Pasta Fagioli

5 from 1 vote

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!

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 498kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Equipment

6 Quart Dutch Oven

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

US Customary - Metric

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.

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.

Nutrition