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.
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.
Pasta e Fagioli is Italian for "Pasta and Beans".
Absolutely. You can substitute the ground beef in this recipe for ground Italian sausage or you could use half ground beef and half sausage.
Yes. Americans tend to pronounce it as pasta fazool which is a take on the Neapolitan (Naples, Italy) pronunciation of pasta e fasule. But in the Italian mainland, it is generally pronounced as "paa·stuh faa·jee·o·lee"
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: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- ground beef
- onion
- carrots
- celery
- diced tomatoes
- dark red kidney beans
- cannellini beans
- spaghetti sauce
- beef broth
- dried oregano
- dried parsley
- salt and pepper
- ditalini pasta
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 LIKE THIS? TRY THESE!
Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli (+Video)
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
Originally published: November 2011
Updated & republished: December 2021
Elizabeth
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!
Brandie @ The Country Cook
Love hearing that Elizabeth! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
Darlene
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!
Jazmine Garcia
Love this recipe
AmyB
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!
Shanna
Seriously might be better than Olive Garden!!! I make this a lot!!! ❤️
Brandie @ The Country Cook
Thank you so very much Shanna!
Linda
We LOVE this soup! It is so savory and hearty with great flavors. It’s a regular at our house.