Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup is comfort food that offers healthy carbs and lots of flavor. You will love this spiced copycat soup with its tomatoes, pasta and beans.
Once this Italian spiced soup popped up on the menus in the Olive Garden restaurants there was no way not to notice.
Not only is it fun to say but it tastes really good too. Also known as Pasta Fazool this wonderful bean soup is a downhome meal in every region of Italy.
They all have their own version but I have gone for the Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli and it has turned out to be 'the best'
There are some other under 30 minutes recipes that are in the Italian vein that would go great with this vegan soup.
I can think of Olive Tapenade Crostini and Mediterranean Pasta Salad.
Table of Contents
Fun Facts about Pasta Fazool!
First there was the soup and then there were the pronunciations.
Pasta Fazool, Pasta Fazoola, Pasta e Fagiolo, Pasta e Fasule, Pasta Fagioli, Whatever it is, it all means Pasta and Beans.
Then there were the songs. Way back in the 1920's Pastafazoola was made famous by a male duo and they sang out "Don't be a fool, eat pastafazool!". That song was recorded several times by other artists.
Then there was Dean Martin's 'Amore'. He not only sang about a big pizza pie in your eye he also sang “When the stars make you drool, just-a like pasta fazool, that’s amore”
I mean it has got to be good stuff!
Pasta Fazioli Ingredients
- White Onion - has a more pungent flavor that I really like when added to this soup. You can substitute yellow onion with no problem.
- Garlic - is a must in my cooking and you can add more than 2 cloves if you like.
- Vegetable Broth - adds so much flavor and is a must for cooking the pasta - right in the same pan with everything else!
- Tomatoes - are used and I use canned but if you happen to have fresh just measure out the amount that you need.
- Tomato Sauce - and you use the small can but it helps add to the richness.
- Tomato Paste - adds the best deep rich tomato flavor that just can't be beat.
- Carrots - contrast perfectly with the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Celery - mellows in flavor when you put it in soups. Just don't add too much.
- Oregano - is a classic seasoning in Italian dishes.
- Basil - is added for even more flavor.
- Cumin - adds a bit of spicy flavor.
- Cannellini Beans - are white kidney beans.
- Kidney Beans - are the final beans addition to this vegan and vegetarian Pasta e Fagioli recipe.
- Ditalini Pasta - is a type of pasta that is shaped like small tubes.
- Salt and Pepper
You would think all of those ingredients turning into an amazing soup would be a lot of work. It's not!
All it takes is a bit of vegetable chopping and 20 minutes of cooking time. Simple.
How to Make Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup
- You only use one large skillet and the recipe is all done in 30 minutes.
- To make this oil free add 3 tablespoons of water in a large skillet.
- Heat water, add the onions and sauté 10 minutes stirring so that the onions don't burn.
- Add the garlic for another minute.
- Make sure the carrots are cut very small so that they cook in 10 minutes.
- To the skillet add the broth, all tomato ingredients, carrots, celery, oregano, basil and cumin.
- Bring to a boil and add the uncooked pasta and both kinds of beans (drained).
- Reduce the heat to medium high and cook the Pasta Fagioli Soup for 8 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and I start with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and usually add more.
And there you have it! A rich and easy soup that will feed a lot of people.
More Vegan Soup Recipes to Try
📋 Recipe
Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup
Ingredients
- 6 ounces ditalini pasta - uncooked - 6 ounces by weight and 1 ½ cups by measurement
- 1 cup white onion - diced
- 2 cloves garlic - chopped finely
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 15 ounces tomatoes - diced and canned or fresh tomatoes to measure that amount
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 ½ cups carrots - chopped small, about 2 carrots
- ½ cup celery - chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 15 ounces cannellini beans - canned and drained
- 15 ounces kidney beans - canned and drained
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black ground pepper
Instructions
- Add about 3 tablespoons water to a large skillet. Sauté the onions for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
- To the skillet add the broth, all tomato ingredients, carrots, celery, oregano, basil and cumin.
- Bring to a boil and add the uncooked pasta and both kinds of beans
- Reduce heat to medium high and cook the soup for 6 to 8 minutes. You are looking for al dente pasta.
- Add the salt and pepper, stir and then taste.
- Serve hot with crusty bread or bread sticks.
Mollie
This soup is great! The proportions are spot on! I doubled the recipe, slightly undercooked it and removed half for freezer containers, added pasta and continued cooking till pasta was al dente. I used Pomi strained tomatoes instead of sauce, and an extra tsp of Italian Spice Blend just for good measure, and some extra celery because I like it. I would definitely recommend this soup!
Vicki
This soup really filled that spot last night. The flavor was great and loved the veggie mix inside.
Suee33
Delicious soup - fast to make and is winter hit.