Vegetable Beef Minestrone

this makes a superb soup! i chopped up a heavy half pound of stew meat, used a sprinkle of ground cayenne pepper instead of red pepper flakes, added a cup of dark red kidney beans & substituted the spaghetti with medium shells, (don't stir in the pasta until you're ready to serve). the soup is very thick so i followed the suggestion of doubling the stock. one more note: i deliberately made this soup the day ahead to allow the flavors to mingle. sprinkle on a little grated parmesan or romano cheese & you're good to go! thanks for this terrific recipe, lindsay!

My whole family loved this soup! I found that it was going to be a bit thick and did add 3 times the broth and I also threw in some brocolli at the last minute. The seasonings were perfect for a family who is not into hot spicy food, but it had a nice bite to it for flavor. I did omit the bacon as I did not have any but increased the ground beef to a pound and a half. We will definitely make this again!

I made this recipe tonight and it was excellent. A few variations: I put 1/2 can chickpeas and 1/2 can red kidney beans instead of the full can of chickpeas. I also used pasta shells instead of spaghetti.

Fantastic! Try it. This is the world's best minestrone, and incredibly quick and easy to make. But use two cans of beef broth unless you like a very, very thick soup.

This soup was outstanding! I'm a big fan of soups and have several cookbooks dedicated souly to soup, so I have cooked many. This one was one of the best I've ever made! The only changes I made were: no bacon (personal preference), no celery because I didn't have any, and I used a whole pound of beef, an extra can of white beans and two extra cups of broth. There was not one drop leftover! My children (all four) and my husband ate several servings each. Thank you for what will become a family favorite!

Different from most minestrones I've tasted, but very good and very easy. Seemed a bit thick for my taste, but that was easys to fix.

I made this minus the ground beef - I just didn't really like the idea of it. As written it was ok, but it needed more seasoning - freshly ground pepper, garlic powder, and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. The chick peas were ok, but I think I would have preferred kidney beans. Thanks.

This is a very nice simple soup recipe with good seasonings. My family liked it a lot. It needed more liquid, and I added about a cup of water toward the end of the cooking time. Other than that I made it just as submitted.

Not at all good. The bacon is a terrible mistake, the flavor seems out of place in a vegetable soup.

I found this recipe to be very tasty. I found I had to add more water/beef bouillon. I added more vegetables but that was my choice. My husband liked this soup also and it was the first time he found he didn't have to add more salt as there was plenty of flavor. I would definately make this recipe again. I made herb bread to go with the soup, and what a meal. Very filling. Thanks Lindsay for sharing.

This was great. I added 1 can of minestrone condensed soup, and used small shells instead of pasta. About a 1/2 cup.

I thought this soup was very easy to make and delicious. It does end up thick if you follow the recipe. If you don't like it thick, just use more broth. I used navy beans instead of chick peas, and ditali instead of spagetti. It turned out very flavorful.

I make often throughout the year. We love it as is, however I often add left over veggies like green beans or corn.

EXCELLENT/EASY! If you are in a rush just follow recipe exacatly and you can't go wrong - except - you might want to have more broth/water on hand to thin it out if you feel it is too thick - especially the next day. I needed to add more broth but it could be because the carrots I used were rather large and I needed to use 1/4 lb of elbow macaroni (since that is what I had) versus the VERY THIN pieces of spaghetti. The spices held up even after adding extra broth. I really loved this and look forward to taking it to work next week.

Excellent soup! Did double the beef broth as per other reviewers suggestion. Used great northern beans instead of garbanzos. Next time will double the crushed red pepper or add cayenne for some additional heat but otherwise a great recipe! Will definitely make again!

This soup was so good!!!! Everyone loved it. Although I did make a few changes. I used kindney beans instead of chick peas and I added 2 cans of beef broth and 3/4 cup of water. I also added canned corn and used diced fireroasted tamatoes instead of stewed tamatoes. Yumm!! thanks so much for the recipie.

Very good soup. Replaced spaghetti noodles with Rotini pasta, which turned out really well.

Am using this recipe again tonight, becuase my husband really liked it when I made it the first time. Said it was even better than his mom's, which is saying something. I add more beef (about 1 lb total) and use shell noodles instead of spaghetti, so it all comes out probably a bit thicker - but we like it that way!

I LOVE this recipe! It's easy to substitute and add vegetables based on what I have in the fridge. Based on the other reviews, I put in 12oz of beef broth, 1 can of stewed tomatoes, 1 can cream of tomato. Overall, truly delicious.

This recipe was amazing. I followed the recipe except changed the ground beef for ground turkey. It was excellent.

excellent

Mmmmm...this was wonderful. I will definitely be making this again!

Delicious! Works with red pepper instead of the celery, (my daughter and husband don't like celery).

This was an amazing recipe, but i made a few changes. I tripled the beef stock, and substituted in elbow macaroni for the spaghetti noodles, cayenne pepper for red pepper flakes, used 1 pound of beef. All these changes were made due to amount of people, and there preferences... Also a side note, i think it tastes better the next day, serves good as lunch.

I triple the broth and it’s still thick but delicious! I use white beans instead of chick peas. Husband loves it!

Was OK.....I jazzed it up w/ hot pepper sauce and more crushed pepper flakes. Needs something else. I did top each bowl w/ grated parm.

This was tasty, although it needed about 3 cans of beef broth and half a can of chickpeas.

Would be better with a beef rib or ham-hock for flavor.

I love this soup. I didn't have chick peas so I used a can of dark red kidney beans. I left out the bay leaf because I didn't have one. I also tripled the amount of beef broth. It came out sooo good!

Oh, this had such a great flavor! I did not have any bacon, but I did use bacon grease to cook the veggies into a mirpoix. I was very surprised - my kids loved it, and cleaned their bowls. haven't heard from hubby yet - I think he is not a fan: he likes his soups smooth.

Tasty! I used left over roast for the meat portion of this soupand it was fabulous. I agree with others on adding more beef broth too!

The best minestrone soup, bar none!

My boyfriend liked this okay. I wasn't too fond of it myself. It seems like it needed something, just not sure what. It could be salt - I had to add salt and oyster crackers for it to be edible for myself personally. I will try it again, with some few adjustments to the recipe.

Great recipe, I did use a pound of very lean ground beef. I had to add a 14 1/2 can of beef broth because it was much to thick. And it was still plenty thick, because of that I also added 1/4 teaspoon more crushed red pepper and about one rounded teaspoon of Italian seasoning and two small cloves of minced garlic..My husband said don't change a thing!. He said it is his favorite soup. ( he says that with every good soup I make) I agree tho, it is a five star. I will l make it many times more. It's a keeper for sure.