Crock Pot Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli
This easy Crock Pot Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli soup recipe is packed with flavor. You’ll love it better than the Olive Garden version!
A DELICIOUS OLIVE GARDEN SOUP RECIPE
I will be the first to admit that the first time I ever heard of or tasted this soup was at Olive Garden. I know it existed in Italy long before Olive Garden was ever around but it was Olive Garden that introduced me to this seriously yummy and hearty soup.
My go to pasta fagioli recipe! Fantastic and easy – thank you!
– Michelle
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
You can make this without a slow cooker. Follow the instructions below, but instead of adding to a slow cooker, just put all ingredients in a large pot (except for the pasta). Cook over low heat for about an hour. During the last 15-20 minutes, add in the pasta.
Absolutely. You can substitute the ground beef in this recipe for ground Italian sausage or you could use half ground beef and half sausage.
They are actually very similar! Minestrone is heavy on the vegetables with lots of variety where as pasta Fagioli’s main focus is mostly on the beans and the smaller pasta shapes.
If you know you are going to want to have leftovers, I would not add the pasta in with the whole slow cooker of soup towards the end of cooking. I would cook the pasta separately and add it to individual servings. The reason being is pasta will continue to absorb any liquid it is in long after it has stopped cooking. Store your soup and pasta separately in covered containers in the refrigerator and mix the two only when reheating. The soup will stay good in the refrigerator for up to one week.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
HOW TO MAKE OLIVE GARDEN PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP
Brown and crumble ground beef. Drain excess grease.
Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker (except for pasta) and stir.
Set slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
During the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, add in the pasta and stir.
Cook’s Notes: Pasta likes to absorb a lot of the liquid so if you like your soup a bit more soupy, be prepared to have an extra can of beef broth handy. You can add it in towards the end. Also, another way to avoid this is to precook your pasta first and then add it in at the end.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 2 carrots, finely diced
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 15 ounce can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 26 ounce container beef stock (or 3 cups)
- 25 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 1 cup ditalini pasta (or your favorite pasta shape)
Instructions
- Brown and crumble ground beef. Drain excess grease. Add into the slow cooker.
- Add all the other ingredients to the slow cooker (except for pasta) and stir.
- Cover and set slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours
- During the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, add in the pasta and stir. Cook until pasta is al dente then serve with breadsticks!
Video
Notes
- Pasta likes to absorb a lot of the liquid so if you like your soup a bit more soupy, be prepared to have an extra can of beef broth handy. You can add it in towards the end.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Originally published: November 2011
Updated & republished: December 2021
Got this in the crockpot as I write this! Can’t wait to try it! Already gave mine 5 stars after I read all the comments!!
Thank you Sue, hope you really did love it!
This is my second time making this recipe, followed the directions exactly the first time and WOW, so easy and I swear it is better than OG!! The second time I added more broth, sauce and meat because it freezes so well I wanted to make sure I had plenty of leftovers. I make the pasta separately so I do not lose liquid. I also added corn this time. I take the leftovers and use my food sealer to make individual servings, I freeze them with the pasta in 1.5 cup pouches. Perfect for lunch and so filling, the pasta does not get mushy if you freeze it right away. Perfect for a chilly day! I made my picky husband, who swears he does not like beans, take a taste of it last night, he ate the entire bowl and requested I make more. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!!
Aww Suzanne – thanks so very much!! You are so kind to take the time to come back and comment. It means so much!! So happy you love this one!
This is my favorite soup. I always get it when I go to Olive Garden. I never thought that making it myself would be so easy. My family absolutely loved it! I know I cooked it, but I think it’s better than Olive Garden. The only thing I did different from the recipe is use Italian style diced tomatoes.
I love hearing that so much Sara!!! Yay!! Thank you so much for coming back to comment!
Our family usually does an Italian theme for our Christmas Eve dinner (as a break from traditional Christmas dinner foods). This is always requested for me to bring this dish. It’s so loved by all – from teens to older adults. This soup always turns out great!!
My go to pasta fagioli recipe! Fantastic and easy – thank you!
Thank you so much for coming back to comment! It really is so appreciated!!
Loved ! So good. I added in cooked cheese tortellini bc that’s what I had , instead of small pasta . Great !!
This is a great soup, its just two of us now so it makes a lot before I drop the pasta in I take half of the soup and freeze it then when we get ready for soup again I add pasta and more broth and cook for about 30 mins and its great. So you can freeze as long as you don’t add the pasta .
This is one of my go-to meals on a cool spring or fall day and all winter long. I always have plenty to share with people and they all love it, too!
I have made this soup at least a dozen times, absolutely love it!
Yay thank you so much Carol! It means so much to hear when someone actually made and enjoyed a recipe. Thank you for taking the time to comment!
I used dry beans instead of canned because that was what I had on hand so I doubled the liquid. I would definitively omit the salt if you do that too as it was ok for my guys but too salty for me. We always plan for leftovers so the author’s suggestion to cook the pasta separately was a great idea. The flavor was wonderful and my home smelled amazing all day.
Definitely trying this soon. Never prepared it in a slow cooker before, so I’m definitely looking forward to experimenting. Thank you for posting the recipe
This recipe is a regular in our home!! So yummy. I add onion powder, garlic, and that’s it! It’s excellent for leftovers/meal prep. Thank you!!!
Love this recipe ….shared with others !! Better than Olive Garden !! Only change was I added a sprinkle of garlic powder !!
So easy to make and even super fussy stepdaughter ate and had seconds!
Delicious! Made it exactly as written, except I used a can of diced tomatoes, onions and peppers instead of plain tomatoes and fresh parsley, since we still had some in the herb garden. Served with parmesan on top and garlic bread on the side, and it was a wonderful winter meal. Will DEFINITELY make again! Thanks so much!
Love hearing that Elizabeth! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
Love this recipe! Forecast is snow tomorrow, so we are looking forward to this for dinner tomorrow – still simmering in the crock pot tonight. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Love this recipe
I followed the recipe exactly, and it turned out so well. My pickup toddler asked for a second helping. This will definitely go into rotation!
Seriously might be better than Olive Garden!!! I make this a lot!!! ❤️
Thank you so very much Shanna!
We LOVE this soup! It is so savory and hearty with great flavors. It’s a regular at our house.
I’ve probably made this recipe over 50 times. It’s my kids’ (age 3&4) favorite meal! Everyone loves it! Thanks!
Sharon – it always makes my day when I hear the kiddos love a recipe! Thank you so very much for taking the time to come back and comment. It means so much!
Made it for the first time. Followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious! This is a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for posting actual pictures of the ingredients in the recipes. I’m not the greatest cook and avoid it as much as possible but to save money I’ve been trying to cook more. Those pictures help since I really don’t know what some things are or how they are packaged. Thank you!
Thank you for telling me that Trisha! It really helps to know!
Easy, peasy. Soooo good. Just like Olive Garden. It’s a keeper!
Thanks so much Joann!
I love the soup. It’s easy, healthy, and my kids love it. Thank you.
I used the larger can of tomatoes, added half a bunch of fresh parsley and used ground lean white meat turkey (with my own added spices) because i am on WW. I used a whole box of broth and two cups of dry pasta. OMG good. Full large oval crock pot.
Love how you took the recipe and made it your own! Thanks so much Barbara!
I added potatoes, zuccini and summer squash. Cooking now.
Hi! Love how easy and delicious your recipes are! Just wanted to let you know that under “what you’ll need” you forgot to write the beef stock. I know that it’s listed in the recipe but just in case someone makes their grocery list off “what you need” 🙂
Yikes! Thanks Kristen, you are so right! I’ll get that fixed now. Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment!
What size are the cans of beans and tomatoes?
My sweetie said, "This looks good. Wanna' make it?" I did. It is excellent. Much better than I expected. Now we're going to try the salad dressing!
This was AMAZING!!!!! I definitely agree with everyone who says to cook & store the pasta separately – I cooked it separately, but mixed it before storing and the pasta, even though it was cooked, continued to soak up the broth. My only other suggestion would be to decrease the black pepper a bit because it was a lot more pepper-y than the Olive Garden's version. Aside from that, this was absolutely perfect – and I generally don't think knockoff recipes taste much like the original. This was definitely one that did!
I made this for dinner tonight. Followed the recipe except used ground turkey. It was delicious and makes a crock pot full. Will be making this often!
Skip the beef and beef stock. Use vegetable stock and if you must have a "meat" use soy sausage. This is a perfect soup for vegans.
OUTSTANDING!! I will make this often..thanks
Made this soup tonight….It was wonderful…had to add a little more beef broth probably because I coooked it longer than the hour listed….wonderful for this cold night.
1) Always add pasta after cooking it – and right before serving. I am never adding it until we are getting ready to eat – it may do ok to add before going off to work. It makes mush if you cook it in or leave it in. Lesson learned on that.
2) V8 juice adds an amazing layer. I didn't have any more broth and needed liquid with flavor. Really made it even better and added a beautiful layer.
I made this last night. It was very good. I had to add two more containers beef broth, because after I added the noodles they just sucked up the juice. I also used diced tomatoes that had Basil, garlic, and oregano. I also cooked it on the stove top. I will be making this again!!!
Just a note, OG also uses italian ground sausage and they do not add the cooked pasta until ready to serve.
I wanted to let you know that I tried this recipe a few weeks ago, and it has been requested 2 more times since. It was a big hit at our Christmas Eve party, too. I made it again last night for a New Year's Eve Party by request. I had been on the lookout for a good recipe that was simple because my husband loves this stuff at Olive Garden. This one will be on our regular menu now. Thank you.
Lisa
I love that recipe with the jarred sauce too 😉 You have beautiful photos.
Delicious! I made it using Italian seasoned ground turkey. A new family favorite!
Hi try making the pasta on the side and add it when you dish up . Works great and you don't have to worry about the pasta absorb up the liquid.
Just made this soup for my daughter's Christmas party! It tasted just like olive garden! Love it! Thank you so much. Your blog is wonderful. I especially appreciate your pictures of the products you use for the recipe. It makes things so much easier. Thanks for sharing your talents with us.
I made this. The house smells WONDERFUL. It's done. No one has eaten yet but it is delicious!!!
I made this for dinner tonight. Very yummy and so easy too! Even my very picky son ate it AND liked it. Thanks for sharing your recipes with us!
Just made this! Absolutely delish!! Remember to add the grated parm before serving!! Can't wait to make more of your recipies!