This Pasta Fagioli Soup Recipe is the classic Italian comfort food. It’s a recipe that resembles Olive Garden’s Pasta Fagioli, which I happen to love. Perfect for cold winter nights and crisp summer evenings. Come on in and I’ll share the recipe for Delicious and Easy Pasta Fagioli…
One fall Saturday afternoon, I had the bright idea to make soup over the fire pit. I didn’t have a whole lot in the pantry. All I could find were canned beans and some Italian Sausage.
Thank goodness, this Pasta Fagioli recipe has ingredients that are inexpensive and easy to find.
I found a recipe that resembled Olive Garden’s Pasta Fagioli, which I love. Instead of ground beef, I used Hot Italian Sausage. It gives the recipe a little kick, but not so much of a kick that it’s too spicy. Of course, you can change from spicy sausage to mild, or do half and half for a little less heat.
Either way, I think you’ll love it.
Here are my top Amazon Picks for this Pasta Fagioli Recipe…
(affiliate soup)
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Here’s my recipe for this Olive Garden Copycat Pasta Fagioli:
You’ll Need: (This serves a very large family or group of friends! There’s about 30 servings here! Freeze leftovers for cold winter nights!)
Copy Cat Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: about 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 Pound of Hot Italian Sausage – with sausage casing removed
- 2 Medium Vidalia Onions – Chopped
- 2 Large Carrots – Sliced, or chopped
- 6 Stalks of celery – Chopped
- 6 cloves of garlic – Chopped
- 2 29-oz. cans of diced tomatoes – do not drain
- 2 15-oz. cans of red kidney beans – do not drain
- 2 15-oz. cans of great northern beans – do not drain
- 1 29-oz. can of tomato sauce
- 28 oz. of V8 Juice
- 2 T of white vinegar
- 1 & 1/2 t of salt
- 2 t of oregano
- 2 t of basil1 t of ground pepper
- 1 t of thyme
- 1 package of ditali pasta
Instructions
- I used a cast iron kettle, but if you are doing this stove top, use a large dutch oven
- Cook the sausage, with the casings removed, just like you would ground beef
- Leave the fat from the sausage in the pot, and add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic
- Cook over medium/high heat for about 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender
- Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer
- Place lid on soup, and simmer for about an hour
- When soup is just about finished, cook your ditali pasta according to the package instructions
- Drain pasta, and add to the soup
- Serve with grated Parmesan Cheese!
Notes
This serves a very large family or group of friends. There’s about 30 servings here! Freeze leftovers for cold winter nights
BTW – Did you know that the Pasta Fagioli Soup at Olive Garden is one of the lowest fat items on the menu – only 2.5 grams of fat per serving? I did not know that before my recipe hunt, but that is very good to know
~Melissa – KidFriendlyThingsToDo.com