Cheap and Hearty Slimming World Minestrone Soup

I love a good hearty soup. Soups represent everything I like in food – they are tasty, nutritious and cheap to make. With a few tweaks I have made this classic soup Slimming World friendly too. Here is my recipe for Slimming World minestrone.

Slimming World Minestrone Soup

Firstly, I should say that a tasty soup starts with a good stock. I often make my own stock from poultry bones or even vegetable stock from veggie scraps. However, there are some really good stocks available online or at the supermarket. Marigold does a nice range (and Asda do a decent dupe). Here, I went for a deep and meaty flavour with the Oxo beef stockpots I picked up recently at my local Coop reduced to 10p a pack.

Variations and veggie version

You can also mix and match the vegetables in this. I used kale because that’s what I had. Cabbage is the more common ingredient in a minestrone, or you could even use spinach or chard, chopped and thrown in five minutes before cooking.

The pasta element is what makes this super filling. Again this can be varied to suit your taste or what you happen to have in the cupboard. Whole wheat pasta works well, but I used macaroni. Broken up spaghetti is good too.

If you are a vegetarian, you can easily vary the ingredients of my Slimming World minestrone. Simply substitute the bacon for a can of baked beans and use a good vegetable stock as your base.

Syn value

This made lots of bowls – 8-10 decent sized portions easily. According to the Slimming World app, Oxo stockpots are syn free. As long as you cut off all visible fat from the bacon, so is that, and all the vegetable and pasta ingredients are free too. Happy days!

More Slimming World inspiration

If you  are looking for Slimming World inspiration, you might also like the following:

Cheap and Easy Slimming World Packed Lunches

Three Amazing Slimming World Breakfasts

Immune Boost Slimming World Friendly Fruit Salad

Slimming World Friendly Lemonade

Three of the Best Slimming World Desserts

Slimming World Minestrone Soup Ingredients

Fry Light cooking spray or similar

1 medium onion, chopped

3 sticks of celery, sliced

4 thick rashers of bacon, chopped quite small

2 litres of good stock (I used two Oxo beef stockpots dissolved in boiling water)

2 large carrots, diced

1 medium courgette, diced (optional)

2 medium tomatoes, chopped (you can use canned if that’s what you have)

A good clove of garlic, crushed

150g kale or similar, chopped quite finely

100g macaroni or other pasta

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp dried mixed herbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Take a large saucepan and spray the bottom well with Frylight – about 4 or 5 sprays should do it. Heat gently then add your bacon, onion and celery  and cook for a few minutes without allowing it to catch and burn.  Add the carrots, garlic and courgette and sauté for a few more minutes, then cover and allow to sweat for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the stock, herbs and some seasoning. Bring to the boil, then simmer and cover again for another half an hour or so.

Add the kale, macaroni and tomato puree and cook until the pasta is tender – about 15 minutes should do it. Check the seasoning before serving. I like lots of ground black pepper.

You can eat this Slimming World minestrone soup just as it comes, or use some of your healthy extra A allowance with a little grated cheese on top. It’s hearty enough to be dinner with some wholemeal bread or to take to work for a delicious lunch.

Now that the weather has turned cooler here in the UK, we are eating a lot more warming soups and stews.