Nonna’s Pasta Fagioli Soup is epic. Any Nana worth her salt has an amazing pasta fazool recipe. Mine had an incredible Pasta Fagioli recipe (pronounced fa-jool). It’s an Italian peasant dish that translates to al dente pasta in a tomato sauce and beans. Topped with a little parsley and basil it is an Instagram worthy dish. It is something you will always find in my refrigerator.
My Nonna’s Pasta Fagioli Soup always made you so happy. There is nothing like a big, steaming bowl of this ground beef soup during the winter months and you just need something hot, tender, and hearty to warm you up. This soup is full of veggies, meat and beans all simmered with oregano and red pepper flakes in a hearty tomato base. Find out the history of this classic soup.
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What We Love About This Recipe
This hamburger vegetable soup is very easy to make and it makes a lot. I love to make a big pot on Sunday so that I can have it for lunch all week long. It is so flavorful and filing you will always fill satisfied.
- 15 Minute Prep: This soup is so quick and easy to make.
- Easy Ingredients: All found in pantry or the fridge, this soup is full of flavor due to all the amazing seasoning.
- Family Friendly: A perfect way to warm up, so satisfying.
- Adaptable: Can make it with different seasonings, vegetables and meat.
Ingredient Notes
- Ground beef: Also, try using some ground sausage.
- Seasoning: All Purpose Blend and Italian seasoning. Bay leaf, crushed red pepper, salt and black pepper.
- Vegetables: Diced onion, carrots, some stalk celery. Minced garlic cloves.
- Beans: Cannellini beans and kidney beans
Variations and Substitutions
- Ditalini pasta – Or another small pastina.
- Vegetarian – Use vegan meat and vegetable stock.
How to Make Pasta e Fagioli
These are the basic steps for making copycat olive garden pasta fagioli. Please refer to the recipe card below for more detailed instructions and nutrition information.
STEP 1: BROWN
First, in a large Dutch oven or large saucepan, brown lean ground beef with salt and pepper. Then when no longer pink, remove from pot and drain excess fat, leaving about one tablespoon of fat in pot.
STEP 2: SOFTEN
Next add onion, carrot and celery to pot. Then season with remaining salt and pepper. Cook for 5-8 minutes or until softened. Next, add garlic, All Purpose Seasoning and Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper and bay leaf cook for 1 minute.
STEP 3: SIMMER
Add ground beef back into pot. Next, stir in tomatoes, beans and chicken broth. Then cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
STEP 4: TOP
Finally add 1 cup of Ditalini to bowl and add soup. Top with grated parmesan cheese.
Prep and Storage Tips
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE AHEAD OF TIME
This soup is wonderful for meal prep as it will last for up to five days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
HOW TO STORE THIS RECIPE
Store leftovers in an airtight container for several days in the fridge.
HOW TO FREEZE THIS RECIPE
Prepare large batches of this soup and freeze it so that you can enjoy it anytime you need to have a quick and delicious meal. It will last in airtight containers for up to four months. Make the soup and freeze without the pasta. This way, the pasta will not absorb all of the liquid or get mushy. Then while you’re reheating it, boil fresh pasta and add it directly to the rewarmed soup. Yum.
HOW TO REHEAT THIS RECIPE
Rewarm on the stovetop in a sauce pan for 5-7 minutes over a medium heat or reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes in a microwave safe bowl.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use lean ground beef or even ground chicken or turkey for this recipe.
Try borlotti beans or butter beans for this fagioli soup. Also, try using pinto, navy, great northern or even lentils.
Of course, it is great to prepare and freeze for when you need a warm and satisfying meal done quickly.
Both soups are products of Italy that are hearty and contain a lot of vegetables, however the pasta fagioli has the addition of pasta and usually a little thicker.
To keep the beans from splitting, do not over cook them. If you want to simmer the soup for longer than 20 minutes, add the beans at the end.
Expert Tips for Making This Pasta Fagioli Soup (Olive Garden) Recipe
- Change up the Meat: Try adding a spicy sausage, pancetta or bacon to enhance the flavor.
- This Recipe Can be Doubled: This is a great recipe for a crowd. Simply increase the ingredients proportionately and freeze the rest.
- Make it Vegetarian: This soup doesn’t need meat. Add vegetable broth and leafy greens for an incredible meal. Sauté the vegetables in olive oil and add some fresh rosemary or basil.
- Different Veggies: Zucchini, green beans, broccoli and peppers, whatever suits your fancy or what is in season.
What to Serve with Nonna’s Pasta Fagioli Soup
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Pasta Fagioli Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef
- 2 teaspoons House Seasoning Blend, divided
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 large carrots, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 Bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 15 ounces Cannelini beans
- 15 ounces kidney beans
- 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- Additional salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound Ditalini pasta, cooked
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven, season ground beef and brown over medium high heat.
- When meat is cooked through, remove from pot and drain excess fat; Leave one tablespoon of fat in pot.
- Add onion, carrot and celery to pot; Season with remaining House Seasoning Blend.
- Cook for 5-8 minutes or until softened.
- Add garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper and bay leaf; Cook for 1 minute.
- Add ground beef back into pot.
- Add tomatoes, beans with their liquid and chicken broth.
- Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Test for seasoning. If needed add additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Add 1 cup of cooked Ditalini to individual serving bowl and add soup.
- Top with grated parmesan cheese.
Expert Tips
- Change up the Meat: Try adding a spicy sausage, pancetta or bacon to enhance the flavor.
- This Recipe Can be Doubled: This is a great recipe for a crowd. Simply increase the ingredients proportionately and freeze the rest.
- Make it Vegetarian: This soup doesn’t need meat. Add vegetable broth and leafy greens for an incredible meal. Sauté the vegetables in olive oil and add some fresh rosemary or basil.
- Different Veggies: Zucchini, green beans, broccoli and peppers, whatever suits your fancy or what is in season.
Estimated Nutritional Information
The nutritional information provided are estimates. To learn more about how I calculate this information go to www.itisakeeper.com/about-its-a-keeper/privacy-disclosure-policies/
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Words from my husband’s mouth, “Make it like this everytime!”. I only substituted beef for ground Italian sausage. I followed the recipe to a T. Thank you for making one of my favorite soups even tastier!
It looks great! I’m definitely going to make it.
This is a wonderful soup for a cold winter’s day. I used ground turkey instead of beef, but did not change anything else. It was delicious. Will make again.
I thought this was absolutely the best Pasta Fagioli soup I’ve ever made!
But when my Italian friend said it was the BEST she’s ever had, that confirmed it. I made it two weeks ago and making it again today!
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Thanks so much! Enjoy!
What makes up the house seasoning blend
The house seasoning blend is my own blend of seasonings that I use on almost anything. It is linked in the recipe and also on my website.
This was the absolute best recipe I’ve ever tried on Pinterest! Allll the flavors! I would even feel confident making it for my Italian in-laws!
We made this with half italian sausage and half spicy italian. It was just right that way! Will definitely be making this again!
This has all the flavors I want it to and was perfect for our cold, rainy day!
We love this recipe so much, it’s now a family fave! Thank you!!
Hello from an Italian girl who loves pasta e fagioli, and yours looks delicious
I liked this version with the addition of ground beef, everyone has its own family version, nice idea!
I have tried a few recipes for pasta fagioli before, but this was seriously the best I have ever made! It was so flavorful and so great! My family loved it!
Awe man! I can’t wait to make this! I know how you feel-I often make certain recipes so much that to try and figure out how much of everything you need is a pain 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing
Enjoy! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
One of my favorite soups. I never makes soups at home because the majority of my family doesn’t like soup, but when I’m out to eat in the north end of Boston (the Italian section) and this is on the menu, I always order it. YUM.
Nothing like Pasta Fagioli from an authentic Italian restaurant! 🙂