Minestrone is a hearty Italian vegetable soup built on a tomato base, loaded with beans and pasta and whatever vegetables you have around. It is thick, savory, and filling, the kind of bowl that eats like a full meal. It is also vegetarian, healthy, and, most importantly, cheap.

The real magic of minestrone is that it is the ultimate clean-out-the-fridge meal. The base is a handful of pantry staples, and after that you throw in any vegetables that need using up. That makes it both frugal and flexible: nothing goes to waste, and no two pots are ever quite the same. It also scales up easily and freezes well, so it is great for feeding a crowd or stocking lunches for the week. Here is the easiest version, one pot, no skill required. Simple Chinese guys only have one knife and use it for everything, and that is all you need here too.

What you need

The base:

  • Onion
  • Celery
  • Carrots (baby carrots are fine, or regular ones cut down)
  • Canned stewed tomatoes (canned makes this so much easier than prepping fresh)
  • Pasta, ideally a small shape like shells
  • Beans, for protein. Red kidney beans are classic, but chickpeas or lentils work great too.

Then whatever else is in your fridge: zucchini, green peppers, mushrooms, any vegetable you want to use up. That flexibility is the whole point.

The steps

  1. Dice the onion and cut the celery, and drop them in the pot.
  2. Add the rest as is: carrots (whole baby carrots are fine, or chop the big ones), the beans, the pasta, and the canned tomatoes.
  3. Add water to cover, and any extra vegetables you are clearing out.
  4. Boil until the pasta and the beans are soft. That is it. Taste, add salt if it needs it, and serve.

Swaps, simplifications, and upgrades

  • The beans: red kidney beans are traditional, but chickpeas, cannellini, or lentils all work. Beans are your protein here, so use whatever you have. Canned saves time; dried is cheaper if you plan ahead.
  • The vegetables: this is where minestrone shines. Zucchini, green peppers, spinach, kale, green beans, mushrooms, all fair game. Whatever is wilting in your crisper drawer belongs in this pot.
  • The tomatoes: stewed tomatoes are the easy shortcut. Diced or crushed canned tomatoes work just as well. Fresh tomatoes work too if you cut them small and cook them down.
  • Richer flavor: use vegetable or chicken broth instead of plain water, and add dried herbs like basil, oregano, or a bay leaf. A parmesan rind simmered in the pot adds huge depth (skip it to keep the soup vegan).
  • Make it vegan: it already basically is. Just do not top it with cheese.
  • Gluten-free: use gluten-free pasta, or swap the pasta for rice or extra beans.
  • Simplify all the way: canned tomatoes, canned beans, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and a handful of pasta. Dump, boil, done.

Tips

  • Canned everything is your friend. Stewed tomatoes and canned beans turn this into a ten-minutes-of-effort meal.
  • Do not overthink the vegetables. Minestrone forgives almost anything, which is exactly why it is such a frugal meal.
  • It thickens as it sits. Add a splash of water when you reheat leftovers.

Cheap, healthy, and endlessly flexible. For more of the same one-pot-feeds-many thinking, see Frugal SF, or the equally lazy chicken noodle soup.