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Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup

A white bowl of Pasta Fagioli Soup sitting on a blue plate with a spoon on the left and two slices of crusty bread at the top of the plate. A golden yellow napkin is wrapped around the plate from the bottom left to the right top corner.

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

A large pot of Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup with a black serving spoon held above from the left with soup on it.

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! A bowl of pasta fagioli soup on a plate with two slices of Italian French Bread.

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:

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4.9 from 18 reviews
Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup
 
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Hearty and layered with Italian flavors, this soup is simple to make.
Recipe type: Soup
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 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)
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in your favorite large soup pot.
  2. Add ground beef or Italian sausage and ground beef. Brown the meat.
  3. Add onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes or so. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
  4. Next, add spices, sugar, pepper flakes.
  5. Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and broth. Stir well. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
  6. Add drained beans. Bring to a boil.
  7. Once soup is boiling, add ditalini pasta and cook according to the time called for on package directions.
  8. Once noodles are cooked, soup is ready to serve. Serve with dried or fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Serve Pasta Fagioli Soup with...

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Two-photo Pinterest picture of pasta fagipoli soup with the text of the title in the middle, separating the two photos.

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58 Comments

  3. Trish

    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.

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  4. Christine

    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 🤗

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  8. Janie

    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!

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  30. Bonnie

    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.

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