Pasta Fagioli Soup is hearty and filling and oh, so delicious! The perfect winter one-pot meal! This Italian favorite is full of rich flavors and loaded with beans, pasta, veggies, and beef in a silky tomato broth.
Winter Comfort Food
Pasta Fagioli Soup is one of our favorites when winter in Minnesota pretty much calls for soup every week! I love that it’s just so full of “stuff.” Hearty and filling, it’s the perfect combination of veggies, protein and pasta. Soup for dinner really is a wonderful meal, especially on a weekend. For one, you can make it anytime during the afternoon and let it simmer until dinner. It’s all in one pot, allowing you to clean up the kitchen while it cooks and sits ready for you when everyone gets hungry. As Dean Martin said, “That’s amore!”
A big pot of soup on a cold day is so cozy and comforting. With the Italian flavors and tiny pasta, I often consider pasta fagioli soup to be kid-friendly, although sometimes I find a few chunks of tomato and celery left in their little bowls. Still a win!
Instructions
Pasta Fagioli is one of the easiest soups to make! It’s full of pantry and refrigerator staples, so I often have everything I need already on hand. It makes a huge pot, easily serving a family of 4 to 6 with leftovers for lunch. Start by browning the beef and adding the veggies to saute along with it. When it is fully browned and your veggies have softened, season the mixture. Then add everything else, beans, tomato, stock and pasta. Let it simmer, covered for 30 to 40 minutes. That’s it! In that time, the pasta cooks, and the juice from the tomato combines with the stock for form that delicious silky red broth.
Substitutions
There are a few options for substitutions. I used whole peeled tomatoes and just chopped them on a cutting board. Diced tomatoes would also be fine, I like to have some tomato chunks, as well as all the juice from the can. I used 1 and 1/2 cups of ditalini pasta for this recipe. If you are trying to eat low carb, you could easily lower the amount of pasta to 1 cup or even 1/2 cup. This would still give the soup it’s signature pasta and bean combination, just be lighter on the pasta. You could, of course, leave the pasta out, but you would have quite a different pot of soup. Small pasta shells would work too if you can’t find ditalini.
More Favorite Soups!
- Chicken Wild Rice Soup
- Beef Cabbage Soup
- Split Pea Soup with Ham
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Veggie Beef Chili
- Potato Corn Chowder
Pasta Fagioli Soup
Ingredients
- ½ to 1 lb ground beef (or bulk Italian Sausage)
- 1 small onion chopped (about 1 cup)
- 3 ribs celery chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 carrots shredded (about 2 cups)
- 1 t kosher salt
- 8 grinds fresh black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 t Italian Seasoning
- 1 15oz can cannellini or any white beans drained and rinsed
- 1 15oz can kidney or red beans drained and rinsed
- 1 28oz can diced or whole tomatoes, chopped with juices
- 4 c chicken stock
- 2 c water
- 1½ c ditalini pasta
- chopped parsley for garnish optional
- Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- In a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat, brown the beef. As it's browning, move it to one side of the pot and saute the onion, celery and carrot in the other side using the fat from the beef. About 15 minutes, season with salt and pepper.
- When beef is browned and veggies are softening, add garlic and Italian Seasoning.
- Add all other ingredients, cover, lower heat to medium low. Simmer 30 to 40 minutes or until pasta is cooked.
- Garnish with parsley and serve with Parmesan cheese. As the soup sits, you may need to add another cup of water if it becomes too thick.
Can I use orzo instead
Yes! Orzo would work great too!
Crock pot friendly?
Hi Paula,
I have never made this soup in a crockpot but YES you absolutely could. You would need to brown the beef first, then add all other ingredients except the pasta. The only issue I see will be taking care not to overcook your pasta. So, if you plan to make this in the morning and then go to work all day, unattended, add everything except the pasta and cook on LOW, then add your pasta right when you get home, turn up to high and eat when the pasta is done (taste one to check). OR if you are going to be home, I don’t think the soup would really need to cook that long. You could brown the beef, then add everything else including the pasta, either set to high or low, depending on how fast you want it to be done, and just eat it when the pasta is cooked. My guess is on low, this would take 4 hours and on high maybe 2 hours, but I haven’t tested these times. Hope this helps!