Three Bean Minestrone Soup Recipe from Prep-Ahead Meals From Scratch

This is Alea’s book We have been doing a thirty day no spend challenge and on of the main factors in my spending has always been food. It was my spending on food that was the inspiration for my site. It wasn’t that long ago that I started my site in 2009. It was a direct result of my desire to pay for our children’s prepaid college funds. We had one income and I was going to stay at home with the kids. The only money I had control of was my husband’s salary which had taken a hit with the acquisition of a new job. I gave up my job making $40,000 and my husband took a job making $25,000 less and we had a new mouth to feed. I knew one thing and I was committed to one thing beyond the normal things that children need and that was higher education. I believed and I still believe that education is power and I was going to provide each one of our children with that power. I didn’t want them to worry about loans or if they could go to college or not and that meant I needed to find the money in our budget to make sure that higher education was a priority. That meant taking a serious look at our spending. We looked and determined after our mortgage that food was our greatest expense. Then question then becomes how do you fix that? The answer is meal preperation. If you can figure out ways to make your food work for you not you work for your food you will be winning. I knew people who were winning in this area and luckily one of them, Alea created a cookbook. The Prep-Ahead Meals From Scratch: Quick & Easy Batch Cooking Techniques and Recipes That Save You Time and Money.

This is one of the recipes in her cook book that I made.

Three Bean Minestrone Soup Recipe

BEST BATCH COOKING METHOD: Any

The combination of Italian herbs in this soup create a flavorful broth, while the three different beans provide lots of protein creating a hearty soup that will leave you feeling satisfied with this meatless recipe.

PREP-AHEAD TIP: This soup can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for 1 – 2 days. It also freezes well and can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Serves: 6 – 8

Ingredients:

1 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onion, minced
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup green beans, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup carrots, julienned or shredded
4 cups vegetable broth (page )
2 cups diced tomatoes or 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 ¾ cup cooked black beans
1 ¾ cup cooked white beans
1 ¾ cup cooked garbanzo beans
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 cups fresh spinach

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes.

2. Add the vegetable broth, tomatoes, beans, and the spices to the soup. Stir to mix the spices in. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Add the spinach leaves and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until the spinach is wilted.

Also check out our other recipes:

Save Money Groceries with Soups that Freeze Well
Crockpot Freezer Meal Recipes
Save Money Groceries