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Pasta e Fagioli Olive Garden Copycat Recipe

Name: Pasta e Fagioli Olive Garden Copycat Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef; 1 small onion (diced (1 cup)); 1-2 carrots (julienned (1 cup)); 2-3 stalks celery (chopped (1 cup)); 2 cloves garlic (minced); 2 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce can / 411 grams); 1 can red kidney beans, not drained (15 ounce can / 425 grams); 1 can great northern beans, not drained (15 ounce can / 425 grams); 1 can tomato sauce (15 ounce can / 425 grams); 1 can V-8 vegetable juice (12 ounce can / 354 mL); 1 tablespoon white vinegar; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1 teaspoon dried oregano; 1 teaspoon dried basil; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme; 5 ounces ditali pasta

4.67 / 5 ( 18 Reviews )

8 Comments Jump to Recipe

Awesome copycat recipe for Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup! One of my friends used to work there and this is the copycat recipe she uses too. ;)

Nov 23, 2019 The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure

Copycat pasta fagioli in bowl

Amazing Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Recipe

After enjoying the delicious homemade Olive Garden chicken alfredo recipe, I knew I needed more Olive Garden copycat recipes in my life! After trying a few different copycat recipes for the Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup, I chose this one as my favorite.

One of my neighbors/friends used to work at Olive Garden and this is the recipe she uses too. I’m not saying it is the Olive Garden pasta fagioli recipe, but I do think it is a pretty good copycat! And either way, it is a great soup recipe!

Like many soup recipes, it is easy and quick to throw it all together, freezes well, and it is nice for feeding a large crowd too. The only ingredient that I don’t regularly have on hand is the V-8 juice. No problem though, it is easy to find at any grocery store.

Pasta fagioli copycat

Pasta Fagioli Recipe Preparation

Before we start cooking, we’ll have to do a little bit of prep work. I recently learned some cool techniques on how to dice onions and julienne carrots, so hopefully, they help!

How to Dice an Onion

Cut the onion in half through the root and stem ends.
Peel the onion.
Place one-half cut-side-down on a cutting board.
Make fan-shaped cuts around the dome of the onion from the stem end to the root end, without cutting through the root end.
Then slice across the cuts and you have diced onion!

Of course, you can also peel and chop the onion into quarters, removing the stem and root ends, and place the pieces in a food processor. Then pulse a few times until the onion pieces reach the desired size. More dirty dishes though!

How to Julienne Carrots

Peel the carrot.
Slice the carrot at a sharp angle, making elongated oval discs.
Stack three or four of the ovals on top of one another.
Cut through the stack creating matchstick carrot pieces, or julienne.

Copycat olive garden pasta fagioli

Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Recipe Instructions

At this point your ground beef should be browned, veggies should be chopped, seasonings should be measured, and cans should be opened! Once all that is done, you can start cooking up your pasta e fagioli.

olive garden pasta fagioli recipe

Step 1: Add the chopped veggies and minced garlic to the pot and saute for about 10 minutes:

Step 2: Dump in all of the other ingredients, except the pasta, and let it simmer for an hour:

Step 3: Before the soup is done simmering, cook the ditalini pasta according to the package instructions

Step 4: Stir in the drained, cooked pasta, let it all simmer a few more minutes:

pasta fagioli olive garden recipe

Instant Pot Fagioli Soup:

Debbie made this in her Instant Pot and it turned out fabulously!
Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat or in the Instant Pot on saute setting. Drain off most of the fat.
Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the pot and sauté for 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to Instant Pot, if not already in there.
Add remaining ingredients, except pasta.
Then add the pasta on top of the other ingredients, DO NOT STIR it in.
Pressure Cook on HIGH for 8 minutes and do a quick pressure release.

That’s It!

The soup is done! Enjoy for dinner and freeze the leftovers! Or, if you are going to freeze it right away, I would skip the last few minutes of simmering and just let it cool.

To help give you an idea of the amount of soup in one batch, my red Dutch oven in the picture is 6.5 quarts. For my family of 2 adults and 3 small children, this recipe makes two entrees. So, I would make one batch to get two possible freezer meals.

See More Copycat Recipes!

See our other Olive Garden copycat soup!
Don’t miss the delicious Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe
Check out our recipe for Olive Garden Bread Sticks!

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Olive garden pasta fagioli recipe