The Pioneer Woman: Ree Drummond’s Minestrone Is a Ridiculously Fast Fall Soup Recipe

Temperatures are dropping, leaves are falling, and that means soup season is here. Well, it is for those who didn’t spend June, July, and August making warm weather Pioneer Woman soup recipes. Celebrity chef Ree Drummond’s minestrone soup is the perfect fall soup recipe when there isn’t time to spend hours in the kitchen.

Ree Drummond’s minestrone soup is ready in 16 minutes

Yes, that’s right. Drummond’s minestrone soup recipe does indeed take all of 16 minutes to make. That is, according to her recipe instructions on Food Network’s official website. Appropriately referred to as 16 Min-estrone, the food blogger turned TV star proves homemade soup doesn’t have to take long. 

Originally featured on The Pioneer Woman episode titled “16-Minute Chicken,” Drummond puts classic minestrone ingredients in a pot with chicken and less than 20 minutes later she has Pioneer Woman minestrone. 

The Pioneer Woman soup recipe combines pantry ingredients and fresh vegetables

How does Drummond make her Pioneer Woman minestrone soup so quickly? Well, it starts with the ingredients. The 52-year-old relies on pantry staples — think canned beans, pasta, and chicken stock — to get the soup going in a hurry. In addition, there’s plenty of chopped vegetables, chicken, and herbs. 

While the pasta’s boiling on the stove the Food Network star browns the chicken in a separate pan. Once the chicken’s cooked a little bit Drummond tosses in the chopped vegetables. After the vegetables have softened it’s time for the canned goods. She pours in tomatoes, beans, stock, and some dried herbs. Once the soup’s been simmering for a few minutes the cookbook author adds the chicken to the soup. Finally, after roughly 16 minutes, the Pioneer Woman minestrone soup is ready to eat.

What reviewers have to say about Ree Drummond’s minestrone soup recipe

While this Pioneer Woman soup doesn’t come close to having the stats to make it one of Drummond’s most popular recipes it does, however, have positive reviews. At the time of publication, the quick and easy minestrone soup’s been reviewed seven times and averages five stars. While reviewers enjoyed the end result they did say it takes longer to make if the vegetables haven’t been chopped. So, pro tip, either chop the vegetables ahead of time or buy them already diced.

“Excellent tasting soup but the only way you can make it in 16 minutes is if you have everything diced ahead of time,” one reviewer said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have ninja knife skills so this definitely took more than 16 minutes … there is a lot of dicing of vegetables,” added another.

Others loved how many servings they get out of one batch.

“This was a hearty and tasty soup! We had it for dinner and was a perfect meal,” a reviewer said before noting that “it makes a ton!” Another said they double everything and freeze the leftovers because it’s now one of their “favorite recipes.” 

So next time a soup craving hits, remember that Drummond’s minestrone soup recipe takes less than 20 minutes to make.