✅ TESTED BY
Recipe tested 3 times before publishing. Ingredient costs verified against Tesco and Aldi prices, April 2026.
⚡ Quick Answer
This budget minestrone soup costs £1.40 for the whole pot — giving you 5 generous servings at just 29p each. Total hands-on time is about 20 minutes; it simmers itself for an hour. Freezes perfectly. Uses standard vegetables from Tesco or Aldi.
It was a Tuesday in January. Heating bills had just gone up again, the fridge had half a courgette, two sad-looking carrots, and a single stick of celery rolling around the bottom drawer. Soup felt like the only sensible answer. I didn't expect much — just something warm.
What came out of that pot was, genuinely, one of the best things I'd eaten all month. A big, thick, vegetable-packed minestrone that cost me £1.40 in total. Five bowls. 29p each. Served with a fresh bread bun — lunch sorted for under 50p.
Minestrone is one of those dishes that sounds a bit fancy and Italian, but really it's just a clever way to use up what you've got. The Italians have been making versions of it for centuries — a peasant soup built on whatever vegetables were lying around, bulked out with beans and pasta. At its heart, it's thrifty food done with pride. And at 29p a bowl, it still is.
Why Minestrone Is the Ultimate Budget Soup
If you're trying to cut food costs, soup in general is one of the best places to start — and minestrone specifically wins on almost every count. Here's why it punches so far above its price tag.
The vegetables are genuinely cheap. Carrots, onion, celery, courgette — these are some of the least expensive items in any UK supermarket. A bag of carrots from Aldi is around 39p. A single large onion costs 10p. Celery is sold by the stick or the bunch, and two sticks will set you back about 12p. None of this is specialist produce. All of it is on the shelf at your nearest Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, or Morrisons year-round.
Cannellini beans are incredibly filling. A 400g tin from Tesco costs around 49p. You only use half the tin in this recipe — so 25p worth of beans. That half-tin adds serious protein and fibre to the soup, which is what makes it genuinely filling rather than just watery. The other half of the tin? Pop it in the fridge. Use it for a bean burger, mash it into toast, or throw it into tomorrow's stew.
The pasta stretches everything further. A small handful of spaghetti, snapped into pieces, costs almost nothing — about 6p worth. But it thickens the broth, adds body to every spoonful, and makes the soup feel more like a proper meal than a light starter.
It scales up brilliantly. This recipe makes five generous bowls. If you're feeding a family, just double the quantities and you're feeding ten people for under £3. That's budget cooking that actually works.
Why This Recipe Works
🌿 Why This Works
Two-stage cooking is the key. The harder vegetables — carrots, onion, celery, garlic — go in first and sauté gently in a little oil. This builds the flavour base. Then everything else is added and left to simmer slowly. The courgette and pasta go in last, only in the final 30 minutes, so they don't go mushy.
The tomato purée and stock cube together create a rich, savoury broth from almost nothing. And the dried herbs — basil, parsley, black pepper — are cheap as chips but make the whole pot taste properly seasoned rather than bland.
People often wonder why their homemade soup doesn't taste quite as good as they hoped. Nine times out of ten, the answer is either rushing the sauté stage, or not seasoning properly at the end. This recipe builds in both — the initial 5-minute soften in oil develops sweetness in the vegetables, and the final taste and season before serving makes everything come together.
Another reason it works so well: minestrone is genuinely forgiving. Don't have courgette? Use a potato instead, or some frozen peas, or a handful of green beans. Don't have cannellini beans? Any tinned white bean will do — haricot, butter beans, even chickpeas work. The recipe you see here is a reliable framework, not a strict set of rules.
Full Cost Breakdown — Tesco / Aldi Prices (April 2026)
| Ingredient | Amount Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Garlic (1 clove) | 1 clove from bulb | 4p |
| Celery | 2 sticks | 12p |
| Onion (large) | 1 large | 10p |
| Carrots | 2 medium | 14p |
| Courgette | ½ large courgette | 25p |
| Cannellini Beans (tinned) | ½ tin (400g tin = 49p at Tesco) | 25p |
| Tomato Purée | ¼ tube | 18p |
| Vegetable Stock Cube | 1 cube | 12p |
| Spaghetti (handful) | Small handful, snapped | 6p |
| Dried Basil (1 tsp) | 1 teaspoon | 4p |
| Dried Parsley (1 tsp) | 1 teaspoon | 4p |
| Black Pepper (1 tsp) | 1 teaspoon | 4p |
| Water | ~1.2 litres | ~0p |
| Cooking Oil (splash) | Small drizzle | 2p |
| TOTAL (whole pot — 5 servings) | £1.40 | |
| COST PER SERVING | 29p | |
⚠️ Price Disclaimer: Costs based on Tesco own-brand and Aldi products, checked April 2026. Prices vary by store, location, and season. Your total may differ slightly.
Ingredients
Makes 5 generous servings
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
- ½ large courgette, cut into chunky pieces
- ½ tin (200g drained weight) cannellini beans
- ¼ tube tomato purée
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 1 small handful of spaghetti, snapped into short lengths
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ~1.2 litres cold water
- A small drizzle of cooking oil
Optional swaps: No courgette? Use a diced potato instead (add it with the carrots at the beginning). No cannellini beans? Any white tin of beans — haricot, butter beans — works perfectly. Short pasta shapes like macaroni or small shells are easier to eat than spaghetti if you have them.
Step-by-Step Method
Step 1 — Chop All Your Vegetables First
Before you turn on the hob, get all the chopping done. Finely chop the garlic. Roughly chop the onion, celery, and carrots to about 1–2cm pieces — you want some texture in each spoonful, not mush. Leave the courgette for later; set it aside separately, cut into chunky pieces.
The size of your chop matters a bit here. Too small and the vegetables will dissolve into the broth during the long simmer. Too big and you'll get uneven cooking. Medium dice — roughly the size of a 50p coin — is about right for the carrots and celery. The onion can be slightly finer.
Step 2 — Sauté the Hard Vegetables
Put a large saucepan on medium heat. Add a small drizzle of cooking oil and let it warm up for a minute. Then add the carrots, onion, garlic, and celery. Stir them around and let them sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You're not frying them — you want them to soften slightly and pick up a bit of colour, not brown.
This step is where a lot of the flavour comes from. Don't rush it or skip it. The onion becomes sweeter, the garlic mellows, and the whole base of the soup deepens in those 5 minutes. If you just throw everything in raw with the water, it will taste flat.
Step 3 — Add Beans, Tomato Purée, Stock and Water
Once the vegetables have softened, add the drained cannellini beans directly to the pan. Squeeze in about ¼ of a tube of tomato purée — roughly one heaped dessertspoon. Crumble in the vegetable stock cube. Now pour in about 1.2 litres of cold water and give everything a good stir.
Add the dried basil, parsley, and a generous crack of black pepper. Stir again. Turn the heat up slightly until you can see the liquid just beginning to simmer — small bubbles breaking the surface, not a rolling boil. Then reduce back to low and put the lid on.
Step 4 — Simmer for 30 Minutes
Leave the pot to simmer gently on low heat with the lid on for 30 minutes. Don't stir too often — just check it every 10 minutes or so to make sure it's not catching on the bottom or boiling too hard. A gentle simmer is all you need. The vegetables will soften, the beans will start to break down slightly at the edges, and the broth will begin to thicken and darken as it cooks.
Step 5 — Add Courgette and Pasta
After the first 30 minutes, add the courgette chunks and the spaghetti — snapped into short pieces, roughly 3–4cm. The reason for adding them late is simple: courgette turns to mush very quickly, and pasta absorbs liquid fast. You want both to be just cooked through, not disintegrating.
Put the lid back on and simmer for another 30 minutes on low heat. By the end, the pasta will have puffed up and absorbed some of the broth, making the soup satisfyingly thick and chunky.
Step 6 — Taste, Season, and Serve
Before serving, always taste the soup and adjust the seasoning. Add more black pepper if needed. If it tastes a little thin or flat, another small squeeze of tomato purée or a pinch of dried basil usually fixes it. Ladle into deep bowls — it will be thick and substantial, nothing like tinned soup.
What If It Goes Wrong?
⚠️ Common Problems and Fixes
Soup tastes bland: The most likely culprit is under-seasoning. Add more black pepper and a small squeeze more tomato purée. Crumble in a tiny extra bit of stock cube, stir, and taste again.
Too watery: Simmer it with the lid off for another 10–15 minutes. The liquid will reduce and the broth will thicken naturally. The pasta also continues to absorb liquid as it sits.
Too thick / stodgy: Add a splash more boiling water from the kettle, stir, and taste. Add it gradually — a soup that starts thick is much easier to fix than one that's too watery.
Pasta gone mushy: It's salvageable — the soup will taste fine even if the pasta has slightly overcooked. Next time, add the pasta later (in the last 15 minutes rather than 30) and check it earlier.
Vegetables still firm after an hour: Your heat was probably too low. Turn it up slightly and simmer for another 15 minutes uncovered. Carrots in particular need proper heat to soften all the way through.
Common Mistakes
Adding everything at the same time. Courgette and pasta cannot go in with the carrots — they'll disintegrate before the harder vegetables have cooked. Always add soft vegetables and pasta in the last 30 minutes.
Boiling instead of simmering. A hard rolling boil will break the beans apart and turn the vegetables mushy. Keep it at a gentle simmer — small bubbles, not a vigorous churn.
Not tasting before serving. Every batch of minestrone needs a final taste and adjustment. The vegetables release different amounts of liquid every time depending on how fresh they are. Season properly at the end, not just at the start.
Using too much pasta. A handful — roughly 50–60g — is all you need. More than that and the pasta will drink up all the broth and you'll end up with a thick, stodgy pasta bake rather than a soup.
Is This Worth Making?
✅ Verdict: Absolutely Yes
For 29p a bowl, this minestrone punches well above its weight. It's genuinely filling — not just watery vegetable water — because of the beans and pasta. It's warm, it's flavourful, and it takes about 20 minutes of actual hands-on time before it looks after itself on the hob.
Compared to a tin of supermarket soup — which might set you back 60–80p for a single serving — you're getting five proper bowls for less than the cost of one. And homemade minestrone is significantly more nutritious: higher fibre, more vegetables, far less sodium, no added thickeners or preservatives.
The one thing to be aware of: this is an hour-long cook in total. It's not a 15-minute weeknight fix if you're in a hurry. But it's almost entirely hands-off simmering time — put it on before you have a shower or help the kids with homework, and it'll be ready when you are. Or batch cook at the weekend and reheat all week. Either way, 29p a bowl makes it very much worth the effort.
If you enjoy making hearty soups on a budget, you might also like our Budget Spaghetti Bolognese — another Italian classic that costs under £2 per serving and uses a very similar set of store cupboard ingredients.
Storage & Freezing
Fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The soup will thicken considerably as it cools and the pasta absorbs more broth — when you reheat it, add a small splash of water and stir over medium heat until piping hot.
Freezer: Minestrone freezes very well — up to 3 months. For best results, freeze it before adding the pasta (or leave the pasta out of portions you plan to freeze). When you reheat from frozen, add a handful of freshly cooked pasta and it'll be as good as the first day. Defrost in the fridge overnight or reheat gently from frozen in a pan with a splash of water.
Batch cooking tip: This recipe doubles very easily. If you're already spending an hour simmering one batch, it costs very little extra effort to make two — and your freezer will thank you on a busy Wednesday evening.
Allergen Information
⚠️ Allergens
Contains: Gluten (from pasta/spaghetti — use gluten-free pasta to make this recipe gluten-free)
Free from: Dairy, eggs, nuts, soya (as listed — always check individual product labels)
Vegetarian & vegan: Yes, as written.
Always check product labels as ingredients and manufacturing processes change. If cooking for someone with a serious allergy, verify every ingredient individually.
About the Author
Vinod Pandey researches and documents budget recipes from real UK home cooks. Every recipe on Baking on Budget is sourced from verified UK cooking sources, with ingredient costs checked against current Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl pricing. No guesswork — exact pence, every time.
Questions or corrections? Get in touch · LinkedIn
Looking to pair this with something baked? Our Welsh Cakes at just 7p each make a lovely sweet treat after a bowl of soup, and our Tinned Peach Cobbler is a proper budget dessert for 40p a serving — a satisfying lunch-to-pudding combo for well under £1 total.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this in a slow cooker?
Yes — sauté the vegetables first in a pan (step 2), then transfer everything except the courgette and pasta to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6–7 hours or high for 3–4 hours. Add the courgette and pasta in the last 45 minutes of cooking on high. The slow cooker version is particularly good for batch cooking at the weekend.
What vegetables can I use instead?
Almost anything you have to hand. Potato (diced small, added with the carrots) is a very common addition and makes the soup even more filling. Frozen peas, a handful of green beans, or some shredded cabbage can all go in during the last 15–20 minutes. Leek works beautifully in place of (or alongside) the onion. Minestrone is designed to flex around what you've got — that's the whole point of it.
Can I use a different type of bean?
Absolutely. Haricot beans, butter beans, borlotti beans, or even chickpeas all work well in this soup. Red kidney beans also work but they give the broth a slightly darker colour. As long as it's a tinned (already cooked) bean, drained and rinsed, it'll be fine. Avoid dried beans unless you soak and cook them separately first.
How do I stop the pasta going mushy?
Two approaches: either cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl just before serving, or add it to the pot only in the final 15–20 minutes rather than 30. If you're planning to freeze portions, leave the pasta out entirely from anything going in the freezer — cook and add fresh pasta when you reheat it.
Is homemade minestrone healthier than tinned soup?
Significantly, yes. A typical tin of supermarket minestrone soup contains around 800–1000mg of sodium per serving. This homemade version — made with a single stock cube across five portions — comes in at roughly 300–400mg per serving. It also has more fibre from the beans and real vegetables, no added thickeners or starches, and considerably more protein per bowl. According to the British Heart Foundation, diets lower in sodium are associated with better long-term heart health — making homemade soup a genuinely worthwhile swap from a nutritional standpoint.
What should I serve with minestrone soup?
A bread roll or a couple of slices of toast is the classic pairing — and the most budget-friendly. If you're making your own bread, homemade milk buns are particularly good alongside this soup. For a complete budget lunch, a bowl of minestrone with a bread bun comes in at around 45–50p total depending on the bread. That's a filling, nutritious midday meal for well under 50p.
The Next Step
If this is your first time making minestrone, make it exactly as written this weekend. One pot, 20 minutes of prep, and an hour of simmering. See how far five bowls at 29p each goes in your household.
Once you're comfortable with the base recipe, start swapping the vegetables for whatever's cheapest or nearest to going off in your fridge. That's when budget cooking really starts to pay off — when the recipe becomes a template you can use every week with whatever you have, rather than something that needs a special shopping trip. Minestrone was built for exactly that. Give it a go.
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