The simplest non-Abelian gauge extension of the electroweak standard model, the SU(3)c ⊗ SU(3)L ⊗ U(1)N, known as the 3-3-1 model, has a minimal version which demands the least possible fermionic content to account for the whole established phenomenology for the well-known particles and interactions. Nevertheless, in its original form the minimal 3-3-1 model was proposed with a set of three scalar triplets and one sextet in order to yield the spontaneous breaking of the gauge symmetry and generate the observed fermion masses. Such a huge scalar sector turns the task of clearly identifying the physical scalar spectrum into a clumsy labor. It not only adds an obstacle for the development of its phenomenology, but implies a scalar potential plagued with new free coupling constants. In this work, we show that the framework of the minimal 3-3-1 model can be built with only two scalar triplets, but still triggering the desired pattern of spontaneous symmetry breaking and generating the correct fermion masses. We present the exact physical spectrum and also show all the interactions involving the scalars, obtaining a neat minimal 3-3-1 model far more suited for phenomenological studies at the current Large Hadron Collider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]