Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli
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A super easy, no-fuss copycat recipe that’s wonderfully hearty and comforting, except it tastes 100x better than the restaurant-version!
Featured Comment
what is pasta e fagioli?
Pasta e fagioli is a classic Italian soup literally translating to “pasta and beans”. This is typically made with vegetables, a variety of beans and pasta in a tomato broth.
why i love this recipe
- One pot dinner. This is one of those soups that come together so easily on the stovetop in a single pot, even the uncooked pasta gets cooked right in (unless you’re cooking it separately for leftovers). One pot means less clean up, less dishes!
- Uses pantry staples. The ingredient list may seem long, but most of the ingredients use pantry essentials, sparing you from that emergency grocery run.
- Freezer-friendly. Pasta e fagioli freezes very well sans pasta, making it perfect to stock up the freezer for those cold winter nights, for new moms or for those recovering from surgery.
tips and tricks for success
- Use short cut pasta. Ditalini, macaroni or a small shape pasta similar in size to the vegetables and beans is ideal.
- Save leftover Parmesan rinds. Get more out of those expensive Parmesan cheeses by using up the leftover rinds! Adding a Parmesan rind slightly thickens the broth and adds a level of nutty richness to the soup.
- Add leafy greens. Pasta e fagioli is a great way to sneak in some greens for those picky eaters. Stir in kale, spinach, cabbage, swiss chard or collard greens near the end of cooking time until wilted.
- Stir in more stock with leftovers. When reheating leftovers, stir in more stock as needed as the pasta will continue to soak up the broth. The pasta can also be cooked and stored separately.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
what to serve with pasta e fagioli
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli: Frequently Asked Questions
Ground beef or ground turkey will work very well here. Pancetta or bacon are also great additions.
Pasta e fagioli can absolutely be made in the crockpot, cooked low and slow for 7-8 hours. Recipe here.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the pasta (or else they will get mushy) in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding freshly cooked pasta and a splash of broth (if needed) when serving.
Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound spicy Italian sausage, casing removed
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 (16-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup ditalini pasta
- 1 (3-inch) Parmesan rind
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup shaved Parmesan
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add Italian sausage to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; set aside.
- Add onion, carrots and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, basil, oregano and thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in Italian sausage, chicken broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, water, pasta and Parmesan rind; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
- Stir in beans until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Serve immediately, topped with Parmesan.
Video
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Absolutely delicious. I made a second batch just to freeze-minus the pasta. No more canned soup or the overly salted Olive garden version. Thank you for a wonderful way to warm up without feeling bloated and overly full. I wonder do you have any recipes using ground lamb? I recently purchased some in bulk when it was on sale. Any recommendations would be great.
I actually do not at this time – sorry!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve already shared this soup with several family members and friends (who in turn, asked for the recipe!). Everyone agreed that it was better than Olive Garden’s! It’s going to make winter bearable this year!
Love this! I add an extra can of tomato sauce and no diced tomatoes (our family doesn’t like them) and it still tastes great. I also like to add spinach for some extra flavor! In addition, we also substitute ground turkey for the sausage. Love love love!!
Thank You for the recipe, my kids loved the soup. They said that it almost tasted like the Olive Garden version. It tasted good even though I used ground beef instead of sausage.
I got the northern beans at a local store called aldi
I have made this soup several times , it’s my go to soup. I have to say it’s the best darn delicious soup I ever had. I used turkey sausage and a kosher chicken stock. Yummy!
I worked at Olive Garden for several years. I am impressed, this is damn close to the actual recipe. There are a few things that differ. In the original recipe they use a 3 to 1 mix of ground beef to sweet Italian sausage. They also use beef broth not chicken. Beef broth adds much more body and warmth to the soup. At one point we also deglazed with red wine after the vegetables had been sauteed, but I believe they didbaway with this process.
Good tasting. But I did cut back on the thyme. Delicious meal. My family loved it
This is delicious, sometimes I add some bell peppers to the mix as well. Also super easy to make and didn’t take too much time either.
This soup originally is made with a ham bone, broth, veggies, white beans and is amazing! I used it make it when I had a house full. Mow I want to make it again, the original Italian way. This comes from an Irish gal!! It is to die for….
Made this today and it was fabulous! I couldn’t find the type of noodle it called for so I used Small Shell pasta. It would be great with Turkey sausage too! Thanks for sharing!
This dish is very good! Make it all the time and actually cook it in my pressure cooker, raw noodles and all, for 10 minutes. I cook this on the nights when kiddos are busy and we still want a home cooked meal! Love it! Thanks for sharing!
I make this almost weekly in the winter, and monthly throughout the rest of the year. I add about 5 shakes of Worcester shire sauce while it cooks in my crockpot. So delicious!
I make this often. Mostly when a friend is sick or in need. Then double the batch and have lots for our family for dinner and lunches too. It’s a huge hit with everyone. I’ve also frozen it and it heats up well. Then again, we aren’t too picky if the pasta is a little soft. The flavors are gorgeous. Definitely in my top list of “go to” recipes. Thanks!!
Made this on Saturday and will eat off it in the coming work week. I followed the recipe but my veggies were still crunchy. (My fault for not testing them before moving on to the next step. I wound up laboriously scooping the carrots and celery out and then cooking them a bit longer in another pot before adding back into the soup.) When I make it again, I think I’ll cut the pasta back to 1/2 or 3/4 cup. I’ll also use more liquid. Four cups wasn’t enough for me — just one person, eating the soup primarily as leftovers. Very yummy soup, though. Thank you for the recipe.
Damn delicious is right! Made recipe just as stated, and love it.
I like that you have nutrition information but am wondering what the serving size might be. 1 cup?
Yes. About 1-2 cups.
I added 1/4 cup of pickled beet juice to my tomatoes and homemade sauce. No thyme – fantastico!
I rarely comment on anything…. but, oh! my! goodness! This is amazing. We are Olive Garden fans, and even the kids said this was WAY better. My only changes were: I doubled it, I did not drain any of the beans or sausage, which then I used a little less broth and I put in about 3 good tsp (eyeballed, Italians are not good at measuring) Italian seasoning.
Also it took a bit longer to prep (and I bought matchstick carrots) but I have no complaints. This is fabulous. Thank you for sharing!!
Not draining the beans makes for a thick soup, if you dare call it soup. Draining your sausage will cut down on the fat content considerably, and leave less nasty grease at the top of your soup. Try it with beef broth and a 3 to 1 mix of ground beef to sweet sausage. That is the original OG recipe.
Also there is no basil in the OH recipe.
GREAT soup– makes a huge pot, and freezes great too!
I used a 3 cup carton of chicken broth, no water– and agree with other poster about the thyme! (JUST A PINCH)-otherwise it overwhelms the basil and oregano.
You will need to thin in out with broth if you eat it the next day though- the pasta absorbs the liquid, and it becomes like a stew. But, this is absolutely one of my fave Fall/Winter soups to make– THANKS for this recipe!