Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli

This Olive Garden pasta e fagioli soup recipe is so warm and comforting. Each bite is loaded with flavor from the hearty ground beef, tender veggies, rich tomato sauce, and perfectly cooked pasta. It tastes just like the one from the restaurant, but you can make it in the comfort of your own home!

The Best Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli

If you've ever had Olive Garden's pasta e fagioli soup, you know it's one of the best things on their menu.

I mean, does it get any better than tender pasta cooked in tomato sauce with beans and savory ground beef?

It's honestly the ultimate comfort food, which is why I had to come up with a copycat recipe for it so you can enjoy it at home! And I think this soup recipe turned out even better than the original!

Seriously, this pasta e fagioli recipe is so comforting and hearty, packed with protein and veggies, and just filled with flavor. It's truly an easy dinner recipe that everyone will love!

And not only is this pasta e fagioli soup delicious, but it's also so easy to make too. Everything cooks in one Dutch oven, so the entire cooking process is so simple, and clean-up is a breeze too!  

Oh, and since most of the time spent making this pasta e fagioli soup is pretty passive, you'll have plenty of time to work on anything you want to eat with it. If you're looking for what to serve with pasta e fagioli soup, my go-to thing to make are these Olive Garden breadsticks. The iconic breadsticks are just so delicious dipped in the flavor-filled chicken broth.

INGREDIENTS

The ingredient list for this pasta e fagioli soup might look intimidating, but I promise they're all really quite simple. Aside from the ground beef and veggies, everything else is all kitchen staples that you probably have on hand already.

Anyway, here are all of the pasta e fagioli ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• ½ lb. lean ground beef
• 1 ½ cups yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1 tbsp. garlic, minced 
• 2 cups canned tomato sauce
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup canned tomatoes, diced
• 2 tsp. granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup dry short pasta
• 1 ½ cup can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 ½ cup can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• Parmesan cheese, for serving
• 3 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced

Not too bad, eh?!

Now, if you don't want to use ground beef, you can use ground turkey, sweet Italian sausage, mild Italian sausage, or hot Italian sausage instead.

Similarly, with the chicken broth, you can swap it for beef broth or even vegetable broth if needed. As for the beans, any mild flavor beans will work, including cannellini beans, pinto beans, or black beans in place of the kidney beans and northern beans.

Oh, and you can use many of these ingredients to make this ground beef and vegetable soup, so definitely consider giving that recipe a try next!

HOW TO MAKE OLIVE GARDEN PASTA FAGIOLI

STEP 1: COOK THE GROUND BEEF

First, begin by heating a little olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then, you'll want to add the ground beef to the pot and cook and crumble it, stirring occasionally until it's fully cooked through.

Once the ground beef is fully cooked, you can drain the fat from the beef out of the pot and set the ground beef aside.

STEP 2: BUILD THE SOUP

Next up, you can add the onions and garlic to the same pot and sauté the two for about 3m  minutes until they're tender. Then you can add the celery and carrots and let them sauté for 1 minute longer.

After that, you'll want to add the chicken broth, tomato sauce, water, canned tomatoes, sugar, Italian seasoning, and cooked beef. Now give all of this a stir to fully combine everything, then taste and season as needed with extra salt and pepper.

Next, you'll want to bring the soup to a boil, then you can reduce the heat to medium-low. At this point, you can cover the soup with a lid and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the veggies are tender.

STEP 3: COOK THE PASTA

While the soup is simmering, you can cook the pasta according to the package directions. Since the pasta will continue to cook once it's added to the soup, you'll want to only cook pasta al dente.

Anyway, once it's cooked, you can drain the pasta and add it - along with the kidney beans and great northern beans - to the soup pot. If the soup is looking too thick, you can add a little more chicken broth or water until it reaches your desired consistency. Then you can let the soup cook for 1 more minute.

STEP 4: SERVE

As soon as the soup has finished cooking, you can add the fresh parsley to the pot and give everything a big stir.

Then finally, serve the soup warm with grated Romano or parmesan cheese on top.

Enjoy!

HOW TO STORE OLIVE GARDEN PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP

This recipe for pasta e fagioli makes 4 servings, so it's the perfect side dish to serve alongside family dinner. And, if you're lucky, you might even end up with some leftovers!

Speaking of leftovers, if you do end up with any leftover soup, you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.

Alternatively, if you want to store your soup for even longer, you can freeze it in an airtight container or a freezer-safe bag. Stored either of those ways, it'll last in the freezer for 3 months.

HOW TO REHEAT OLIVE GARDEN PASTA FAGIOLI

Whenever you're ready to enjoy your pasta fagioli soup again, you'll definitely want to reheat it first.

To best reheat it, just transfer your leftover soup to a saucepot and set it over medium heat. Then, all you have to do is warm it up for a few minutes, stirring it frequently until it reaches your desired temperature.

Alternatively, to warm up your pasta fagioli soup even quicker, you can microwave it in 30-second increments until it's hot.

FAQS ABOUT THIS OLIVE GARDEN PASTA FAGIOLI RECIPE

What does pasta e fagioli mean?

Pasta e fagioli is an Italian term for pasta and beans. So this recipe is basically translated in English into a pasta and bean soup recipe!

How do you make pasta e fagioli with a crock pot?

If you want to turn this into a crock pot Olive Garden pasta e fagioli soup recipe, all you have to do is cook the ground beef in a skillet first, then add all of the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot - except the pasta - and cook it on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8. Then when there are only 30 minutes of cooking left, you can add the pasta. 

What's the difference between minestrone and pasta fagioli?

While both soups are Italian and have similar flavors, the biggest difference is the balance of protein. Pasta e fagioli has beans in it, which makes for a heartier and more protein-rich soup, whereas minestrone is lighter and more brothy.

Is pasta fazool the same thing as pasta fagioli?

Yes, pasta fazool and pasta fagioli are the same things. They're pasta and bean soups that have veggies and a rich tomato sauce.

Does pasta fagioli contain meat?

Traditionally yes, pasta e fagioli does contain mean. That said, it's not necessary in order to have a hearty soup since beans are also a main ingredient and add a lot of flavor and protein to the soup.

More Olive Garden Recipes

If you're looking for more easy copycat Olive Garden recipes, just like this Olive Garden pasta fagioli soup, we have a ton on the blog that you can check out next! 

Here are some of our most popular ones:

• Olive Garden shrimp alfredo
• Olive Garden shrimp scampi
• Olive Garden chicken parmigiana
• Olive Garden chicken marsala
• Olive Garden crock pot chicken pasta