Pasta e Fagioli Soup
Pasta e fagioli soup is a popular dish at Olive Garden restaurants. It's a hearty meat and bean soup with vegetables and lots of wonderful Italian flavors.
Servings: 6 to 8
Equipment
- Pot 5½ Quarts or Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 Pound ground beef lean
- 14½ Ounces diced tomatoes canned
- 32 Ounces chicken broth
- 24 Ounces tomato sauce
- 4 Cloves garlic minced
- 1 sweet onion large, diced
- 2 carrots large, peeled and diced
- 3 Stalks celery diced
- 1½ Cups ditalini pasta dried
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 15½ Ounces great northern beans canned, rinsed and drained
- 15½ Ounces dark red kidney beans canned, rinsed and drained
- ½ Teaspoon salt and pepper or to taste
Optional Toppings:
- fresh basil
- parmesan cheese freshly grated
- red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat half the oil in a large pot over a medium to high heat.
- Add the meat, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Cook until browned and then drain off the excess grease and transfer the ground beef to a bowl. Set it aside.
- In the same pot, add a little more oil if needed and then sauté the carrots, onions and celery for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for another minute or 2.
- Next, add the ground beef back into the pot and pour in the pasta sauce, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, both cans of beans, and the seasonings. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover the pot with the lid and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Now add the dried ditalini noodles and cook for another 10 minutes or until the pasta is cooked to al dente or however you prefer it. Stir the soup occasionally so the noodles don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- You can add some more broth or a splash of water at this pot to thin the soup if it needs it and also taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.
- Serve the pasta e fagioli soup immediately, garnished with parmesan cheese, fresh basil and/or red pepper flakes if liked.
Notes
Choose lean beef: If you use fatty beef you'll end up discarding most of the grease anyway, so I recommend you use lean beef here. I used 85/15 ground beef in my soup and it came out really good.
Thinning the soup: If the soup is too thick, you can add extra broth near the end of the cooking time to thin it out. Don't add too much, just a little at a time.
Cool it before storing: Let the soup cool completely before you store it.
Thinning the soup: If the soup is too thick, you can add extra broth near the end of the cooking time to thin it out. Don't add too much, just a little at a time.
Cool it before storing: Let the soup cool completely before you store it.
Nutrition
Calories: 650kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 1390mg | Potassium: 1573mg | Fiber: 16g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 4077IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 179mg | Iron: 8mg
QR code
Scan this QR code with your phone's camera to view this recipe on your mobile device.
