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.
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Table of Contents
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
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:
- Cook the beef in the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, breaking it up as it browns.
- Add onions, carrots, celery, and tomatoes. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Add white and red 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 is cooked.
- Stir in the parsley before serving.
- 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.
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.
Do you love Olive Garden? Try these copycat recipes!
Popular Soup Recipes
- Acorn Squash Soup
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- Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- She Crab Soup
Be sure to check out more of my hearty soup recipes and the best Olive Garden copycat recipes here on CopyKat.com!
Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli
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.
james
i use this and changed to marnara made with hunts zesty this adds to flavor. great soup
lkm9679
I have been thinking of a recipe my husband adores. He has had oral cancer 3 times and is unable to eat many of his favorite foods anymore. But up until I got this recipe I was going out to buy the soup already made. And it gets more expensive than making it myself. Thank you so much for it. I will treasure this recipe and put with my others I keep in a box in my kitchen.
Stephanie
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Denise
really awesome recipe, even though i put pasta in to cook 🙁 didnt read below)…….
will make again for church dinner!!!!
adam
Is the measurements in fluid oz or weight oz?
Stephanie Manley
The measurements in in fluid ounces.
sfTX
In a BIG HURRY? If you have a Braums they carry a “mix”. No meat, you can add if you like, I prefer mine without. If I have the following on hand I throw it in but great without; a small can of tomatoes (i like Italian petite diced but whatever),handful of pasta, and a can of ranch style beans. I don’t measure the water, I like mine thick so i add a couple cups to cook it fast & add more as needed. Couldn’t be easier or faster, & CHEAP too, especially for 1 or 2 or a sudden craving. Perfect to keep on hand for “SOUP and SALAD” or sandwich for unexpected guest.
DATILINI-Small size bag available at WalMart in Mexican food section (50 cents)
3-4 other sm size pastas in small size bags – all 50 cents-available, ie; tiny alphabet pasta, tiny shells, tiny macaroni
Stephanie Manley
Thank you for that great tip. I really like Braum’s even if they aren’t too close to me.
Nana
I used V8 juice rather than the pasta sauce. Still a knockout. I made 1/2 recipe and used one 12-0z. can of the juice. Also, I would suggested using the juice (or sauce) for thinning the soup to use for leftover. We prefer serving the noodles (pasta) and pouring an appropriate amount of soup over. Over to mix in at end, though.
Nicole Girardin
Love this recipe!! It really does taste just like Olive Gardens, and its super simple. Yum yum!!
Debbie S Mccormack
It was great but……I would cut recipe in half next time
RuthPeters
This recipe makes enough to feed an army! Wow…..this will be a great dinner. Thanks! I weighed everything precisely. The celery is more than a full stock, the onion is actually one and a half onions chopped finely, and the carrots were in a ten ounce bag already slivered. Plenty of vegetables.
Stephanie
I hope you enjoy the soup for a long time. Thank you for the approximations.
Bella
Excellent soup. I made the full recipe and it’s more like for a serving of 20…. Way too much! Half the recipe for sure!
Lois Palmer
I hate to ask dumb questions but how many onions, carrots, and celery stalks do you use to make those ounces? Or do you just guess at it? I love Olive Garden’s Pasta E. Fagioli but I don’t remember white kidney beans in it. This version has good reviews and I can’t wait to try it.
Al Ack
Not even close.Add a tbsp of chili powder and one tbsp of cumin along with changing the oregano to italion seasoning and then you start to get closer… Everybody, the original has Cumin in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
stephaniemanley
I am usually good about picking out cumin, I never tasted it in here.
Sandy
I’ve been using this recipe for a few years now, although I can’t find the exact oz measurements you use on tomatoes and beef stock, I’ve figured it out close enough and I think it’s very close to OG……no, no cumin…….
June
It does NOT have cumin. My daughter works there.
Hyperion
http://restaurant.food.com/recipe/olive-garden-pasta-e-fagioli-soup-in-a-crock-pot-copycat-31717 this is the link to a crock pot recipe! ^_^
Al Ack
I know for a fact that the Olive garden version has red chili pepper flakes ground up (Not Tabasco) and cumin in the recipe. Having experimented myself to duplicate the recipe, this one is a far cry from the real thing
Angee Jensen
Although this was good, I don’t think this tasted anything like the real deal.
Robert Olsen
i love the recipe but i added some kale and collards
Stephanie Manley
I think that sounds like a nice addition.
Deborah Jackson
My soup turned out excellent. I added 2 teaspoons of sugar, really made a difference. This is a really good recipe for when the weather is cold.
Hrking
This recipe has become one of my all time favorites, not many recipes make it to my all-time favorite list. I love trying new recipes, but this recipe comes out every year. Make it with Olive Garden’s Salad and it’s a perfect meal to take to a family gathering or just enjoy with friends. I have mixed up the pasta by using macaroni and mini shells in regular and wheat varieties. So long as you don’t throw the smaller pasta in too soon, it’s a nice change. I have not been brave enough to try the tri-colored pasta, but soon I’ll run out of the pasta and try it. If you haven’t tried this recipe, try it!
You can half the recipe, but I love tossing the soup into the freezer in smaller quantities. Thaw the soup before microwaving, the pasta will become mush if you don’t.
Hrking
This recipe has become one of my all time favorites, not many recipes make it to my all-time favorite list. I love trying new recipes, but this recipe comes out every year. Make it with Olive Garden’s Salad and it’s a perfect meal to take to a family gathering or just enjoy with friends. I have mixed up the pasta by using macaroni and mini shells in regular and wheat varieties. So long as you don’t throw the smaller pasta in too soon, it’s a nice change. I have not been brave enough to try the tri-colored pasta, but soon I’ll run out of the pasta and try it. If you haven’t tried this recipe, try it!
You can half the recipe, but I love tossing the soup into the freezer in smaller quantities. Thaw the soup before microwaving, the pasta will become mush if you don’t.
C000159
I have made this soup many, many times and I found that if you use just plain diced tomatoes that doesn’t already have seasoning, the soup turns out pretty bland. I also use spaghetti instead of marinara sauce. Spaghetti sauce also needs to have spices in it. Personally, I think this recipe is better then the real Olive Garden soup. But that’s just my opinion. 😉
NanMae
I used spaghetti sauce as well (Prego) and always use Delmonte Original Stewed Tomatoes, so much more flavor and ingredients……
WendyM
Just made a batch today!!!! Best soup ever. Sometimes I put a little browned ground pork in it and a just a tad more hot sauce its perfect 🙂
Smrteze
I’m having trouble finding Marinara sauce in my area can I substitute Primavara?
Mlsizemore
I use any kind of spaghetti sauce and it is always good.
Burtramj
I found some with Paul Newman on the label it was wonderful