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Home » Dinner » Italian » Pasta E Fagioli Soup

Pasta E Fagioli Soup

Created: January 8, 2020 Updated: October 4, 2022 by Lyuba Brooke 8 Comments

4.2K shares
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Pasta e Fagioli is a classic Italian soup made primarily with pasta and beans. There is so much flavor in this simple soup and one special ingredient makes this unlike any other. It’s a comforting homemade soup that’s perfect for cold days.

Once you enjoy a bowl of this comforting soup, try my Minestrone Soup next and homemade Chicken Noodle after that. All these soups are heartwarming and yet, they have a ton of health benefits. 

pasta e fagioli soup in a bowl with a spoon

PASTA E FAGIOLI

This is another one of the classic Italian soups that I love making. Pasta e Fagioli literally means “pasta and beans” and it started out as peasant food much like many other classic recipes that we love. Ingredients are inexpensive and preparation is simple, but the key is in those few flavor pops that take the soup to a whole new level of delicious.

I’ve been making this soup for many years, trying some different variations in ingredients and keep coming back to this version. I prefer to use great northern white beans because of the smaller shape or cannellini beans if I need to substitute. When it comes to pasta, smaller type of pasta is the traditional way to go. My kids love ditalini pasta so I often use that. 

Besides the two main ingredients, I do have a couple of secret weapons up my sleeve that makes this soup taste the best. No, it’s not bacon, I actually find bacon too overpowering here because pasta and beans have such mild flavor. The secret ingredients are Parmesan cheese rind and fire roasted tomatoes.

Throw in a couple of Parmesan cheese rinds in with the soup while the beans are cooking and it will be life-changing! The hint of smokiness from fire-roasted tomatoes add another layer of flavor that enhances all other ingredients. 

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soaked beans in a strainer and metal bowl on a wood table

Can I Use Canned Beans?

Yes, to save time, I have used canned beans on many occasions but I still do let the soup cook for a good hour to let all the flavors develop. If substituting canned beans, use two cans of beans that are about 15 oz and drain off the liquid. 

Why Cook Pasta Separate?

I often refer to pasta as a “sponge” ingredient. It will soak up all the liquid in soup, sauce, and pasta salads. Any time I make a big batch of soup that I know we will not eat right away, I always cook pasta separate. If you cook pasta in the soup and leave it in the fridge for a prolonged period of time, it will soak up all the broth. That’s why I recommend cooking pasta separately and adding it when you’re ready to serve the soup. 

If you will be eating the whole batch of soup right away, you can cook pasta right in the soup. Just add another cup or so of broth when preparing soup. 

adding tomatoes to the pot

HOW TO MAKE PASTA E FAGIOLI

NOTE: I use dry beans and soak them overnight. Using dry beans also increases cook time to about 3 hours. If you forgot to soak the beans, it’s not a big deal, just cook the soup for another hour or so and use a little extra stock. (If you opt for canned beans, cook time will be about an hour.) 

The day before preparing the soup, rinse the beans and place them in a bowl or a food storage container. Fill enough water to cover the beans with 2 inches of water. Mix in salt and let the beans soak overnight. When ready to use, drain the beans and use them in soup. 

This soup starts with a classic soffritto, which is a mixture of onions, celery, and carrots sweated until tender and then slightly browned. Add pressed garlic and saute until fragrant. Once vegetables start to brown, add tomatoes, drained beans, stock, seasoning, and Parmesan rind.

Bring everything to simmer, turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid but leave a small opening for the steam to escape. Cook for about 3 hours, stirring once in a while. 

When the soup is almost done, cook pasta according to the package instructions in a separate pot. You can add pasta to individual bowls if you know there will be leftovers. Store pasta and soup separately. (If you’re planning on serving the whole pot of soup at the same time, you can cook pasta right in the soup.)

Discard the bay leaves and the Parmesan rind before serving. 

adding Parmesan and bay leaves to the pot

HOW TO MAKE IT IN INSTANT POT

NOTE: I have not found a need to soak beans before cooking them in a pressure cooker or a slow cooker. 

Set Instant Pot to saute setting and add oil to the bottom. Add diced onions, celery, and carrots and saute until softened. Stir in garlic and saute until fragrant. Pour in can of diced tomatoes, drained beans, stock, seasoning, and Parmesan rind.

Stir everything together, close the lid and make sure it’s latched. Turn the valve to “SEAL” and set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high pressure cook mode for 30 minutes.

Let it do a natural release for about 10 minutes and then do a quick release. Be careful opening the lid. (Remember to consult the manual for your pressure cooker for specific operating instructions.)

Discard Parmesan rind and bay leaves. 

You can mix in cooked pasta in individual bowls if you know there will be leftovers. Store pasta and soup separately.

If you’re planning on serving the whole pot of soup at the same time, you can cook pasta right in the soup. In that case, add pasta to the soup, close the lid and make sure it’s latched. Turn the valve to “seal” and pressure cook on low for 4 minutes. 

cooked soup without pasta in a pot

HOW TO MAKE IT IN A SLOW COOKER

NOTE: I have not found a need to soak beans before cooking them in a pressure cooker or a slow cooker. 

Use a small pan to cook the vegetables first. Sweat onions, celery, and carrots in some oil until tender over medium-low heat and then raise the heat to medium and let it saute. Add pressed garlic and saute until fragrant. Once vegetables start to brown, transfer it to the slow cooker.

Add tomatoes, drained beans, stock, seasoning, and Parmesan rind. Close the lid and cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours or on LOW for 6-8 hours.

Discard Parmesan rind and bay leaves. 

You can mix in cooked pasta in individual bowls if you know there will be leftovers. Store pasta and soup separately.

If you’re planning on serving the whole pot of soup at the same time, you can cook pasta right in the soup. Add pasta to the slow cooker, close the lid, and cook on HIGH until tender. 

adding pasta to the soup that is in a pot

CAN I FREEZE PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP?

Yes, but freeze it without pasta. Prepare soup as instructed but do not make the pasta until you defrost the soup and ready to reheat. 

When freezing food, it’s best to cool it as quickly as possible before portioning and freezing. To cool the soup, place the pot with soup into a larger container filled with ice and let it cool, stirring occasionally.

Once soup is cooled to room temperature, portion it into freezer zip-lock bags. Get the air out and seal. Label and date each bag and lay them flat on a cutting board. Place it in the freezer. Once the soup is completely frozen, you can stack the bags to save space. 

Thaw soup in the refrigerator overnight and reheat in a sauce pot. You can add cooked pasta when reheating the soup. 

pasta e fagioli soup in a bowl

MORE SOUP RECIPES TO TRY

Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup

Italian Wedding Soup with Meatballs and Orzo

Italian Broccoli Cheese Soup

Creamy Chicken and Bean Soup

Navy White Bean Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

pasta e fagioli soup in a bowl close-up

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Pasta E Fagioli Soup

A classic Italian soup made primarily with pasta, beans, and a couple special ingredients that make this simple soup unlike any other.
5 from 1 vote
Print SaveSaved! Rate
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Soaking beans:: 6 hours
Total Time: 9 hours 25 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 397kcal
Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

Beans:

  • 1/2 lb dried great northern beans
  • 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
  • water

Soup:

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion diced
  • 2 medium carrots diced
  • 2 long ribs of celery diced
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 14.5 oz can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
  • 8 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 2 Parmesan cheese rinds that are about 2 inches long
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary crushed
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes more for spicier soup
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 lb uncooked ditalini pasta cooked separately
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • NOTE: I use dry beans and soak them overnight. Using dry beans also increases cook time to about 3 hours. If you forgot to soak the beans, it’s not a big deal, just cook the soup for another hour or so and use a little extra stock. (If you opt for canned beans, cook time will be about an hour.) 

Soaking Beans:

  • The night before preparing the soup (or about 6-8 hours before), rinse the beans and place them in a bowl or a food storage container.
  • Fill enough water to cover the beans with 2 inches of water. Mix in salt and let the beans soak overnight. When ready to use, drain the beans before using them in the soup. 

Soup:

  • Preheat a Dutch oven or a large soup pot over medium-low heat and add olive oil. Add diced vegetables and let is sweat until softened. Make sure to stir often.
  • Raise the heat to medium and once vegetables start to get a little brown, add pressed garlic. Saute until garlic is fragrant.
  • Add the entire content of the can of tomatoes, add drained beans, pour in stock, and add Parmesan rind, spices, and herbs.
  • Bring everything to simmer over medium-high heat, turn the heat down to low, and cover with a lid, leaving a small opening for the steam to escape.
  • Cook for about 3 hours, stirring once in a while.
  • Discard the bay leaves and the Parmesan rind before serving.
  • When the soup is almost done, cook pasta according to the package instructions in a separate pot.
  • Add pasta to individual bowls if you know there will be soup leftover. Store pasta and soup separately. (If you’re planning on serving the whole pot of soup at the same time, you can cook pasta right in the soup.)

Video

Notes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.

Nutrition

Calories: 397kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 1982mg | Potassium: 920mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 4336IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 140mg | Iron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles

pasta e fagioli soup collage

Originally Published on Will Cook For Smiles January 27, 2012. Updated January 8, 2020.

LYUBA

ABOUT LYUBA

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...

4.2K shares

Filed Under: Italian, Pasta, Soup, Vegetarian

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.

Comments

  1. Tori says

    March 22, 2023 at 3:17 pm

    5 stars
    Yummy!

    Reply
  2. Jeanette says

    March 8, 2023 at 10:13 am

    Do NOT discard the Parmesan rinds. It’s the most delicious part of the soup. I now add cubes of it to all my soups. Everyone in my home beg me for them. They become these amazing gooey cheesy cubes. A tip from my Italian MIL.

    Reply
  3. Six Sisters says

    January 31, 2012 at 5:15 am

    Warm soup on a cold winter day is always great! We’re so glad you linked up to our “Strut Your Stuff Saturday”. We loved having you!! Please come back next Saturday and share more of your great recipes! -The Sisters

    Reply
  4. A Cozy Cottage in the City says

    January 29, 2012 at 11:22 am

    Hi Lyuba,

    Wow, you are a very talented cook/baker! All of your recipes look and sound quite delicious!!! And I LOVE to shop at Home Goods too! 🙂

    I love to cook and bake, and am always looking to see if I can get more creative {and also improve} my current skills so your “foodie blog” is just delightful. I will be signing up as your newest follower so I can get inspired to try new dishes. 🙂 My blog is not a cooking blog – more about a fixer upper progress of a home that we just bought, as well as life in between {love to bake, etc.}. So if you like what you see, I would love and welcome you to follow along as well. Take care and have a splendid Sunday!

    Hugs,
    Jessie

    P.S. I quite enjoyed reading about your Russian holidays – I didn’t know that New Years was your biggest one to celebrate and that it’s celebrated on the 7th! 🙂

    Reply
  5. Clairejustine says

    January 28, 2012 at 7:15 pm

    This looks delicious,thanks for stopping by my blog and the comment,would love you to add some of your recipes to my Creative Monday blog hop next week ?:)

    Reply
  6. kitty says

    January 28, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    The soup looks delicious! Our Williams-Sonoma store has free demo classes on Saturday mornings. If you have one near, you might check it out. I like their catalog for the recipes, too!!

    Reply
  7. Deana says

    January 28, 2012 at 2:25 pm

    I’m gonna be looking for that pasta at the store…..looks good…I make a lot of soups..Thanks for Linking up @CountryMommaCooks….Have a wonderful weekend!

    Reply
  8. Debbi Does Dinner Healthy says

    January 28, 2012 at 4:16 am

    The pasta and the soup look fantastic!

    Reply

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Well, hey there!

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read More.

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