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Made with tender ground beef, tiny pasta, white beans, and vegetables in a savory tomato broth, this comforting and hearty Pasta Fagioli is incredibly delicious! It’s a healthy, quick, and easy classic Italian soup perfect for weeknights that you can make in just 30 minutes!
Pasta Fagioli Soup Recipe
If you love Minestrone Soup you are going to love this recipe! Pasta fagioli is a traditional Italian pasta soup with beans and veggies in a delicious tomato broth. There are different variations of the soup with some that are vegetarian and others like this one that have meat in them. But they all include beans and some type of small pasta such as ditalini or elbow macaroni.
And it’s a super easy one-pot meal! This pasta fagioli recipe is layered in flavor, but only takes 30 minutes to make from start to finish! So it’s a fantastic weeknight dinner that you can whip together in no time. Then the next day you already have lunch ready to go because we all know that soup is even better the next day!
Why You’ll Love This Pasta Fagioli
- Quick and Easy! This comforting soup is a simple one-pot meal that you can make in just 30 minutes with very easy to find affordable ingredients.
- Comforting Italian Soup! With lots of tender ground beef, creamy beans, and yummy pasta in a rich broth, pasta e fagioli soup is a delicious Italian classic.
- Make Ahead Meal! If you want a dish that works for both lunch and dinner this is it! You can make a big pot for dinner and then eat the leftovers for lunch all week.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Main Ingredients
- Ground Beef – I like to use lean ground beef, but any type of ground meat can be used including ground turkey. You could also use Italian sausage.
- Onion – Brown onion is the best choice, but any type of onion you have on hand is perfect.
- Celery – A classic soup vegetable that adds both flavor and texture.
- Carrots – Adds just a touch of natural sweetness that is lovely with the tomato base.
- Tomato Sauce – A can of tomato sauce is needed to make the broth.
- Vegetable Broth – I always use a low sodium variety to control the saltiness. You can also use chicken broth or beef broth if you prefer.
- Cannellini Beans – I used white cannellini beans but any type of beans will work such as great northern beans, kidney beans, and garbanzo beans.
- Ditalini Pasta – This is a very small type of pasta shaped like small tubes. Other options include orzo, acini di pepe, and elbow macaroni.
Spices And Herbs
- Olive Oil – Use extra virgin olive oil for the added flavor.
- Garlic – Use fresh minced garlic cloves. Jarred garlic will work, yet it can sometimes have an acidic taste due to preservatives.
- Herbs – A mixture of bay leaf, parsley, oregano, and basil is used to give the soup lots of authentic Italian flavor.
- Sugar – Just a pinch is added to round out the savory tomato broth.
- Seasonings – Salt and pepper are used to season the soup.
- Red Pepper Flakes – Add a touch of spice. You can omit the chili flakes if you like.
This delicious classic Italian soup is super quick and easy! It’s a one-pot meal made with everyday ingredients that comes together in just 30 minutes!
Cook The Ground Beef
To begin, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat. Next, add the ground beef and cook it for about 5 minutes as you break it up with a wooden spoon. When it’s done the beef should no longer be pink. Then drain any excess oil if needed.
Sauté The Veggies
Next, add the onion, carrot, and celery to the pot and saute it together with the ground meat for 3 minutes or until the vegetables soften up a bit. Then add the minced garlic and cook the mixture for just 30 seconds more until the garlic is aromatic.
Make The Broth And Cook
Once the veggies are cooked, add the tomato sauce, vegetable broth, bay leaf, dried herbs, sugar, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to the pot. Then stir and bring the soup to a boil. Next, cover the pot and lower the heat to a simmer. Now, let the soup cook for 15 minutes.
Finish The Soup
To complete the recipe, stir in the drained cannellini beans and ditalini pasta. Now, cook the soup uncovered for about 5 minutes until the pasta is just slightly undercooked. Don’t worry it will continue to cook and absorb more liquid as it sits in the warm broth. If the soup is too thick just add a bit more broth.
Serve And Enjoy
Finally, remove the bay leaf, taste the pasta fagioli, and season it with more salt if necessary. Now, ladle the soup into bowls and serve it topped with grated parmesan cheese and some homemade Focaccia Bread if you like.
Does Pasta Fagioli Contain Meat?
Many pasta fagioli recipes don’t contain any meat and are completely vegetarian. But there are plenty of other versions that do. In some recipes bacon or pancetta is used just to flavor the soup. But in other recipes like this one ground beef is added. So the variations vary widely, but they are all delicious.
Can I Use Dried Beans In This Pasta Fagioli?
In this case, you should not use dried beans. This is a quick 30-minute recipe so there is no way that the beans would have time to cook. That’s why the recipe calls for canned beans. However, if you have dried beans that you have already cooked, that would work.
Expert Tips
- Drain the fat. If cooking the ground meat produces a lot of fat, you should drain the excess oil from the pot before continuing on with the recipe to prevent the soup from being oily.
- Don’t overcook the pasta. Only simmer the pasta for about 5 minutes in the soup. The pasta will continue to cook in the hot broth even after the soup comes off the heat.
- Season at the very end. Don’t add extra salt before the soup is done. All soup reduces as it cooks, so if you add it too soon it can get really concentrated as the soup simmers.
Storage
Leftover pasta fagioli will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months when stored in an airtight container. To reheat, just put the soup in the microwave for a few minutes on medium power or in a saucepan over medium heat on the stovetop. However, if it has been frozen, let it thaw out first overnight in the fridge.
Other Delicious Soup Recipes To Try
- Instant Pot Creamy Potato Sausage Soup
- Zucchini Soup
- Chicken Rice Soup
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
Pasta Fagioli
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef extra lean
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 6 cups vegetable broth low sodium
- 1 bay leaf
- 1½ teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- salt & pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 30 ounces cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup ditalini pasta
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat.. Add the ground beef and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until no longer pink. Drain if needed.
- Add the onion, celery and carrots to the pot and cook for another 3 minutes until the vegetables soften. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
- To the pot, add the tomato sauce, vegetable broth, bay leaf, dried herbs, sugar, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil then cover the pot, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
- Add the cannellini beans and pasta to the soup and cook uncovered for about 5 minutes. You should undercook the pasta because the pasta will continue to cook and absorb liquid once off the heat.
- Discard bay leaf, and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
Tips & Notes:
- If the soup is too thick add more broth as needed.
- Drain the fat. If cooking the ground meat produces a lot of fat, you should drain the excess oil from the pot before continuing on with the recipe to prevent the soup from being oily.
- Don’t overcook the pasta. Only simmer the pasta for about 5 minutes in the soup. The pasta will continue to cook in the hot broth even after the soup comes off the heat.
- Season at the very end. Don’t add extra salt before the soup is done. All soup reduces as it cooks, so if you add it too soon it can get really concentrated as the soup simmers.
- Leftover pasta fagioli will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months when stored in an airtight container.
