Homemade Pasta Fagioli Soup is delicious!
In case you didn’t know, Olive Garden makes the best Pasta Fagioli Soup. I had always chosen the Zuppa Toscana, because I LOVE IT. A few months ago, a friend talked me into trying her Pasta Fagioli, and I was like, “WOW!!!” I knew immediately that I needed to be able to make it at home. I set out to find a good recipe for it on the inter-webs! Another Italian soup I love is Sausage and Sweet Potato Tortellini Soup. Both soup recipes are perfect for cold, fall days.
On the interwebs, there were a few different recipes to choose from. Some were a little pickier than others, and some asked for strange spices that I don’t normally keep on hand, ex: tarragon and marjoram. So I took the general idea from the different recipes and decided to try it on my own with more basic ingredients and see how it came out.
Spoiler Alert! It came out AWESOME! I am so happy to share this delicious and simple Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup recipe with you. It’s delicious and especially perfect for this time of year. The nice crisp fall weather basically begs us to make soup.
Soup Recipes Perfect for Fall
- Chicken and Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
- Thick and Creamy Potato and Ham Soup
- Corn Chowder
- Thick and Creamy Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup
- Spicy Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup
- Classic Taco Soup
HOW TO MAKE Olive Garden PASTA FAGIOLI SOUP
- Heat oil in your favorite large soup pot.
- Add ground beef or half Italian sausage and half ground beef. Brown the meat.
- Add onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes or so. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Next, add spices, sugar and pepper flakes.
- Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and broth. Stir well. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Add drained beans. Bring to a boil.
- Once soup is boiling, add ditalini pasta and cook according to the time called for on package directions.
- Once noodles are cooked, soup is ready to serve. Serve with dried or fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese.
Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup is traditionally made with ground beef, but I like to do half ground beef, half Italian Sausage. If you want to use all Italian Sausage, that’s fine. I suggest definitely adding beef stock or beef bullion instead of chicken, which adds a layer of depth that the beef flavor gives the soup.
I definitely sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on my soup. It’s the perfect complement. I just realized I didn’t use any in these pictures…silly me. (Blaming that on pregnancy brain.) 🙂
I hope you enjoy this flavorful, savory soup!
Tips for making Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup
- If you make the soup with only Italian sausage, use beef stock or beef bullion for the best flavor.
- Add grated Parmesan cheese and/or parsley to the bowl of soup for additional flavor.
- If you don’t have ditalini pasta on hand, another small-shaped pasta like macaroni will work.
Cook’s Tools for Pasta Fagioli Soup:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef OR ½ lbs. ground beef and ½ lbs. Italian Sausage
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 stalks of celery, sliced
- 1-2 cups sliced or diced carrots
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1½ tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp dried Italian Seasoning
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 3 8 oz cans tomato sauce
- 4 cups beef broth or chicken broth (or 1 tsp bullion per cup of water)
- 1 cup more of water, if needed.
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 15 oz can Kidney Beans, drained (dark or light)
- 1 15 oz can Great Northern beans, drained (or Cannellini Beans)
- 1 cup Ditalini Pasta
- Parsley, dried or fresh (optional)
- Parmesan cheese (optional)
- Heat oil in your favorite large soup pot.
- Add ground beef or Italian sausage and ground beef. Brown the meat.
- Add onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes or so. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Next, add spices, sugar, pepper flakes.
- Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and broth. Stir well. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Add drained beans. Bring to a boil.
- Once soup is boiling, add ditalini pasta and cook according to the time called for on package directions.
- Once noodles are cooked, soup is ready to serve. Serve with dried or fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese.
This soup is better than Olive Garden’s! Thank you so much for the recipe!!
This has become one of my favorites to make, simple & so delicious!
Yay! I am so glad!
Delicious!! Thank you! I always appreciate your support to make my kitchen always modern!!
Made this for my boyfriend’s birthday dinner and it turned out great. Already had rotel diced tomatoes & chilis so I used that. Was out of red pepper flakes & brown sugar so I didn’t have those. Used a little jalapeño garlic to give it a kick. Wish I could share a picture because it is a work of art.
Awesome! Love hearing this Trish!
I made this with the hamburger and all ingredients as listed. It was delicious! Tastes even better the next day! Will try next with the sausage.
Yay! So glad you liked it, I feel the same way about it being even better the next day!
I used this recipe as a base — changed a few things ,I used chicken instead of beef ,with Italian sausage ,and used 1 jar of ragu sauce instead of tomato sauce — It was Wonderful — Everyone enjoyed this — will definitely make it again 🤗
Great! I love hearing that Christine!
Does this freeze well?
I haven’t tried freezing it yet, but I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t. Some people don’t like to freeze pasta, but with such a small amount it should be fine.
I made this last night and it was delicious. I left out the meat.
So glad you made it and I’m so glad to know it can stand on it’s own without meat. Awesome!
My husband loves Olive Garden soup and he Loved this recipe. The Italian sausage and beef broth added to the flavor. Also very simple to make.
I am so glad you and your husband liked the recipe! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know!
Has anyone tried cooking this in a crockpot? I may give it a try and just add the pasta when I get home from work to finish cooking g …
Maria
My husband and I loved this soup! A keeper for sure. I have never been fond of the words “season to taste“, but I added about a teaspoon of salt, a healthy dose of ground pepper, and a squirt of Sriracha and I thought the end result was perfect!
Awesome! I love hearing that Janie!
I love hearing that Janie! Glad you liked it
FABULOUS! Super easy, amazing flavor 💜👍👍👍
Thank you Pegi, I’m so glad you liked it.
So wonderful! Mouth watering! Going into our favorites pile.
Awesome, I love hearing this Lorie.
Awesome. I’ll try this during my birthday.
Perfect! I hope you like it!
This dish was so delicious and full of flavor! My kids even liked it and I have picky eaters. Thank you for the recipe.
Yay! I am so glad you liked it and I LOVE hearing that it was a bit for your picky eaters. Thank you for coming back to leave a comment. 😘
This was good!
Thank you!
I loves Olive Garden soup and he Loved this delicious recipe. this is so wonderful & Mouth watering.
Thank you!
This is amazing recipe i tried my kids really like it. Thanks for sharing
Yay! I am so happy to hear this Mooaz! It is one of our favorites too!
Yammy really loves it and my baby also likes it. thanks for this please keep it up
Its really amazing website It really helpful for me Thanks for sharing it
Delicious!! Thank you! I always appreciate your support to make my kitchen always modern!! again thanks for sharing
I really love this idea,,, thanks for sharing
really an amazing post thanks for sharing
Wow, Amazing recipe, I would definitely try it
Great! Hope you like it!
You guys always helped me in cooking, such an amazing recipe
Glad to hear that, thanks!
You always share some different recipes. thank you
You are welcome!
Love this one! We make it all the time and play with some of the veggies/beans too!
Yay! I love hearing that!
DELICIOUS. Made with Banza elbow pasta that I had cooked ahead. Will freeze and gave many meals for later.
Awesome! I love hearing that Carla!
I love this recipe
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Fabulous! Super easy, amazing flavor.
Thank you!
I really enjoy the blog.Really thank you! Fantastic.
Wow, very interesting
Delicious, been making this soup for years, first time with your recipe and it’s right up there with the best. I used V8 with low sodium instead of tomato sauce and it added more flavor to the broth. I mixup the pastas usually using what’s in the pantry, but Ditalini is my favorite. Thx for sharing.
Yum! I’ll have to give it a try with V8 juice sometime..
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