Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup

Delight in the appetizing flavors of Olive Garden’s famous Pasta e Fagioli soup when you try this easy-to-make recipe. This copycat soup is brimming with ground beef, pasta, beans, carrots, and other wholesome ingredients, making for a nourishing lunch or dinner.

Copycat Olive Garden pasta e fagioli, bread slices, salt, and pepper.


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Homemade pasta e fagioli soup

This is a wonderful hearty soup and perfect for a cold day. You could serve this with your favorite salad tossed with Olive Garden Italian Salad Dressing. A hearty sandwich also goes well with this soup.

When you go to the Olive Garden you have a first important choice to make – are you a soup or salad kind of person? Olive Garden serves up four delicious kinds of soup. You can get the Chicken Gnocchi Soup, Zuppa Toscana, Minestrone Soup, or this Pasta e Fagioli.

All four soups are excellent. This one is hearty and perfect for enjoying with a large crowd.

What makes Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli so good

With ground beef and two types of beans, this protein-packed soup is a delicious and satisfying way to fuel your body. The rich and savory broth is infused with the heavenly flavors of various aromatic vegetables.

The dish is spiced up with a subtle hint of Tabasco sauce, which gives it a delicious undertone. The perfectly cooked veggies and pasta complement each other well and make the dish even more irresistible!

Why you’ll love this recipe

This soup abounds with different types of beans, pasta, fresh onions, fresh celery, and fresh carrots. You will be surprised at how easily you can put this soup together.

This pasta fagioli recipe makes a very large amount of soup, about 9 quarts. It’s perfect for a large crowd. You can cut the recipe in half for a smaller amount.

This is one of those recipes that tastes even better on the second day. Since it holds up well in the refrigerator, you can use it as meal prep for lunches during the week. Or, make a batch and freeze it to have a comforting meal available for a rainy day.

You are bound to fall in love with this version of the Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli when you make it at home.

Ingredients

Here’s a list of what you need for this copycat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli recipe:

  • Ground beef
  • Vegetable oil
  • Onion
  • Slivered carrots
  • Celery
  • Canned diced tomatoes
  • Canned or cooked red kidney beans
  • Canned or cooked white kidney beans (cannellini beans)
  • Beef broth
  • Dried oregano
  • Pepper
  • Tabasco sauce
  • Marinara sauce
  • Small shell macaroni
  • Fresh parsley
Ingredients for the Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli soup.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

For this soup, we are using canned beans to help reduce cooking time.

You can easily customize this fagioli soup recipe. Here are some ideas:

  • Substitute the ground beef with Italian sausage, ground chicken, or ground turkey.
  • Substitute beef broth with chicken broth.
  • Substitute the white kidney beans with great northern beans.
  • Substitute marinara sauce with tomato sauce.
  • Substitute the small shell macaroni with elbow macaroni, ditalini pasta, or other small pasta.
  • Substitute dried oregano with Italian seasoning.
  • Add a little bacon or pancetta to the meat.
  • Add some chopped cloves garlic to the meat after it has browned.
  • Add other herbs such as basil and thyme.

How to Make Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli

Making Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli soup is so easy! Here’s how:

  1. Cook the beef in the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, breaking it up as it browns.
  2. Add onions, carrots, celery, and tomatoes. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
  3. Add white and red beans, beef broth, oregano, pepper, Tabasco, and marinara sauce.
  4. Simmer until celery and carrots are tender, about 45 minutes.
  5. Add the pasta and simmer until it is cooked.
  6. Stir in the parsley before serving.
  7. To serve, sprinkle more fresh parsley on top if desired.

CopyKat Tip: Do not add the pasta if you plan on freezing the soup. Pasta does not freeze well. Just cook some pasta to add to the soup when you thaw and reheat it.

Copycat Olive Garden pasta e fagioli in a bowl and a spoon next to it.

What to serve with homemade Pasta Fagiioli

Enjoy this soup with Olive Garden Chicken Marsala or some eggplant parmesan. It also tastes delicious with a simple grilled cheese or panini.

If you want a lighter meal, all you need is a warm dinner roll, breadsticks, Olive Garden Salad, or garlic bread to accompany it!

How to store the leftovers

You can either refrigerate or freeze this soup, depending on how long you want it to last. Either way, wait for it to fully cool before you transfer it to an airtight container.

The refrigerated soup will last 3-5 days, while it lasts up to 3 months when you freeze it! However, do not add the pasta if you plan on freezing the soup. Pasta does not freeze well. Just cook some pasta to add to the soup when you thaw and reheat it. Thaw the soup in the fridge overnight before reheating it.

What is the best way to warm up the soup?

Reheat this soup over medium heat on the stovetop or in the microwave, stirring occasionally, until it is thoroughly heated. If microwaving, cover it with a paper towel and cook it in increments.

A bowl of copycat Olive Garden pasta e fagioli soup.

Do you love Olive Garden? Try these copycat recipes!

Be sure to check out more of my hearty soup recipes and the best Olive Garden copycat recipes here on CopyKat.com!

Copycat Olive Garden pasta e fagioli, bread slices, salt, and pepper.

Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli

It's time to break out your Dutch oven and prepare a hearty bowl of soup with tomatoes, kidney beans, pasta, and fresh vegetables.
5 from 15 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Olive Garden Recipes, Pasta e Fagioli, Soup Recipes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 16
Calories: 329kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 12 ounces chopped onion
  • 14 ounces slivered carrots
  • 14 ounces diced celery
  • 48 ounces canned diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups cooked, drained red kidney beans
  • 2 cups cooked, drained white kidney beans
  • 2 3/4 quarts beef broth
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
  • 48 ounces marinara sauce
  • 8 ounces small shell macaroni (or other small dried pasta shape)
  • 5 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

  • Cook the beef in the oil in a large stockpot, breaking it up until it starts to brown. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  • Add the beans, beef broth, oregano, pepper, Tabasco, and marinara sauce. Simmer until celery and carrots are tender, about 45 minutes. Add the pasta and simmer until it’s cooked. 
  • Stir in the parsley before serving.

Video

Notes

This makes 9 quarts of soup. Just cut the recipe in half for smaller family needs!
If you want to freeze this soup, don’t add the pasta. Cooked pasta doesn’t freeze very well. You can always cook some fresh pasta and stir it in when you are ready to serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 329kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 1261mg | Potassium: 1055mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 4005IU | Vitamin C: 17.7mg | Calcium: 103mg | Iron: 4.9mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jrmartucci

    I freeze cooked pasta all the time ,and it is excellent,with or without sauce.
    when i make soup and freeze it with pasta in it . excellent taste.
    Very tasty
    Jean

  2. Betsy

    The name of the small pasta that Olive Garden uses in their soup is Datilini…I have found it at Publix and Winn Dixie Supermarkets here in Florida (It is packaged in a clear cellophane bag). Always cook the pasta separately and add a small handful to each serving (just before serving)…never put it into the soup to cook or it will be mushy.

  3. Diane

    Thanks for sharing this recipe! I don’t eat at the Olive Garden, but I’ve wanted to try a soup recipe like this. I used ground turkey instead of beef, and a can of crushed tomatoes instead of Marinara sauce because it is less sugar. It turned out amazing!

  4. Santillio

    This soup is much better when one uses Italian sausage than the ground beef.
    In Italy this would never be used.
    Also increase the Oregano, Basal(fresh),garlic and a tsp. of minced ginger. This makes it authentic.

  5. Name (required)

    What brand or type of spaghetti sauce is the best to use?
    I generally buy a marina, the marina that is on sale, and then I will tweek the seasoning to my personal taste. ~Stephanie

  6. Randy McClintock

    This recipe is wonderful. I cook a lot in crock pots and had tried to replicate this soup from several other recipes, but this one is a winner. I think using spagetti sauce gives it the fuller, richer flavor. I did change few of things from comments below. Since cooking longer using a crock pot, I did add the pasta later – already cooked as Michelle suggested. I used Italian seasoning instead of oregano as Stacey suggested. I like Louisiana hot sauce better, so I doubled the amount on that. My girlfriend says it is better than Olive Gardens (she could be saying that to keep me cooking).

  7. Charlene

    This recipe is delicious. My family doesn’t care for the “bite” of the original OG Pasta e Fagoli so I have eliminated the hot sauce. I also added chopped bell peppers and garlic to give it my own flair. Have made it several times for a Soup and Salad Night at church and “MY” soup pot is empty within minutes. I don’t like the way the pasta gets mushy if there are left overs at home – so I cook the pasta separately and add it at the last minute. This soup can be frozen and used later if you’ve made too much as long as you haven’t added the pasta.

  8. Stacey

    This was great! I did add a bit more herbs though – a teaspoon of dried Italian Herbs and a teaspoon of dried basil. I also added a couple of cloves of minced garlic with the onions, celery and carrots.

  9. Susan

    This soup is to die for!! Cutting the recipe in half helps if you have a smaller family. I usually make the full recipe and then take 1/2 to work and share with my coworkers!!

  10. Michelle

    I have made this soup twice. Taste just like the Olive Garden’s. I only suggest boiling the noodles alone and then adding them to soup before serving. The noodles get way to big. I give this recipe a 10.

  11. Guido

    Excellant soup. I used sausage instead of the ground beef and it was better- a little zestier. I also make it thicker than Olive Garden

  12. Anonymous

    This soup is so delicious. I made a vat of it when we had the last snow storm and it all gone. my kids were eating it at midnight ! So easy to make.

  13. Sue M.

    This soup turned out very good. I wanted to serve it to guests in a few weeks and tried it out today….it will certainly be on the table then and later too.

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