Pasta e Fagioli Soup is our favorite soup when eating at Olive Garden. It’s so easy to make at home with simple ingredients. Serve with some breadsticks to complete the restaurant at home experience.
We’re big fans of hearty soups, from rich and creamy Baked Potato Soup to our Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup. This Pasta e Fagioli soup hits the spot and is perfectly paired with our dinner rolls or homemade breadsticks. It’s one of our favorite soup recipes!
Why would you want to make this soup? Because it’s so simple to make and freezes beautifully (without the pasta added), you can control the ingredients, and you can add more filling or more broth.
Basically, you can make it just the way you want it! We love making a double batch and having tons of leftovers too.
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Ground Beef – you can also use ground chicken or turkey.
- Onion – use frozen chopped onions to save time.
- Carrots – These add sweetness.
- Celery – We love the earthy flavor of celery.
- Garlic – Measure with your heart!
- Diced Tomatoes – You can also use whole plum tomatoes in the can and bread them up.
- Tomato Sauce – Don’t have tomato sauce? You could also use puree.
- Chicken Broth – If you don’t have chicken broth, you could also use beef broth or vegetable broth.
- Red Kidney Beans & Northern Beans – You could also add your favorite beans, like pinto beans or even chickpeas.
- Seasonings – We use Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Basil, and Thyme to add more flavor to the soup.
- Ditalini – You could also use elbow macaroni.
How to make Pasta e Fagioli Soup
In a large pot or dutch oven, brown the ground beef and then drain the fat, and set the beef aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the dutch oven and then saute the carrots and celery for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 more minute.
Return the cooked ground beef into the dutch oven and the remaining ingredients aside from the pasta.
Let the soup simmer for 30 minutes, then add your desired pasta.
Cook until the pasta is cooked fully, and then serve with breadsticks or dinner rolls.
Recipe tips and variations
- We love freezing this soup. It freezes beautifully, but do not add the pasta. Instead, add the pasta to the soup after defrosting and while reheating.
- Whenever we make this recipe we double it so we can freeze a batch for later.
- If you don’t like beans you can use more veggies or meat.
- Don’t overdo it on the pasta, as it absorbs the liquid from the soup.
Storage and reheating tips
- Refrigerate: Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 days.
- Freeze: To freeze, place it in an airtight freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. I recommend not adding the pasta if you plan to freeze it, as it can become mealy.
- Reheat: To reheat the soup, we use a saucepan and heat until the ingredients are warm throughout.
How to serve
We like to serve with copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks or homemade dinner rolls.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, but when freezing we recommend not adding the pasta as it will become mealy.
Use vegetable broth and a vegan meat alternative like beyond or impossible.
more ground beef recipes
Pasta e Fagioli
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Print Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 carrots shredded with large grater
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 15 oz diced tomatoes
- 30 oz tomato sauce
- 5 cups homemade chicken broth
- 2 cups red kidney beans cooked, or 15 oz can rinsed and drained
- 2 cups Northern beans cooked, or 15 oz can rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup ditalini pasta do not add if freezing
Instructions
- In a dutch oven, brown the ground beef and then drain the fat, and set the beef aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the dutch oven and saute the carrots and celery for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute.
- Add the cooked ground beef back to the dutch oven and the remaining ingredients aside from the pasta.
- Let the soup simmer for 30 minutes, then add pasta.
- Cook until the pasta is cooked fully, and then serve as desired.
Nutrition
The nutritional information is automatically calculated and can vary based ingredients and products used. If the nutrition numbers are important for you we recommend calculating them yourself.
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