Minestrone vegetable soup
A hearty vegetable soup with small pasta and beans – from fresh carrots, onion and potato or from dried soup vegetables. Everything cooks one after another in one pot: first the vegetables, then the pasta, finally the beans. It warms, fills and brings fluid into the body. Note: soup vegetables and stock often contain celery.
- Chopping 10 minutes, cooking 20–25 minutes
Explained simply
Minestrone is an Italian vegetable soup with small pasta and beans. It warms you from the inside, fills you up and is something to drink at the same time – good on cold or wet days.
You cook everything one after another in one pot. First come onion and carrot, then water, stock and potatoes. When the vegetables are almost soft, the pasta goes in. The beans from the can are already cooked – they only go in at the very end to get hot.
Cut the vegetables small and the same size, then everything is ready at the same time. And stir straight away once the pasta is in the pot, otherwise it sticks to the bottom.
How it works
Every ingredient needs a different time to become tender. Potatoes and carrots take the longest, small pasta about 8 to 10 minutes, canned beans only a few minutes to heat through. If you add them to the pot in this order, they are all ready at the same time at the end – nothing is hard, nothing falls apart.
Onion and carrot are first sweated briefly in oil. This creates roasted flavours that make the soup richer. The stock brings salt and seasoning, tomato paste some acidity and colour.
The pasta releases starch while cooking and makes the soup a little thicker. That is why it can get too thick towards the end – then simply add a splash of water.
Fresh or dried
For a weekend trip, fresh carrots, onions and potatoes are ideal. They keep a few days without a fridge if they stay dry and in the shade. Rinse them with clean water before cutting.
For longer trips, dried soup vegetables are lighter and keep much longer. Instead of canned beans, use red lentils, which cook along in about 10 to 15 minutes. If you pack each portion into a labelled bag at home, you only have to add water outdoors.
Watch out for allergies: dried soup vegetables and stock cubes very often contain celery. In the EU celery is one of the 14 allergens that must be highlighted in the ingredient list. Pasta contains gluten, cheese for sprinkling contains milk.
Safety: what to watch out for
A stove always belongs outside – never in the tent, never in the vestibule, never in the car. Burning gas or spirit produces carbon monoxide. You cannot see or smell this gas; it makes you tired and can knock you out. On top of that, tent fabric catches fire within seconds. If it rains, cook under a tarp with open sides or wait.
The most common accidents when cooking outdoors are scalds. A narrow stove with a full pot tips over easily. Put it on firm, level ground, hold the pot by its handle while stirring and only let children near the stove together with an adult. With a scald, cool it at once with cool running water; with large wounds, burns to the face or in children call 112, in Austria also 144.
A large, full soup pot is heavy and slops. Do not carry it around; ladle the soup straight into mugs at the stove. Can rims are sharp, and the empty can goes rinsed into the rubbish bag. Take vegetable peel back with you too – it rots only slowly in the mountains and in cool forests and attracts animals.
Step by step
Set up a safe cooking spot
Put the stove outside on firm, level ground or a flat stone – well away from the tent, dry grass and leaves. A windscreen keeps the flame steady but must not enclose the stove completely. Lay everything out before you light it: pot with lid, cooking spoon, water, ingredients. For soup, take a large pot that will not be filled to the brim.
Caution: Never cook inside the tent or vestibule.
- 1
Set up a safe cooking spot
Put the stove outside on firm, level ground or a flat stone – well away from the tent, dry grass and leaves. A windscreen keeps the flame steady but must not enclose the stove completely. Lay everything out before you light it: pot with lid, cooking spoon, water, ingredients. For soup, take a large pot that will not be filled to the brim.
Never cook inside the tent or vestibule.
- 2
Cut the vegetables small
Wash the carrot and potato and cut them into small cubes of equal size, about the size of a pea to a sugar cube. Dice the onion finely. Cut green patches off the potatoes.
Cut away from your body, lay the vegetables flat.
- 3
Sweat onion and carrot
Put oil in the pot and fry the onion and carrot on a medium flame for 3 minutes, stirring. Briefly stir in the tomato paste.
- 4
Add water, stock and potatoes
Pour in the water, crumble in the stock cube, add the potatoes or dried vegetables. Lid on, bring to the boil and then simmer on a low flame for 10 minutes.
Lift the lid away from you.
- 5
Cook the pasta in it
Add the small pasta to the boiling soup and stir at once so it does not stick to the bottom. Cook it for as long as the pack says, usually 8 to 10 minutes. If the soup gets too thick, add a splash of water.
- 6
Beans at the end
Open the can of beans carefully, rinse the beans briefly with clean water and add them to the soup for the last 3 minutes. They only need to get hot.
- 7
Season and serve
Check with a fork that the potatoes and pasta are soft. Season with herbs and pepper, salt only if needed. Turn off the stove, ladle the soup into mugs and sprinkle with a little cheese.
- 8
Tidy up and pack out the can
Vegetable peel, packaging and the rinsed can go into the rubbish bag. Clean the pot with a little water and scatter the washing water well away from water.
Common mistakes
- Everything into the pot at once – pasta falls apart, potatoes stay hard
- Vegetable pieces too large
- Not stirring the pasta – it sticks to the bottom
- Planning too little water
- Salting heavily despite the stock cube
- Leaving vegetable peel in the bushes
Quick view
Materials
Carrot
Per person 1 small carrot
Keeps a few days without a fridge; rinse with clean water before cutting.
Onion
Per person a quarter to half an onion
Keeps for several days without a fridge if it stays dry and airy.
Potatoes (waxy or all-rounder)
Per person 1 small potato
Cut away green patches and sprouts generously.
Carry them dark, cool and dry.
Dried vegetables (soup mix, peas, carrots, leek)
Instead of fresh vegetables: per person about 15–20 g
Soup vegetable mixes often contain celery.
Store dry and tightly closed.
Small soup pasta (e.g. macaroni, stars, ditalini)
Per person about 40 g
Contains wheat (gluten); gluten-free pasta as a substitute.
Canned beans (kidney, white or black beans)
Per person about a quarter to half a can, rinsed
Do not use cans with heavy dents, rust or a bulging lid.
Do not use opened cans for storing food – move leftovers into a clean box or eat them straight away.
Stock cube or vegetable stock powder
Per person half a cube
Often contains celery, sometimes gluten or milk – read the ingredients.
Very salty: hardly any extra salt needed afterwards.
Tomato paste in a tube
Per person 1 tablespoon
Keep an opened tube cool and use it up within a few days; keep the cap clean.
Cooking oil (rapeseed or olive) in a leak-proof bottle
Per person ½ tablespoon
Hot oil can spit and catch fire – never pour water on burning fat; put the lid on and turn the stove off.
Clean drinking or treated water
Per person about 400–450 ml
Treat water from streams or lakes first – also for rinsing vegetables and beans.
Carry enough for cooking, drinking and washing up.
Spices in small tubs (paprika, cumin, chilli, herbs)
Oregano, basil, pepper
Ready-made spice mixes can contain celery or mustard – read the ingredients.
Ground spices burn very quickly in hot fat and turn bitter.
Hard cheese in a piece (e.g. mountain cheese, Parmesan)
For sprinkling on top
Keeps better without a fridge than soft cheese, but not forever – carry it in the shade and eat it in the first days in hot weather.
Contains milk.
Stove
Never operate inside a tent, shelter or enclosed room – carbon monoxide and fire risk.
Stove fuel (canister, liquid fuel, alcohol)
Store fuels apart from food and in original containers or bottles intended for them.
Store cool, well ventilated and out of children's reach.
Metal pot (stainless steel, aluminium, titanium)
With lid, at least 1.5 litres for 2 people
Hot – scalding risk.
Long cooking spoon (wood or heat-resistant plastic)
A long handle keeps your hand out of the hot steam.
Knife (fixed or locking blade)
Cut away from your body.
Rules on carrying knives differ by region – check local rules.
Manual can opener
Electric can openers do not work during a power outage.
Bowl or large mug with spoon
Children eat from their own bowl – not straight from the hot pot.
Suitable for
- Cold or wet days
- Groups – easy to scale up
- When everyone should drink more
- Vegan without cheese
Not suitable for
- Very scarce water
- Celery allergy with ordinary stock and soup vegetables
- Cooking in a tent or vestibule – never
Prerequisites
- Able to cut safely with a knife, or an adult helps
- A permitted, safe cooking spot outside
- Enough clean water
Safety
- Stock cubes and dried soup vegetables often contain celery, an allergen that must be declared. Pasta contains gluten, cheese contains milk. Ask beforehand who is eating and read the ingredient lists.
- Can rims are sharp: press the lid inwards and do not reach in with your fingers. Do not use dented, rusty or bulging cans. Do not keep leftover beans in the open can.
- Eat cooked food hot straight away. Do not leave leftovers without cooling for more than two hours – and never overnight in the lukewarm pot. Anything left over is heated until it is steaming hot all through before eating, or it is thrown away. Pack food and rubbish animal-proof at night.
- Only use clean or treated water. At a campfire the fire rules apply: only where it is allowed, never with wildfire danger, pot stable on a pot support, water ready to put the fire out and the fire extinguished completely at the end. Take packaging and food scraps back with you, scatter washing water well away from streams and lakes.
How it works
A minestrone is cooked in the order in which the ingredients become tender. Onion and carrot are sweated briefly in oil – that gives flavour. Potatoes and dried vegetables take the longest and go into the pot with the water. Small pasta takes about 8 to 10 minutes and goes in after that. The canned beans are already cooked and are only heated. Small pieces of equal size cook evenly and save fuel.
Advantages
- Warms you and provides fluid
- Lots of vegetables, fibre and protein
- Easy to scale up for groups
- Works with fresh or dried ingredients
Disadvantages
- Needs a lot of water
- Some chopping
- Several allergens (celery, gluten, milk)
- Fresh vegetables and cans weigh more
Deep knowledge
Background
Minestrone is an Italian vegetable soup without a fixed recipe – whatever is there goes in. That is exactly why it suits the outdoors: carrots, onions and potatoes keep for a few days without a fridge, dried soup vegetables much longer.
In the EU, celery is one of the 14 allergens that must be highlighted in the ingredient list – and it is often in stock and soup vegetables. The WHO's Five Keys apply for hygiene: safe water, cook thoroughly and do not leave cooked food standing for hours. The US food safety agency USDA FSIS advises against using dented or bulging cans.
Variants
- Alphabet soup
- Use alphabet or star pasta instead of macaroni, cut the vegetables very small and cook with little seasoning. Children may fish their names out of the soup – only once it has cooled.
- Vegan and gluten-free
- Without cheese and with vegan stock the soup is vegan. For gluten-free, use rice or gluten-free pasta and choose a stock without gluten.
- From dry ingredients only
- For long trips: dried soup vegetables, pasta, stock and red lentils instead of canned beans (they cook along in about 10–15 minutes). Pack everything per portion into a bag at home and label it.
Common mistakes
- Everything into the pot at once – pasta falls apart, potatoes stay hard
- Vegetable pieces too large
- Not stirring the pasta – it sticks to the bottom
- Planning too little water
- Salting heavily despite the stock cube
- Leaving vegetable peel in the bushes
Limits and risks
- Cooking times depend on piece size, pasta type and altitude
- Quantities are guidelines for adults
- No figure for how long leftovers keep outdoors – do not keep them
Material alternatives
Derived from material properties: a substitute must have all relevant properties. Observe the notes on the substitute.
- Stove fuel (canister, liquid fuel, alcohol)
- Dry firewood (Collect only where permitted.), Tinder (Carry in waterproof packaging.), Char cloth (charred cotton) (Store dry in a tin.), Finest-grade steel wool (Store separately from batteries – fire risk.), Fatwood (resin-rich wood) (Collect only dead wood where permitted.), Petroleum jelly cotton balls (Use only pure cotton.), Cooking oil or cooking fat (tallow, lard) (Never put out burning fat with water – cover it with a lid to smother it.), Tree resin (spruce, pine) (Resin is flammable and sticks to the skin when hot – melt it only slowly over low heat.), Birch bark (from dead, fallen wood) (Never peel from living trees.)
- Metal pot (stainless steel, aluminium, titanium)
- Single-wall stainless steel bottle (Heat only single-wall bottles without paint/plastic; remove the lid before heating.)
Results come exclusively from structured entries. No improvised instructions are generated.
Sources (6)
- World Health Organization (WHO) (2006): Five Keys to Safer Food Manual · Safe water, cook thoroughly, do not leave cooked food without cooling for hours
- European Parliament and Council of the European Union (2011): Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers · Celery, cereals containing gluten and milk as allergens that must be declared
- United States Department of Agriculture – Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS): Shelf-Stable Food Safety · Canned food: do not use badly dented, rusty or bulging cans
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning – Prevention guidance · Never use stoves or other fuel-burning devices inside tents or closed spaces – carbon monoxide
- European Resuscitation Council – Resuscitation (journal) (2021): European Resuscitation Council Guidelines 2021: First Aid · Cool burns and scalds at once with cool running water; call emergency services for severe burns
- Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics: The Seven Principles of Leave No Trace (Principle 5: Minimize Campfire Impacts) · Pack out rubbish, scatter washing water away from water, keep fires small or use a stove