Pasta e Fagioli (Olive Garden Copycat)
Pasta e Fagioli is a hearty, one-pot soup inspired by Olive Garden. Chock-full of beans, veggies, noodles and lean beef, this classic Italian soup is sure to win you over. Pair it with Soft Dinner Rolls and you have a very satisfying meal.
We love making restaurant favorites at home like Zuppa Toscana soup, Chicken Madeira (a Cheesecake Factory favorite) and of course Philly Cheesesteak.
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Pasta e Fagioli Recipe:
Hello everyone! Natalya here from Momsdish. I’m so excited to share my copycat recipe for Olive Garden’s Pasta e Fagioli with you. I believe this recipe tastes better than the restaurant version. You will love this soup!
This hearty soup is the perfect candidate for meal prepping. It only requires one pot to make and it reheats amazingly throughout the week. It is also super filling and healthy.
What is Pasta e Fagioli?
In Italian, “Pasta e Fagioli” translates to “pasta and beans”. This makes a whole lot of sense considering this soup is chock-full of pasta and beans! It is also loaded with aromatic veggies and lean ground beef, making it a whole meal in a bowl. Think of Pasta e Fagioli as an Italian spin on chili!
How to Make Pasta e Fagioli
- In a dutch oven or soup pot, heat up a tablespoon of olive oil at medium heat and brown your beef. Drain excess fat and set aside. Add a bit more olive oil to the pot and stir in garlic, onions, celery and carrots. Cook until tender.
- Add in tomato sauce, canned tomatoes and beef. Stir to combine. Add your beans and chicken stock/broth. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add in pasta and Italian seasoning (dried oregano and thyme will work if you don’t have the spice blend on hand). Cook for 10 more minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Can I Substitute the Ground Beef?
You can substitute spicy, ground Italian sausage for beef. It will add a nice kick of heat! Also, don’t hesitate to use half beef, half Italian sausage.
Pro Tip: Have a parmesan rind lying around? Don’t let it go to waste and throw it into the soup pot alongside the broth. All the oils and salty-parmesan in the rind will meld with your broth and enhance the flavor. Just make sure you take the rind out before serving.
Storing Pasta e Fagioli
Store soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to 5 days. The kicker? This soup tastes better and better as it marinates in the fridge. Yes, that means your leftovers will get tastier as the days go by! To reheat your soup, simply microwave it or bring it to a simmer in a pot over medium-high heat.
Can this Soup Be Frozen?
I wouldn’t recommend freezing Pasta e Fagioli. Generally, freezing soups with pasta is not a good idea. When the noodles defrost, they tend to turn to mush, ruining the texture of your soup.
More Olive Garden Copycat Recipes:
- Creamy Shrimp Pasta – plump shrimp in alfredo sauce
- Zuppa Toscana – Natasha’s take on Olive Garden’s soup.
- Alfredo Sauce – easy and done in 5 minutes! Perfect pasta or pizza sauce.
- Minestrone Soup – classic soup never goes out of style. Serve it as an appetizer or a meal all on its own.
Pasta e Fagioli (Olive Garden Copycat)
Try Pasta e Fagioli and you will be coming back for seconds. This Olive Garden copycat soup recipe is loaded with delicious veggies and protein, being a true comfort food.
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium carrots diced into small cubes
- 1 large onion diced into small cubes
- 1 stalk celery diced into small cubes
- 3 cloves garlic
- 15 oz canned diced tomatoes
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 15 oz Great Northern beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz Kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup ditalini pasta
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt adjust to taste
- 1 tsp black pepper adjust to taste
- 2 tbsp fresh basil (optional)
Instructions
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On medium heat, preheat a large pot or dutch oven with oil. Add ground beef and let it brown (3-5 minutes). As its cooking, be sure to break it apart into small pieces.
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Remove cooked beef from the pot. Drain of excess fat and set aside.
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In the same pot, add diced carrots, onion, celery and pressed garlic. Saute until the vegetables are softened (about 4 minutes).
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Add canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beef back to the cooking vegetables in the pot. Stir to combine together.
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Add Great Northern and kidney beans to the mix. Pour chicken broth to the pot and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
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Add pasta, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and let it cook for another 10 minutes.
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Serve right away with a sprinkle of basil or parmesan cheese.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Natalya Drozhzhin
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Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Great, hearty soup! Improvised with items in my pantry. Good for the freezer, just add the pasta (gluten free for me) when you’re heating up your soup.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Carolynn. Thank you for giving a great review!
Thanks for another great recipe. I used elbow pasta. We all loved it as usual, Always looking forward to your recipes.
You’re welcome Wendy! I’m so glad you enjoyed that.
I used small elbows…..had the item for lunch many years ago at the Sacramento restaurant.
I like to nibble on a stick of dry parmesan while eating the soup
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Will make tomorrow, never heard of this pasta and could not find at Safeway, What other pasta will work.. Love all your recipes.
I Wendy, another pasta should work – elbows, mini farfalle, and orzo work. Some readers even substituted it with rice.
So love this soup!!! I’m going to convert to cook in my IP but stumped on how long to cook? 20 minutes? Then add pasta at end and cook for 1 minute. Thx!
Hi Mary Beth! I have not tested that to advise but it sounds like it may work. If you experiment please let me know how you like the recipe.
Hi,
Sorry for the stupid question but do you have to cook the pasta before you add it to the soup?
Hi Sue, the pasta was not pre-cooked. It cooks during the last ten minutes.
Ok thank you. The soup is delicious by the way.
I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
Hi Natasha. Why chicken broth and not beef broth. Wouldn’t beef broth give it more flavor?
Hi Sherry, we loved it with chicken broth. If you experiment with beef broth I would love to know how you liked that!
Hi Natasha,
This looks delicious. Can’t wait to try it. What do you think of adding barley instead of pasta? Will it work in this recipe?
Thanks,
Luba.
That’s a great question, Luba! I have not tested that to advise but it sounds like it may work. If you experiment please let me know how you like the recipe.
Made this last night, and it is delicious. I will cook vegetables a little longer next time, though. I sauteed mine quite awhile, but some we’re still a little too crunchy!
Great recipe! Since the pasta goes mushy when frozen, I remove half of the soup to the freezer just before the pasta goes in. I then use half the pasta in the remaining soup and the other half in the frozen portion when I reheat it. We eat this soup often.
That’s a great idea, Donna! Thank you for that awesome review!
What is the green garnish in your pictures? Is it parsley?
Hi Eve, yes it is parsley.
I see the recipe calls for 1 stalk celery…. is that right? Or does it mean 1 rib/stick of celery?
Thanks
Hi John, that is correct.
Thanks for sharing this. This recipe will become a staple in our home…this soup is soooo hearty, delicious and such a wintertime “comfort food”. Everyone gives this 5 stars!!
Thank you for the wonderful review, Linda!!
We really love this soup!! I used to buy it with the recipe with dried beans in a bag. Sorry to say, they don’t sell it anymore, So, I’m so happy that you put this one online!! I will be using dried beans in all of the recipes. Please let me know the difference in how to make this if possible & in a crockpot. My other question is that I have some fresh mushrooms, what would you think about adding them to this recipe. Thank You for your help.
Hi Connie, I haven’t tested that in a slow cooker to advise. If you experiment, please let me know how you like that.
Hi Natasha!
I’m a huge fan of all your recipes and you have never steered me wrong. Love everything you make!!
For the pasta in this, do you put it in dry and let it cook in the soup or cook it before hand and then add it? I know pastas can be wierd in soups and stews sometimes.
Thanks!!
Hi Lianne, you add the pasta un-cooked in step 6 and it cooks with the other ingredients. It’s added at the end for that reason – you cook it until the pasta reaches your desired doneness.
I just love your recipes and make a lot of them! Not kidding and they are always very good. I will be making this soon. Thank you
Thank you for the wonderful review!
Natasha, I have made more than 25 of your recipes to date (many, numerous times each), and they are all delicious . . . this one was no exception. I made a double batch (my only substitution was using ground turkey instead of the beef). An impromptu invititation to my elder sons and accompanied by some simple “7-Up Biscuits”, dinner was great. Thank you for all you do and share!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!!
Instead of ground beef, can I use an equal amount of stew meat?
Hi Betty, I haven’t tested that but I imagine that should work.
This soup is surprisingly easy! Totally delicious. Thanks for the Parmesan rind tip! I’m going to try it!
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed this recipe, Laura!
Natasha, this soup looks so delicious! I can wait to make it tonight. Thank You!
I hope you love it, Luba!
Use chick peas in place of the kidney beans. Add a leafy green. Traditionally it would be Escarole or chicory. Don’t use strong flavored greens like Kale. In a pinch you could use Spinach. We skip the meat. But my grandmother (from Italy) used ham.
Super great family meal. Some crunchy bread and a salad Yum
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Suzann!
Natasha, I love your recipes & have tried many of them. They are always great! Thank You for doing such amazing job! This soup looks delicious & I am planning to make it tonight.
Thank you for that wonderful compliment! You’re so nice!
Hey Natasha! This looks like fall in soup-from! So comforting!
I was wondering, if I were to make this in my slow cooker, what would be the directions for that?
Keep smiling and keep cooking!
Hi Nazish, I haven’t tested that in a slow cooker to advise. If you experiment, please let me know how you like that.
This was so tasty and actually pretty easy to make too! Can’t wait to try it again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Yum! I made this on Sunday and it was a huge hit with my family. I’ll be making it again for sure.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
One of the most flavorful soups! Glad I can make it at home! Thank you!
That’s just awesome, Natalie! Thank you for that great review.
I made this soup this weekend but as a vegetarian, omitted the beef and subbed in veggie stock and 1/2 a bag of frozen chopped spinach. It’s truly flavorful and delicious – So simple and versatile! Thanks!
You’re welcome, Sue! I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
Pasta e Fagioli is such a great comfort food dish for chilly weather. Yours looks great.
Isn’t it the best! Thank you for that compliment, Valerie!
Hi Natasha,
Lovely recipe and pictures, can’t wait to try to make it. I was wondering if it’s possible to omit the pasta? If yes, then what else might I have to also leave out or use less of? Thank you.
Hi Irina, you could leave out the pasta but it will be a little juicier since the pasta absorbs some of the liquid. I think it would still be a tasty vegetable soup. You could even use a little rice if you wanted it heartier or just add a little more veggies.