He blamed the incident on a mix-up a mix-up in the insurance paperwork following the breakdown of his marriage which meant he did not have the necessary cover to drive other vehicles as he was a "named driver" rather than the policy holder.
The minister said he would not be contesting the charge and urged others to check their own insurance documents.
Police Scotland pulled the car over on the A835 near Dingwall at around 7pm on December 2.
Mr Yousaf was sharing the driving with a friend on the way to a St Andrew`s Night dinner in Ullapool in the Scottish Highlands at the time.
He said: "I believed I was in possession of fully comprehensive insurance, not just for my own car, and as such that I was insured to drive vehicles other than my own.
"If I had had even the slightest doubt about my insurance I would not have driven the car.
“Unfortunately, on investigation, it appears that following the breakup of my marriage and transfer of ownership of our car I did not complete the process of taking over as the main policy holder, which would have enabled me to drive other vehicles - which my policy had previously enabled me to do. However, I remained insured to drive my own car at all times throughout."
He told the Scottish Sun: "It is a complete and genuine mistake and I`m mortified that this has happened."
He said he had co-operated fully with the authorities and would "not be contesting the issue".
Mr Yousaf added:" I will accept any penalty imposed and have taken immediate steps to update my insurance cover.
"This was an honest mistake, and an embarrassing one for me personally, however it underlines the importance of being properly insured at all times.
"I hope my example reminds others to check their insurance and I remain committed to my work to improve Scotland`s transport system for everyone.”
The minister has been under pressure in recent weeks following widespread criticism over the performance of ScotRail since the Dutch firm Abellio took over the contract for the rail franchise last year.
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