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Our Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup copycat recipe tastes just like the soup from the restaurant! The best part? This low-maintenance recipe slow cooks all day, allowing everything to simmer together for hours for maximum flavor!
This Pasta e Fagioli Soup is one of my family’s most favorite cold weather meals. It reminds me of fall leaves, football season, sweaters and cozy fires. It’s my top choice at Olive Garden every time we go there to eat, so I decided to find a way to make it at home. This copycat recipe tastes exactly like what you get at Olive Garden (maybe even better)!
What is Pasta e Fagioli Soup?
This popular Italian soup literally means “pasta and beans” so that’s what you’ll find in this dish, along with ground beef, Italian seasonings in a rich tomato based broth. Pasta E Fagioli is very similar to another hearty favorite, minestrone soup, but they are not the same. The difference between these two soups is minestrone uses several different veggies and Pasta e Fagioli features onion, celery and carrots for flavor, but no other vegetables.
Notable Ingredients
Ground Beef – For this recipe I like to use lean ground beef (93%/7%). If the beef is too fatty, then it makes the soup very oily. You can also sub the beef for Italian sausage, bacon, or pancetta.
Onion, Carrots, and Celery – This combination of savory vegetables is often called a mirepoix. Together, they create a base of flavor for the soup. White onion or yellow onion both work great.
Red and White Kidney Beans – It wouldn’t be Pasta e Fagioli without the fagioli! As you might have guessed, fagioli means beans. I like to use dark red kidney beans and also white kidney beans, great northern beans, or cannellini beans.
Spices – The spice mix for this recipe includes oregano, parsley, salt, and pepper. If you want to expand on the flavor profile, then consider adding garlic powder, garlic cloves, basil, thyme, or a few bay leaves.
Ditalini Pasta – Ditalini pasta is the pasta that Olive Garden uses, but you can use other shapes like small shells, wagon wheels, or elbow macaroni noodles. Cook the pasta to just barely al dente, as it will soften in the soup.
How to Make Pasta Fagioli Soup
I love how easy this recipe is to make. It’s as easy as browning the beef then adding it with all the other ingredients to a Crock Pot and letting it slow cook all day. Here’s what to do:
- Brown the beef – If you want, you can add the chopped onions at this step too. The onions cook long enough to soften completely either way so it doesn’t really matter when you add them.
- Add remaining ingredients (except for the pasta) – Add the beef and all of the rest of the ingredients except for the pasta into the Crock Pot. If you add the pasta at this point it will get way too overcooked. Its best to add it at the end.
- Add the pasta – Cook the pasta only to al dente, drain, and then add it to the soup right before serving. That’s it! Add any toppings you like for garnish and serve.
Tips and Suggestions
This pasta Fagioli recipe makes a LOT of soup (approximately 20, 1 cup servings) so it’s a terrific recipe for feeding a crowd. I almost always have leftovers and they heat up great for lunches later in the week. You can also cut the recipe in half if you are just feeding a small family.
This soup freezes well. Store in freezer safe containers or Ziploc bags in the freezer for up to two months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! You will need a very large pot, or you will need to half the recipe. Brown and drain the beef, and add it, along with all other ingredients besides the pasta, to a large pot. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then turn heat to low bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer, covered, until the vegetables are tender. Cook pasta according to package directions and add to soup before serving.
They are the same! Pasta Fazool is a nickname for pasta e fagioli that comes from New York Italians.
Make it a Meal
When we make Pasta e Fagioli soup we like to pretend that it’s unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks at Olive Garden. Try it with our copycat Olive Garden Salad and some warm bread such as our homemade breadtwists, garlic breadsticks, focaccia, or our delicious Italian Cheesy Bread recipe.
More Slow Cooker Soups to Try
Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup
Video
Equipment
- Crockpot Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 shredded carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (16-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
- 1 (16-ounce) can white kidney beans, drained
- 4 cups beef stock
- 3 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 1 ½ tablespoons dried parsley, plus more for garnish
- 1 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
- 1 (24-ounce) bottle Prego Traditional pasta sauce
- 8 ounces ditalini pasta
- Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
- Brown ground beef in a large skillet. Drain fat.
- Add beef and all ingredients except the pasta and Parmesan cheese into a large slow cooker. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
- Before serving, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and add to soup.
- Serve in bowls topped with Parmesan cheese and parsley if desired.
I have made this soup several times and it is wonderful. I like to use half hamburger and half bulk Italian sausage if I have it on hand. I do use the crock pot because I like it to simmer for a few hours and add the beans in the last hour. Also, I serve the pasta separately so it doesn’t soak up the juice and get mushy. Also, that way everyone can add as much or little pasta as they like. This freezes well, but I recommend not adding the pasta if you’re going to freeze it. This recipe is approved by my Italian husband.
Wow, what a compliment! Love that it got a true Italian stamp of approval! That’s a “win” in my book!
My stockpot is so full, I don’t have room for the Prego spaghetti sauce! Wow…lot of soup! So I added all the spices I would put in spaghetti sauce & hope it comes out ok…
Oh no, what size Crock Pot do you have? You can also simmer it in a large stockpot over low heat if the Crock Pot isn’t cutting it. Hope this helps!
I’ve been making your recipe for this soup for a few years now and we still love it! I only make a half batch and I still have plenty of leftovers for the next day or so. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us 🙂
Thank you so much for this nice comment! We are so glad you like this recipe– it is one we make all the time too 🙂 It’s just so easy!
What size crock pot do you recommend for this recipe? You mentioned large. Mine is 6 qt. Is that large enough? Thank you.
Yes, 6qt should be big enough. 🙂 Hope this helps!
This soup was absolutely delicious, and, so easy to make. Tasted exactly like the Olive Gardens soup. Makes a large portion, and, worth every bit of it. Thanks so much for sharing.
So glad you liked it! Thanks so much for your comment!
Love love love this soup…thank you so much for sharing❤️❤️
I HAVE TRIED SEVERAL OTHERS PUT I LOVE THIS RECIPE THE BEST. I ALSO COOKED IT ON TOP OF THE STOVE .
Excellent except for the black pepper and tabasco. I make it all the time now and leave those two ingredients out unless you like fire!
I made this tonight, very good! Added garlic and did both ground beef and ground turkey. Definitely a keeper recipe!
Thank you for sharing your success Stephanie! I’m so glad you like the recipe.
I made this soup and it was fantastic.
Question: I have left over vegetables (celery, carrots etc.) Can I cut them up and freeze them, then thaw and use them in another batch of this soup at a later time? If yes, do I have to blanch them or can I just cut them up and put them in a freezer zip lock bag or container? Then when I have the rest of the ingredients at a later time just unfreeze and drop them in the soup?
The reason why I am asking is I only have extra vegetables. I do not have extra beans, tomatoes etc., to make the soup and then freeze accordingly.
you should just be able to freeze them just fine. You can just cut them up and freeze them. 🙂 Hope this helps!
I love this soup. When I makr it I use V-8 juice. Am making for my BD company.
This recipe is awesome. I’ve made it several times and it’s become a family favorite. It’s SO easy and versatile! I use ground turkey instead of beef, but still use the beef stock and you can’t tell any difference. I do like the idea of adding rinsed black beans. We freeze the leftovers, but it doesn’t last very long in the freezer (but that’s only because it calls to us and then we just HAVE to have it)! Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks so much for the comment– great idea using ground turkey– makes it even healthier!
A hearty and healthy pasta e fagioli soup that’s you have share with good for your veggies like carrots, and tomatoes, and celery, and my personal favorite – garlic.
This is my second go at this, making it with ground venison this time, for my husband to take to hunting camp. I added a little V-8 to it, as this does tend to become quite thick, and I also added 1 tbsp. of white vinegar. Was a huge hit the first time I made it (I used sweet Italian sausage and ground turkey mixed together) and I’m sure it will be again with the guys. so easy, just labor intensive, but very delicious.
Thank you for the great ideas! Sounds delicious!
This recipe is currently simmering away in our crockpot. I’ve got abother hour to go!
I subbed the beef for Italian chicken sausage, and the beef stock got chicken stock.
I also halfed the recipe and my crockpot is full!
So excited to eat this. It smells so good 🙂
Great idea on the substitutions! It does make a lot of soup!
Made the soup tonight for a group of friends for dinner. It was delicious and very hearty. Perfect fall soup!
i thought this was incredibly bland. I added a ton of spices to make it even worth it. I can’t believe it doesn’t even call for salt. Once it actually had some taste from the added spice, it was good. This is a nice base recipe but I’m surprised so many like it as is.
It is a good idea to add some salt or spices. Everyone has different tastes! Thank you for your comment!
I put this all together ys & 1/2 the recipe will still feed an army, it filled my 5 qt crock pot. I got up in the middle of the nite so at 3:30 a.m I put it on. when we woke up it smelled amazing. I added the dilitini but made the mistake of adding it uncooked now all juices r used up. its no longer a soup! do u think adding more beef broth would do the trick?
Yikes! If it were me I would add more broth and maybe some tomato sauce/juice… hopefully it will still work out! This is one of our favorite soups!
Delicious!! I cooked pasta separate and drained with cold water and once soup cooled enough to put in freezer bags (takes up less room than containers) I added the al dente cooked ditalini pasta. The pasta doesn’t keep cooking and I can freeze with pasta in the soup and the texture is not mushy.
I always cook this in a large stock pot on the stove. I cook the noodles and add only what I need to each bowl. If you add the noodles to the soup they suck up all the liquid and get really squishy. I also use half hamburger and half Italian sausage. And I use either chicken or vegetable broth instead of beef. Still always turns out well.