Slow Cooker Italian Summer Soup

Slow Cooker Italian Summer Soup: A Light & Flavorful Warm-Weather Comfort 🌿🍅

Who says soup is just for winter? When made with vibrant, garden-fresh ingredients and light Mediterranean flavors, soup can be a perfect meal even during warmer months. Enter: Slow Cooker Italian Summer Soup—a delicious, veggie-packed dish that simmers gently while you go about your day, and tastes like it came straight from a rustic Italian kitchen.

This recipe is everything you want from a summer soup: light but hearty, herbaceous, and full of seasonal vegetables like zucchini, tomatoes, and green beans. And thanks to the slow cooker, all you need to do is prep the ingredients, set it, and forget it!

🍅 Why You’ll Love This Summer Soup

• Low effort, high flavor: The slow cooker does all the work.
• Seasonal and fresh: Uses summer veggies at their peak.
• Light and healthy: Perfect for warm weather meals.
• Meal-prep friendly: Stores well and tastes even better the next day.

📝 Ingredients

Serves 6–8

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 cup green beans, trimmed and halved
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (or 2–3 fresh tomatoes, chopped)
• 1 can (15 oz) cannellini or navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: 1/2 cup small pasta (like ditalini or orzo), added in the last 30 minutes
• Fresh basil or grated Parmesan for garnish

👩‍🍳 Instructions

1. Sauté aromatics (optional but recommended):

In a skillet, heat olive oil and sauté diced onion and garlic until translucent. This step deepens the flavor but can be skipped for a true dump-and-go slow cooker meal.

2. Add everything to the slow cooker:

Combine sautéed onions and garlic (if using), zucchini, carrots, green beans, diced tomatoes, beans, broth, and herbs in your slow cooker. Stir well.