Pasta Fagioli
on Aug 22, 2020, Updated Jan 29, 2024
Pasta Fagioli is a traditional Italian soup made easy with canned beans, veggies, and ground beef. It’s better than Olive Garden!
Pasta Fagioli
Pasta fagioli is a pasta that has too many names to count: pasta fagioli, pasta e fagioli, pasta e fasul, pasta fazool– you get the idea. No matter what name you call it, this classic Italian soup dish is one of the simplest and most comforting soups you can cook up in your kitchen. It certainly helps that you can make this dish incredibly cheap! A few cans of beans, some beef, and some veggies gets you a delicious dish that’ll feed a big family.
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Another homemade soup we have that’s better than Olive Garden’s is our Minestrone Soup. If you’re needing something less beefy, this vegetable soup will keep you warm and full!
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Want another hearty soup packed with flavor? Our Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup is full of veggies, meat, beans, and potatoes that are perfect for family dinners.
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If you’re more of a fan of chicken, then our Chicken Tortilla Soup is what you’re looking for. This delicious soup is easy to make with pre-cooked chicken and canned ingredients.
This pasta and beans dish is still one of the best soup recipes you can keep on standby. Pasta fagioli is hearty, incredibly filling, and extra delicious with the addition of a few spices and seasonings. The best part is that you can make all sorts of small tweaks that’ll make everyone in the family happy whenever they hear this soup’s on the menu! Pick the right pasta and the right beans and you’ll find the pasta fagioli that works best for you.
Once you’ve cooked up a pot of this soup, prepare a few sides to go with it. The obvious choice is going to be some buttery Breadsticks. Soup and breadsticks are a match made in heaven- they’re a perfect and simple side! Cheesy Garlic Bread is another great side that’s just as delicious and maybe even easier to make! Seasoned cheesy french bread is great for dipping into this tasty soup!
Ingredients for Pasta Fazool
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Pasta – We use a ditalini here, but you can use all sorts of smaller pasta here. Try it with elbow macaroni, small pasta shells, or cavatelli.
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Ground Beef
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Beans – Plenty of great options here. The go-to’s here are white beans- usually cannellini or great northern. Experiment and find the bean blend that works best for you- try it with navy beans or maybe even some chickpeas.
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Vegetable Broth
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Diced Tomatoes
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Pasta Sauce
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Carrots
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Onion
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Celery
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Garlic
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Sugar
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Spices – We used a blend of salt & pepper, basil, oregano, and red pepper flake. We also garnished with a bit of parsley.
How to prepare Pasta and Beans
To make this recipe, start off by getting your veggies prepped. Slice some carrots and celery and dice your onion. If you’re using fresh garlic, get that peeled and ready for mincing as well.
With your vegetables ready, you can start focusing on your beef. In a large pot- we used a dutch oven- start browning your ground beef. We just want to cook some of the fat off the meat and get some color on it.
Once that’s browned, drain the fat off and move the beef over to a plate. To your now-empty pot, add the celery, onions, and carrots and allow to saute until tender.
When those veggies are tender, you’ll want to add your garlic and spices. You’re going to let that cook for about another minute before we add anything else.
It’s at this point that we’re going to add most of our ingredients to the pot. Add in your cooked beef, vegetable broth, tomatoes, pasta sauce, sugar, and some water.
Once you’ve added all those ingredients, you’ll want to momentarily crank the heat up so you can get the soup up to a boil. Once it’s reached a boil, bring the heat back down to medium/medium-low and add in your pasta and beans of choice. From here, all you need to do is cover and let your soup simmer for a little bit. Stir occasionally and watch for those vegetables to get soft before cutting the heat, serving, and enjoying!
Tips/Notes
- You can make this soup ahead of time! But we highly suggest cooking the noodles separately and adding before serving. If you let the noodles sit in the soup for too long, they will become terribly soft and mushy.
- I can’t think of any reason you wouldn’t be able to freeze this soup after cooking! Again, I’d recommend keeping the noodles separate and just making them fresh right before serving the reheated soup.
Pasta Fagioli
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean Ground Beef
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 medium Onion, diced
- 1 1/2 medium Carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks Celery, sliced
- 1 tbsp minced Garlic
- 1 1/2 tsp Basil
- 2 tsp Oregano
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 24 oz jar Spaghetti Sauce
- 32 oz Vegetable, Beef or Chicken Broth
- 1/2 cup Water
- 14.5 oz can Diced Tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp Sugar
- 1 cup dry Ditalini Pasta
- 15.5 oz can Dark Red Kidney Beans, drained
- 15.5 oz can Great Northern Beans, drained
- 3 tbsp Parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Crumble ground beef in a large pot over medium high heat. Cook until browned.
- Drain fat from ground beef.
- Transfer beef to a plate and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in the pot over medium high heat.
- Add onions, carrots and celery and cook about 20 minutes.
- Add garlic, basil, oregano, pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
- Stir well for about 1 minute to blend.
- Add cooked beef, broth, spaghetti sauce, water, tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper.
- Stir to mix well, then bring to a boil,
- Add dry pasta and drained beans.
- Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Garnish with parsley.
Notes
Nutrition
Pinned! I love this soup but I have never made it, thank you for the recipe!