minestrone

American  

[min-uh-stroh-nee, mee-ne-straw-ne] / ˌmɪn əˈstroʊ ni, ˌmi nɛˈstrɔ nɛ /

noun

Italian Cooking.

1. a thick vegetable soup, often containing herbs, beans, bits of pasta, etc., and served with Parmesan cheese.

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minestrone British  

/ ˌmɪnɪˈstrəʊnɪ /

noun

1. a soup made from a variety of vegetables and pasta

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Etymology

Origin of minestrone

1890–95; < Italian, equivalent to minestr ( a ) kind of soup (literally, something served; see minister) + -one augmentative suffix

Explanation

Minestrone is a hearty vegetable and pasta soup. If you go to an Italian restaurant for lunch, you can order a bowl of minestrone. Yum! Most minestrone is tomato-based and includes a variety of vegetables, pasta or rice, and beans. Historians believe that a version of minestrone was around before the beginning of the Roman Empire, when it was probably thickened with spelt flour. As time went on and bread became more common, the flour was mainly eliminated from minestrone, although it long had a reputation as "poor people's food." The word comes from the Italian minestra, "soup."

Example Sentences

The only fly in the minestrone is the men’s national soccer team, which could soon be eliminated from World Cup qualifying.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

Tucci often brings his own food when he’s working: light soups, like home-cooked minestrone.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2024

They tend to enjoy a three-course meal at night with a starter of minestrone soup, a pasta or rice dish for main and apple crumble or jam roly-poly to finish.

From BBC • Mar. 21, 2023

The day of the party, McDougall-Treacy’s husband Dan makes a big pot of minestrone soup and the house fills with friends and family who spend the day decorating cookies, eating, drinking and catching up.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 25, 2022

Alex was too polite to tell Julie that minestrone was his favorite.

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer