Pasta e Fagioli

Pasta e fagioli, pronounced “pasta eh fah-joh-lee,” and sometimes known as pasta fazool, makes the coziest vegetarian dinner.

Like pasta e ceci, minestrone, and pasta e lenticchie, it contains simple and affordable ingredients, tastes fantastic, and is prepared in one pot.

Pasta and beans provide plenty of wholesome plant protein and other nutrients to help you stay satiated and fulfilled for several hours.

You might know Olive Garden pasta e fagioli, an Italian restaurant in the United States, but this recipe originates from mainland Italy and has been used for hundreds of years.

You can serve pasta e fagioli as a soup, with enough liquid to grant the use of a spoon, or thicker, more like a pasta dish.

Honestly, you will feel amazing after eating this dish. It’s healthy, nourishing, satiating, and delicious.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Beans

You can make this pasta e fagioli recipe with canned or dried beans.

For a quick version, use canned beans, and you can make this recipe in about 30 minutes.

If you want to use dry beans, let them soak for 12 hours in water with a teaspoon of salt.

Then drain and rinse them, and boil them in plenty of salted water for about 80 minutes or until tender.

You can use pinto beans, black beans, white beans, Borlotti beans, cranberry beans, great northern beans, red kidney beans, or a mix of two types of beans. Borlotti beans are the most traditional.

Here are our guides on how to cook black beans and how to cook white beans.

Pasta

Most people in Italy use ditalini or ditaloni pasta for pasta e fagioli. You can find it in most supermarkets in the pasta section.

If you can’t find or don’t have ditalini in your pantry, feel free to use any other short pasta type. We particularly like conchiglie, elbow macaroni, cavatelli, and fusilli.

To make gluten-free pasta e fagioli soup, use gluten-free pasta.

Olive oil

We use extra virgin olive oil to make the flavor base (soffritto in Italian) with the chopped vegetables listed below.

Authenticity Note: In the traditional Italian recipe, a small amount (about 3.5 ounces or 100 grams) of fat-rich animal products (pancetta, lard, guanciale, prosciutto) is used to fry the veggies and add flavor to this dish.

We prefer to keep the recipe vegetarian, without the meat; however, if you want to add it, do so at the beginning with the olive oil. There’s no lean ground beef, Italian sausage, or bacon in pasta and fagioli.

Carrot, celery, and onion

Those veggies are chopped and gently fried in extra virgin olive oil, adding flavor to the dish. You can use red, white, or yellow onion.

Garlic and Herbs

Garlic cloves – peeled and grated or minced – a sprig of rosemary, sage leaves, and a couple of bay leaves add that earthy Tuscan flavor to this dish.

Please don’t skimp on the herbs; they are the soul of pasta e fagioli.

You can substitute thyme and oregano for rosemary and bay leaves. As a last resort, you can use Italian seasoning.

Tomatoes

We add canned crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste to boost the soup’s umami and flavor.

Vegetable broth

Vegetable broth helps us cook the pasta and create a tasty sauce. We prefer it to chicken broth and beef broth. If you are on a low-sodium diet, use reduced-sodium vegetable broth.

Salt and pepper

We recommend sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to make the soup slightly spicy.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add finely chopped onion, celery, and carrot, and fry them for 3 minutes.

Then, add grated garlic, chopped sage, rosemary sprig, bay leaves, tomato paste, and fry while stirring for two more minutes.

Add drained and rinsed beans, vegetable broth, and canned tomatoes, and season with salt and black pepper.

Simmer on medium heat for about 15 minutes; optionally, you can blend some beans with an immersion blender for extra creaminess.

Now, stir in the pasta and simmer for another 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente.

Tip: we recommend undercooking the pasta slightly, especially if you plan to make this for meal prep.

Add more broth if you like a thinner, soupy pasta e fagioli. Consistency is a matter of preference for this dish. You can have it as thin or as thick as you like.

Serve pasta e fagioli soup as a main dish in a bowl drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

A sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese on top is optional.

If you want to pair it with a bread-based side, we recommend:

• Rosemary focaccia with our easy no-knead method.
• 10-minute crostini: a perfect soup partner to sop up those saucy leftovers.
• Homemade croutons: a 20-minute recipe that shows you how to cook croutons at home.

Or serve it with a vegetable side dish, such as:

• Roasted broccoli with a refreshing lemon-garlic sauce.
• Baked zucchini with breadcrumbs and fresh Italian herbs.
• Tomato salad: an easy 15-minute salad with fresh tomatoes and basil.
• Roasted eggplant brushed with garlic and fresh herbs.

Sides

Roasted Broccoli

Sides

Roasted Eggplant

Sides

Roasted Zucchini

Salads

Cucumber Tomato Salad

Storage

Make ahead: you can make this recipe for meal prep and keep it for 3 to 4 days. If you do so, we recommend undercooking the pasta slightly so it won’t get mushy as you reheat it.

Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for four days. Warm them in a pot with a dash of water or microwave for two minutes.

Freezer: this recipe is unsuitable for freezing as pasta doesn’t thaw well.

RECIPES WITH BEANS: Italian bean stew, Tuscan bean soup, black bean salad, black bean soup, cabbage soup, kale soup, white bean salad.

PASTA RECIPES: pasta e ceci, minestrone, vegetable soup, broccoli pasta, pasta pomodoro, tortellini soup, cherry tomato pasta, pasta puttanesca, arrabbiata.

Soups

Tuscan White Bean Soup

Soups

Minestrone Soup

Mains

Tuscan Bean Stew

Soups

Vegetable Soup