a perfect warming soup for the winter. You picked a themely ingredient considering it is the International Year of the Pulse. 🙂
Karielyn says
Hi there Janet! Thanks so much and I appreciate you letting me know you liked it! 🙂
Jenny D says
So simple to make - love it!! And I love cannelini beans so that's perfect. Drooling over your blog :-D.
Karielyn says
Hi there Jenny! Yes, it's a great recipe for cannellini beans! Thank you so much and I really appreciate you stopping by 🙂
Elizabeth S. says
What a great veggie option! I loved it and it was so easy to make!
Karielyn says
Hi there Elizabeth! I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe and thank you for taking the time to let me know you liked it 🙂