Who doesn’t love Olive Garden? Everybody does, but not everybody can go whenever they want so this is a perfect way to bring the restaurant to your table. Italian cuisine is very popular, but not all Italian food is easy to make.
That is not the case with this soup. This is an all-in-one pot dish. Easy and fast, it only takes 30 minutes from start to finish and you can feed your family an Italian favorite.
Winter’s cold weather calls for hot and delicious food to warm not only your body but your heart as well, and this is a winner recipe for that. Soup season is officially here and this copycat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli has it all!
WHAT’S IN OLIVE GARDEN PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP
This wonderfully hearty soup has it all. Protein from ground beef. Veggies from onions, carrots, and celery.
Complex carbs from red kidney beans and cannellini beans.
Pasta gives it the Italian touch, all cooked in a beef broth and tomato sauce base with diced tomatoes. It also has basil and oregano, which are the most recognized herbs in Italian cuisine.
HOW TO MAKE OLIVE GARDEN PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP
- Step 1. In a large pot over medium heat, cook ground beef until no pink is showing
- Step 2. Once the beef is cooked, add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic
- Step 3. Next, add the tomato sauce, beef broth, the canned petite diced tomatoes, ½ cup of water, basil, oregano, salt and pepper
- Step 4. Bring this to a boil and let simmer for 5-6 minutes. Add the ditalini pasta and cook for 10 minutes more or until the vegetables and pasta are cooked
- Step 5. Stir in the kidney and cannellini beans and cook until these are heated through.
Check the seasoning and add more water if you want a thinner soup.
- Step 6. Make sure everything is well combined and beans are hot. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
CAN I USE BLACK BEANS IN OLIVE GARDEN PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP?
If you don’t have red kidney beans, you can use black beans but the soup will acquire a darker color.
I would highly recommend using red kidney beans instead. If using black beans, drain all the liquid and rinse the beans to remove all the dark juice.
CAN YOU FREEZE OLIVE GARDEN PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP?
Yes, you can make it ahead of this recipe and freeze it in a freezer bag.
When you are ready to serve it, let it thaw inside the bag. When thawed, put it in a large pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
HOW MANY CALORIES IN OLIVE GARDEN PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP
Each serving of Copycat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli has 150 calories
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Copycat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, chopped finely
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 3 celery ribs, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
- 2 (14.5oz) can beef broth
- 1 (14.5oz) can petite diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup of water
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 8 oz dry ditalini pasta
- 1 (15oz) can dark red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (15oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- Parmesan cheese, freshly grated for serving
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, cook ground beef until no pink is showing
- Once the beef is cooked, add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic
- Next, Add tomato sauce, beef broth, canned tomatoes, water, basil, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper
- Bring this to a boil and let simmer for 5-6 minutes. Add the ditalini pasta and cook for 10 minutes more or until the vegetables and pasta are cooked
- Stir in the kidney and cannellini beans and cook until these are heated through. Check the seasoning and add more water if you want a thinner soup.
- Make sure everything is well combined and beans are hot. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese
My husband is an Italian from Brooklyn (his mother came here from southern Italy), so he’s very particular about his Italian meals. I’ve been making this recipe for years and he says it’s better than his mother’s. We sub a mix hot & sweet Italian sausage for the beef, since that’s what he grew up with. Other than that, it’s pretty close to my mother-in-law’s recipe. She doesn’t add sugar to the soup, nor garlic. In Italy garlic isn’t used as much as it is here; it’s an Italian American thing. I think that’s what makes the difference and what hubby prefers.
Like others, I double, and sometimes triple the recipe, for leftovers and freezing before pasta is added.
Ciao, Angela
I keep making this recipe again and again because it’s just so good. The only change that I prefer is to shred the carrots. They’re not as crunchy, but just as tasty. Thank you!
Loved this soup recipe so it ended up the inspiration for a slightly different version. I didn’t have the pasta, so used so cheese tortellini. I also had to change up the ground beef to sausage. I had read a few recipes and the used ground sausage. So without even checking first, I cooked the sausage with the veggies and garlic, then decided to check the recipe. Oops! But was fantastic.
Super easy to make – makes A LOT and was absolutely delicious! I used pinto beans as I did not have cannellini on hand – it was so good!
So glad you loved it! Thanks so much for the 5 star rating!
Easy. Delicious.
I made this yesterday! A double batch… it was very good.. thanks so much!!! Definitely making it again..
How wonderful, Colleen! So glad you decided to give it a try!
You say to add water, but water isn’t in the ingredients. How much to use?
it’s a half a cup, about 8th down on the list.
What is the sugar for and when do we add it? It’s not under the instructions
Sugar is added to tomato-based soups or stews to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes. Add it to the pot along with the salt and pepper.
Surprised my husband when he mentioned he wanted this soup from Olive Garden. Very easy to make, and he loved it!!
How wonderful, Deanna! So glad you decided to give it a try!
This is awesome! My kids love it. Never any left overs! The first time I made it I froze half of it but I had to defrost it the next day because the kids had eaten all of it! Great recipe! Thanks!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for coming back and letting me know how it turned out.