Easy Pasta e Fagioli Soup (Better than Olive Garden)
A super easy, quick copycat recipe, this Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli recipe is hearty, comforting one pot meal. Simple pasta and beans are simmered in a thick, savory tomato sauce with ground beef making this a favorite dish for the whole family.
Pasta E Fagioli
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Ahhhh, comfort food. The cravings are coming in droves and I can’t get enough of it. But when it comes to ordering take out, I’d rather make my own. Olive Garden has my heart but right now I’m staying in and making my favorites like Baked Tortellini al Forno and this Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli soup.
It’s super hearty because it’s packed with beans and, unlike traditional Pasta Fagioli (pronounced pasta fazool), savory ground beef. It’s the most comforting one pot dinner to come out of my kitchen lately and it’s insanely easy to make in about 30 minutes from start to finish.
I love that this recipe makes enough for leftovers the next day because it makes a great hearty lunch to take to work or school in a thermos.
Ingredients for Pasta e Fagioli
- Ground Beef – I like to use a lean ground beef but you can use ground turkey or ground chicken, if you prefer.
- Onion – Use a sweet onion or yellow onion, I find white onions don’t have much flavor.
- Carrots – Medium carrots and I don’t even bother peeling them to make the whole process go much more quickly.
- Celery – You can’t build a mirepoix without celery, it add a subtle crunch to the soup.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic cloves give the most pronounced garlic flavor. Measure with your heart here.
- Tomatoes – I used both tomato paste, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. You can use tomato puree or crushed tomatoes. Really just use up whatever you have in your pantry for a budget friendly dinner.
- Wine – I love using white wine like a pinot Grigio or sauvignon blanc but you can use red wine, too.
- Seasoning – Italian Seasoning, kosher salt, black pepper, fresh parsley and fresh basil blend together for the most authentic Italian flavors.
- Beans – You can use what you have on hand but I love Red Kidney beans, white beans, cannellini beans and borlotti beans.
- Pasta – A short cut pasta like ditalini pasta or elbow pasta are my go-to choices.
- Chicken Stock – I love homemade chicken stock but you can use chicken broth or even beef stock, if you prefer.
For the full ingredient list and instructions, see the recipe card below.
How To Make Pasta Fagioli
This easy soup recipe is, basically, a dump and go soup you can have on the table in about 30 minutes. Everything cooks in one pot and you don’t even need to cook the pasta separately.
- To start, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Transfer the ground beef to a large bowl with a slotted spoon and drain off all but two tablespoons fat.
- Add the vegetables and saute until slightly softened. Stir in the tomato paste. Continue cooking until the tomato paste turns a deep burgundy color.
- Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup white wine being sure to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Reduce the temperature to medium heat.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, chicken stock and diced tomatoes. Return the beef to the pot.
- Add the sugar and Italian Seasoning stirring to combine. Bring the soup to a boil.
- Stir the beans and pasta. Continue cooking for 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve with grated parmesan cheese and freshly chopped basil.
How to Make Pasta Fagioli in a Slow Cooker
You could easily adapt this to work in the slow cooker. If you’re making Crock Pot Pasta Fagioli, follow all instructions for cooking and add everything except the pasta to the slow cooker.
Cook the soup for 3-4 hours on high and add the pasta when there are just 30 minutes left in the cooking time.
What is Pasta Fagioli?
Pasta Fagioli, also known as Pasta fasul in the United States, means “pasta and beans” in Italian. It’s a classic Italian soup that’s made with inexpensive ingredients and started as peasant food because of the frugality of the ingredients.
My Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli recipe is super quick and easy to make. It’s rich, hearty and packed with protein with two types of beans and ground beef. Kids love this hearty soup so much that we like to make a giant batch to freeze for easy weeknight dinners.
It’s very similar to Pasta e Ceci but more soup like in consistency.
How To Freeze Pasta Fagioli
This easy soup is great for freezing. You can make the soup without the pasta and freeze in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. To reheat your soup, simply thaw to room temperature and then bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook to al dente.
If you have leftover Pasta e Fagioli, you can freeze that, as well in an airtight container. Your pasta will be a little more tender and you may need to add an extra 1 cup of chicken stock to make it more broth-y since the pasta will continue to absorb the liquid the longer it sits.
We LOVE these Souper containers for freezing soups in individual portions. They’re now a workhorse in our kitchen for so many things.
For batch freezing soups, stews, stocks and broths, we love using silicone Souper Cubes for mess free meal prep.
What to Serve with Pasta e Fagioli
Since the soup is already hearty and comforting, there really isn’t that much more you need to round out this recipe for a full meal. We love to serve it with this easy Wedge Salad and a pile of Parmesan Crisps.
If you’re using the soup as a first course, it’s wonderful with this easy Chicken Cacciatore and a side of Sauteed Broccoli Rabe.
We also love to serve Pasta e Fagioli with warm crusty bread or these easy dinner rolls slathered with salted butter. They’re so great for dipping!
More Easy Pasta Dinners
If you’re looking for more easy Italian classics, we love this easy Italian Meat Sauce or this Lemon Chicken Scallopini. This easy Chicken Tetrazzini is also super quick and amazing comfort food the kids will love.
OR if you’re in a real hurry, you can make this easy Spaghetti Aglio e Olio in just 10 minutes flat!
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Get the Recipe: Pasta e Fagioli Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 1/2 cups chopped sweet onion, or yellow onion
- 1 cup diced carrots, about 2 medium
- 1 cup diced celery, about 3 stalks
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 24 oz can tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 3 1/2 cups chicken stock, plus more if desired
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup dry ditalini pasta, or other short cut pasta like Elbow pasta
- 1 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- Grated parmesan cheese, for serving
- 2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
- 2 Tbsp minced fresh basil
Equipment
- stock pot
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the ground beef to a large bowl and drain off all but 2 tablespoons fat.
- Add the onions, carrots, and celery. Saute over medium-high heat until beginning to soften, approximately 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1 minute longer.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook until it becomes a deep burgundy color, approximately 2-3 minutes. Deglaze the pan by adding the wine and scraping up the brown bits at the bottom of the pan.
- Stir in the chicken stock, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, sugar, Italian Seasoning and cooked beef.
- Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Stir in the pasta and beans.
- Simmer the soup for 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.
- Thin with a little more chicken stock, if desired.
- Serve with parsley, basil and freshly grated cheese.
8 Comments on “Easy Pasta e Fagioli Soup (Better than Olive Garden)”
I can’t wait to make. Will be made Tuesday. Love your recipes. Thank you love marge
Thank you, Marge! I hope you love it as much as we do!
This soup is absolutely amazing and very easy to make. I will definitely being making this again. Thank you.
Thank you!
Made this today. Everyone loved it!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
REPLY ASAP I want to make this now . . . but I want to use my crock pot – YOU say If you’re making Crock Pot Pasta Fagioli ( to follow all instructions for cooking ) and add everything except the pasta to the slow cooker. Cook the soup for 3-4 hours on high and add the pasta when there are just 30 minutes left in the cooking time . . . do you mean cook as stated PLUS 3-4 hours in crock pot, then add pasta in last 30 minutes – ? – sorry just confused on prep ? ?
Hi Michael! You do need to brown the beef before putting all the ingredients in the slow cooker…..I recommend following all the steps and then simmering in the slow cooker for the 3 hours (this is just a prep ahead, keep warm until you’re ready option.) Your other option is to just brown the beef and then add everything to the slow cooker leaving the pasta out until the last 30 minutes of cooking.