Summer Vegetable Soup with Pesto – Slow Cooker or Stove Top

 Summer Vegetable Soup with Pesto is the perfect way to use up those summer veggies! Easy, healthy, delicious, and made in the slow cooker!  This soup is a great way to enjoy your summer produce without heating up the house!

I was just having this conversation with my sisters yesterday about eating soup when it’s 90° outside. All 3 of us give it an air-conditioned thumbs up. I really have no problem with soup and grilled cheese sandwiches right smack in the middle of my summer, and there’s so much produce!

So it stands to reason that summer vegetable soup just makes plain old good sense.

There are soooooo many days that I lose my motivation for kitchen things right around 3:30 p.m., when the heat and humidity have peaked, I’m on my 74th glass of water, and the dogs are all belly down on the air vents.

Today we pretty much had popsicles for dinner. Not much cooking happening around the dinner hour for me.

But if I can throw a bunch of things in the Crock Pot ahead of time? We actually manage a meal before 9 pm. Which means I am calling this summer vegetable soup a win. 

Ingredients for Easy Summer Vegetable Soup

This can vary quite a bit. If you have an overabundance of summer squash, you probably need to roll with it, but the basic vegetables I included in this recipe are popular summer garden veggies, and they are easily swapped out for what you have handy! Here’s what I use:

• potatoes cut into 1″ cubes
• onions, diced
• sweet peppers
• carrots, peeled and sliced
• zucchini
• green beans
• canned diced tomatoes
• cannellini beans
• corn
• pasta (optional)

You’ll also need vegetable broth. Chicken broth will also work if you aren’t aiming for a vegetarian dish. In a pinch you can use water, but you will want to REALLY make sure to season well. 

PRO TIP

If you do add potatoes to your summer vegetable soup, use a variety with a thin skin that won’t require peeling, such as Red Skin or Honey Gold. Even purple potatoes work well! I’d not recommend Russet potatoes unless you plan on peeling them.  

Rinsing the potatoes in cold water before adding them to the pot or crock pot also helps with the starchiness. 

Can I Use Frozen Vegetables?

YUP. I typically use frozen corn and green beans here because it’s easier. You can use a frozen veggie blend with carrots, green beans, and corn to save yourself some chopping and some time. 

Can I Use Prepared Pesto?

Absolutely! The pesto on top of this soup is one of my favorite parts. Prepared pesto will save you time.

If you want to go the homemade pesto route, I have three no-fail pesto recipes — one for Basil Walnut Pesto and another for Kale Pesto. Need a classic? I also have Amazingly Easy Basil Pesto that is super simple and delicious. All are bright and loaded with flavor and lots of good-for-you vitamin things.

Stove Top Instructions for Summer Vegetable Soup

The printable instructions below are for the slow cooker because that’s my favorite way to make anything hot in the summer if I think I can swing it. You CAN make this soup on the stove top though, and it’s really easy! 

1. In a large stock pot over medium high heat add a tablespoon of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and peppers and carrots. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. You just want the peppers and onions to be tender. 
2. Add the potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, broth, salt and pepper, and seasoning. Bring it all to a boil, and then reduce the heat to simmer for about 30 minutes.
3. When the potatoes are fork-tender, add the cannellini beans, corn, and pasta. Continue cooking until the pasta is tender. 

More Easy Summer Vegetable Recipes

Summer Veggie Skillet Pizza uses my Copycat Mellow Mushroom Pizza Dough and all the colorful summer garden veggies that you can manage to fit on top, plus loads of cheese. It’s also dotted with fresh basil pesto which is my fave. 

Fresh Tomato Bruschetta is really just a good excuse to eat gorgeous summer tomatoes and bread. I do love bread. 

If you are looking for something fruity I HIGHLY recommend this Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake. 

Continue to Content

Yield: makes about 16 servings

Summer Vegetable Soup with Pesto

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes

This Summer Vegetable Soup is loaded with summer garden goodness! If you need a way to use up your garden vegetables this recipe is it! This is a slow cooker recipe but can easily be made on the stove top as well.

Print

Ingredients

• 3.5 cups potatoes cut into 1.5" pieces
• 5 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped sweet peppers
• 2 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and then cut into half moons
• 2 cups fresh cut green beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 8 cups vegetable broth
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup fresh cut corn
• 1 cup dry pasta
• 1 cup prepared pesto

Instructions

1. Add the potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and broth to the crock pot.
2. Set the crock pot to low, cover, and cook for 5 1/2 hours, or until the potatoes are fork tender.
3. Add the cannellini beans, corn, and pasta. Re-cover and continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes, until the pasta is tender.
4. To serve, stir the soup, ladle into bowls, add a tablespoon of the pesto on top of each bowl of soup.

Notes

If you are making this in the slow cooker crock will be FULL! Mine is a 6 QT Crock Pot and with 8 cups of broth it's filled to the brim. If your slow cooker is smaller than 6 quarts you might want to reduce the amount of broth

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 199Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 693mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 4gSugar: 4gProtein: 7g