A hearty and adaptable recipe for Pasta Fagioli, a traditional Italian soup stocked with beans and pasta in a flavorful herby tomato broth. A perfect one-bowl meal! Video. Check out 25 Cozy Vegetarian Soup Recipes
I’m not going to lie; the first time I tried Pasta e Fagioli was when I worked at the Olive Garden in the early ’90s while still in college. All you could eat “Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks” was the most commonly ordered item because of its affordability, and back then, it was all the rage, especially among college students. The soup was surprisingly good! Hearty, warming, and comforting!
We’ve taken everything we love about it and tweaked and perfected it through the years! Our version of Pasta Fagioli is made with ground turkey for added protein, with a bit of smoked paprika to give depth of flavor. Both fresh and dried herbs, along with tomatoes, create a flavorful broth.
Pasta Fagioli | 60-Sec Video
Table of Contents
Pasta Fagioli Soup Ingredients
We love that this recipe is totally adaptable! Pasta e Fagioli translates to “pasta and beans,” and you can switch these out as you like! Cannellini beans and ditalini pasta are completely interchangeable with what you have on hand. Use whatever meat you prefer. Some traditions swear on pancetta. Others use bacon or ground beef. Feel free to add a plant-based option.
- Protein– we use ground turkey here. Feel free to substitute ground beef, ground lamb, Italian sausage, bacon, or plant-based “meat”.
- Beans– cannellini or chickpeas, navy beans, kidney beans or whatever your favorite or a combo of two or three different types.
- Pasta– use small-shaped pasta (gluten-free if needed) such as ditalini, shells, elbows, or orzo.
- See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Ways to enhance Fagioli
- throw in a parmesan rind into the simmering broth for a rich enhancement.
- add red pepper flakes or Aleppo for spice.
How to make Pasta Fagioli with Meat
Step One- As you chop your vegetables, think of the size of the noodles and chop in a roughly similar size. Keeping sizes small gives a chance for a well-rounded bite with one spoonful!
Step Two- In a soup pot add olive oil and onions sauté about 5 minutes until translucent and softened.
Add garlic, ground turkey, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Saute about 3 minutes.
Step Three– Stir in celery, carrots and rosemary, basil, thyme and marjoram for about 1 minute to combine. Add broth, tomatoes, and beans simmer 20 minutes.
Step Four- Add pasta, cook until tender about 8-12 minutes. Add red wine vinegar.
Step Five- Adjust salt, pepper, and vinegar to taste. Add red pepper flakes or Aleppo for spicy goodness.
Top with fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese if desired.
How to serve this Traditional Italian Pasta Fagioli Recipe
- Classic Caesar Salad
- Radicchio Salad with Asian Pear & Walnuts
- Savory Leek Bread
- Rosemary Olive Sourdough Bread
Pasta Fagioli Soup Recipe FAQs
Made with turkey, beans and a rich tomato broth, Pasta e Fagioli is full of healthy protein, essential amino acids, and minerals.
A traditional Italian dish, meaning “pasta and beans”. It was a common peasant dish composed of inexpensive ingredients.
Yes, substitute plant-based meat for the turkey or leave it out adding more veggies to the mix.
More Soup Recipes You May Enjoy
This recipe gets even more flavorful in the next day or two. Yay for leftovers!
Hope you enjoy, Tonia
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
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Recipe for Pasta Fagioli
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8+ cups
- Category: soup
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
A hearty and completely adaptable delicious soup, Pasta Fagioli is a traditional Italian soup stocked with beans, meat and pasta in a flavorful herby tomato broth.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 12 ounces ground turkey, ground beef, ground lamb, or plant-based substitute
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 celery stalks, chopped small
- 1 cup carrots, chopped small
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
- 1 teaspoon each dried basil, thyme, and marjoram
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 15 oz tomatoes, whole or crushed
- 15 ounces (1 1/2 cups) northern cannellini beans, not drained
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 4 ounces dry pasta ( 1 heaping cup)- ditalini or other small pasta
Top with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese if desired.
Instructions
- As you chop your vegetables, think of the size of the noodles and chop in a roughly similar size.
- In a soup pot add olive oil and onions sauté about 5 minutes until translucent and softened.
- Add garlic, ground turkey, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Saute about 3 minutes.
- Stir in celery, carrots and rosemary, basil, thyme and marjoram for about 1 minute to combine. Add broth, tomatoes (break up a bit with a spoon if using whole tomatoes), and beans simmer 20 minutes.
- Add pasta, cook until tender about 8-12 minutes. Add red wine vinegar.
- Adjust salt, pepper, and vinegar to taste. Add red pepper flakes or Aleppo for spicy goodness.
Top with Parmesan cheese.
Notes
Add parmesan rind to the simmering broth for a richer flavor.
If you are planning on leftovers, consider cooking the pasta separately and just adding to the portions you are serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/4 cup
- Calories: 346
- Sugar: 5.2 g
- Sodium: 901 mg
- Fat: 12.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 38.3 g
- Fiber: 7.5 g
- Protein: 22.3 g
- Cholesterol: 39.1 mg
Just made this over the weekend, and it was just delicious. So easy, so flavorful. I added some fennel seeds to the sauté because why not. I love the Olive Garden shoutout — Pasta e Fagioli was always my pick for the soup/salad combo when I was growing up!! haha. Thanks to this site, I can now make one of my restaurant favorites (along with several others) at home now.
Glad you enjoyed this one Angela! Yes go with that instinct and add spices-love it!
Hi! Look delicious. Could this be made in the crockpot if pasta was added at the end?
I haven’t tried this but it seems like it would work. I would guess after sautéing meat and veg cooking in crockpot on low 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Add dry pasta 30 minutes before serving. Let us know if you give it a try!
Worked well! Thanks for the helpful suggestions:)
Oh great Chrstina! Thanks for checking back in.
This has become one of our favorite soups! So much flavor and easy to make! You are the BEST!
So happy you are enjoying!
Another delicious and easy recipe. I swapped a few ingredients for what I had in my pantry but it still tastes delicious. Thank you!
Glad it worked out Carol!
Wonderful, *love* the parm rind & fresh herbs! Added carrots & celery before onion b/c texture pref. Also used 12oz TJ’s veg “beefy” crumbles instead of meat, then added extra beans for more protein. Brilliant recipe! We look forward to variations based on whatever we have, thanks so much 🙂
Nice, I love how you adapted!
Excellent!
Love this recipe ❤️ I make it whenever I want something cozy-nourishing and flavorful.
If you’re planning to have keep leftovers in the fridge, I recommend cooking/storing the pasta separately, then combining to serve — that way the noodles keep their texture instead of turning mushy sitting in the broth.
Appreciate this Will. I included your tip in the recipe notes!
DELISH! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed this Lisa! What about making bruschetta with it? or a pasta salad?
Absolutely delicious. My husband a vegetarian so did Yves just like ground.
🥰
Oh that’s great to hear Diane!
A wonderful recipe! This was so flavorful, warming and nutritious and came together fairly easily (one pot dinner- Yes!!) A perfect meal for a late winter evening. Subbed the cannellini beans for lima beans and ditalini for teeny shells. The leftovers froze perfectly. Thank you!
Great to hear Annie, so glad you enjoyed!
Another great tasty recipe! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed Ariane!
This was absolutely delicious! I added chopped kale, the parmesan rind and added gluten-free elbow pasta. Thank you for such a comforting and tasty recipe.
We are so glad you enjoyed it!
My husband and I made this last night. It was so flavorful! We made it pretty much as written only the can of tomatoes I had was slightly larger (a little over 18 Oz), I added another carrot and I used a Parmesan rind while simmering. Unfortunately we couldn’t find the exact pasta but what we used worked. Next time I’d like to make this with a smaller pasta but other than that it was superb! Will be having the leftovers for dinner tonight and am looking forward to it! Thanks for another outstanding recipe!
So happy you enjoyed this Candice!
Hope to make this over the week. Could Mayocoba beans work? I’m thinking yea but thought I’d get your thoughts.
I am sure they would be great!
Made this tonight – came together really quick, so warming on a cold winter night. Love the flavors – added a parmesan rind to the broth, and used red kidneys – so, so good! Thank you!
Perfect, yay! So glad you enjoyed.
Quick and easy to pull together, husband loved it!
wonderful!
So delicious! This soup had so many levels of flavor, the perfect dinner for a chilly March evening. I even used some homemade smoked turkey stock to kick it up and it was amazing. Thank you!
Perfect Aimee, so happy you enjoyed!
This soup is hearty and flavorful and comes together so easily. Truly amazing. I used ground turkey, fire roasted diced tomatoes, great northern beans and small shell pasta. Thank you for another winning recipe.
Great to hear Joan! We’re happy you enjoyed!
Rave reviews from the kids! Yummy and easy. Even better flavor today then dinner last night.
Great!
Advertisements were so annoying didn’t want to bother with the recipe…what a shame!!
Sorry about that Theresa. Are you on phone, ipad or computer? There is a jump-to-recipe button at the top.