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Slow cooker Pasta e Fagioli soup is a rich and hearty Italian soup loaded with pasta, vegetables, beans, and lean ground beef. It’s hearty, comforting, and oh so delicious!
Italy knows just the way to my heart! If you love a good Italian soup, try this creamy Zuppa Toscana, this chicken gnocchi, or this classic Italian wedding soup.
A Reader’s Review
This is a great simple recipe for a tasty, filling meal! My husband also really enjoyed it… Going to be a regular at our house. Thanks for this winner!!!
Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli
Today I am sharing one of my favorite soups: Pasta e Fagioli. This is comfort food at its finest! It’s a super hearty, meaty, thick Italian soup loaded with veggies, meat, and beans. But that’s not even the best part! The best of all is that this soup is made in a slow cooker. That means little to no prep time and lots of flavors. This soup simmers low and slow for 8 hours! Let the slow cooker do all the work while you relax and enjoy the aroma in your home.
While your soup is cooking all day, then you have some time to make a few sides to go with it. I love adding a side salad and some breadsticks to dip into this soup. You can also make those recipes ahead of time! Then, when the soup is finished, all you have to do is get it all out, set the table, and dig in! It’s a great meal that your entire family will enjoy.
Ingredients You Need to Make Pasta e Fagioli
This is a thick, rich and hearty soup that is loved by all. So many ingredients but so much flavor in all of them! You will love the combination of vegetables, beans, and pasta. See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact measurements.
- Extra virgin olive oil: This adds a hint of seasoning and liquid in the mix.
- Ground beef: When I buy ground beef I try and get it as lean as possible.
- Carrots: The should be freshly peeled and sliced. Canned carrots are little too mushy when simmering them for a long period of time.
- Celery stalks: Slice and dice them to your preference.
- Onion: I like to dice these up a little smaller for kids.
- Crushed tomatoes: Canned tomatoes are best. Some cans are flavored which adds more flavor so get the kind that you prefer.
- Beef broth: This liquid base adds in a delicious flavor.
- Bay leaves: This brings in a strong taste that is so familiar in soups.
- Oregano: The oregano brings more aromatic seasoning to the soup.
- Dried basil: Dried basil has a slight pepper taste but is perfectly strong and sweet.
- Dried thyme: Thyme is a subtle flavor but it is enough for this soup.
- Salt and pepper: Add this to taste (I added 1 tsp salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper)
- Cannelloni beans and red kidney beans: Make sure that these have been drained and rinsed before adding
- Ditalini pasta: This uncooked pasta will be added in at the end.
How to Make Pasta e Fagioli
This soup takes just a bit of prep time and is super easy to throw together. Serve it with a hot, fresh perfect soft, buttery roll for a great dinner meal!
- Brown the ground beef: Add olive oil to a large skillet and add in ground beef. Cook until browned and no longer pink.
- Combine all ingredients: Place the beef in a slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients except for the beans and pasta.
- Cook on low: Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. 30 minutes before serving stir in beans and pasta.
- Season: Season with salt and pepper to taste. Discard bay leaves before serving.
- Serve: Serve immediately while hot.
Is Pasta e Fagioli a Main Dish or a Side Dish?
This is a common question, and there is no correct answer! This dish is filling enough and has your meats and veggies all in one so you can definitely serve it as a main dish! Add in a Caprese salad and some breadsticks and it can be a meal. Or, you can serve it as an appetizer to the main course! Either way, it’s going to fill you up!
What’s the Difference Between Minestrone Soup and Pasta e Fagioli?
These two soups are often confused with one another! They are both delicious but here are the differences between the two:
- Consistency: The main difference between minestrone soup and pasta e fagioli soup is the meat and the thickness. Minestrone leaves our ground beef and has a thinner consistency.
- Vegetables: They each have vegetables but pasta e fagioli has a few more and a different variety.
How to Store Leftovers
This soup makes fantastic leftovers! It tastes just as good, if not better, the next day!
- In the Refrigerator: Place the soup in an airtight container and put it in your fridge. It will last 3-4 days.
- To Reheat: When you are ready to eat it again then put the soup in a medium sized pot and cook it on medium-high heat on your stove. It will take 5-10 minutes until it’s heated through.
More Italian Recipes to Try
As I said before, Italy really knows the way to my heart! All of the delicious seasonings, soups and pasta are SOO GOOD. It’s hard to pick a favorite! It you are looking for some more delicious tried and true recipes then you will love these that I have rounded up. Serve them family style and it will feel as if you are in Italy! Enjoy!
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Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli Soup
Equipment
- Crock-Pot
- Cuisinart Stainless Steel Chopper
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 whole carrots diced
- 4 celery stalks diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 (28 ounce can) crushed tomatoes
- 2 (14.5 ounce can) beef broth
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 whole bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste I added 1 tsp salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 (15 ounce can) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 ounce can) red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup ditalini pasta uncooked
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a large skillet and add in ground beef. Cook until browned and no longer pink.
- Place the beef in a slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients except for the beans and pasta.
- Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. 30 minutes before serving stir in beans and pasta.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Discard bay leaves before serving.
- Serve immediately while hot.
Video
Notes
Original Post on October 23, 2015
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Looks great 👍 I like the nutrition facts but what’s the serving size?
Hi Joanna,
The serving size is one bowl full about 2 cups full.
My daughter made this for Christmas Eve dinner. It was sublime!!!
Would adding one or two red chillies be ok for that extra kick? Not too many because you’ll ruin the flavour completely.
Yes, that will be great!
How many calories are in a serving of Pasta Fagiola recipe?
I am getting nutritional information for each recipe right now while I am updating my old recipes. In the meantime, you are welcome to use myfitnesspal.com to help find the information you are needing.
The recipes shows a serving size of 8. Is the serving a cup or 1/2 cup? Can you provide?
Yes! I like to use myfitnespal.com for any nutritional information.
I make this all the time. Def a keeper in our rotation. Even the baby loves it. Thank you!
Well, I am sick of eating pizza at work, and since if we have a choice we order out soup, I thought I would give this a try. My friend posted it on my Facebook page. My Nana’s recipe is meatless, but I got some.sausage from our neighborhood butcher to substitute for the ground beef, and it is simmering in my crockpot now. My kitchen.smells SSSOOOOO good, and I can’t wait to take.it to.work tomorrow to try it !!
Do you have nutrition information for your recipes?
I will be adding nutritional information soon! In the meantime you are welcome to look up myfitnesspal.com for nutritional help. Hope that helps! XOXO
This recipe turned out excellent! I followed the recipe exactly and it’s so thick and full of flavor. Thanks so much for sharing!
Just wondering if anyone has adjusted this recipe for an Instant Pot? We LOVE this recipe…just wanted to make it quicker!
I would love to know instant pot adjustments as well!
I did it in my Instant Pot tonight! I used the sauté feature on my IP and added two tablespoons olive oil. Browned the meat until no longer pink, added chopped onion, celery and carrots. Cooked until onion started becoming translucent. Added all the rest of the ingredients (except pasta and bay leaves) and stirred until mixed well. Dumped the pasta in and made sure it was covered in liquid, but did NOT stir it. Threw in the whole bay leaves and then cooked on high pressure for 8 minutes. Let naturally release for 10 minutes then did the manual release to finish it off. Pulled the bay leaves out and stirred everything and then served. It was PERFECT and honestly, I felt like the soup was much more flavorful this way. Hope this helps!!
Have made this soup 2 times already and it is delicious! thank for sharing.
My granddaughter has diabetes and I have to constantly watch the carbs in her food, so if you could possibly put the nutritional ingredients in your recipes it would help me so much. I love your recipes but can’t fix some of them. Thank you
I like to use myfitnesspal.com or skinnytaste.com for any nutritional information. Hope that helps and you can find the answers to your questions! XOXO
Can this pasta e fagioli soup be frozen?
Yes, it is always a great freezer meal! Enjoy it now and later! XOXO
I always cook my pasta separately and al dente. We add it to each bowl as we eat it. Freezes well without the pasta. Then when reheating, cook a fresh batch of pasta in the volume needed, and again, add it to each bowl. Or heat just whatever amount of soup will be eaten at this serving and add pasta just before eating. I also like a few more veggies, so I also saute’ some Bok Choy and Savoy cabbage cut into bite size pieces and added to the onion-celery-carrot mix. Kind of a minestrone with the heartiness of Fagioli.
I made this today and it turned out perfect, I did add some sweet Italian sausage with the hamburger, I was out of fresh garlic so I added a teaspoon of garlic powder, and 2 teaspoons of white sugar. This recipe makes a huge amount so I will freeze some to enjoy later.
Sugar?? Why would you add sugar?
A lot of people add sugar when using canned tomatoes to make them less tangy.
Because it’s good and mellows out the acidic tomatoes. I add sugar to almost every recipe I make! Gail is correct to add a little bit of sugar for balance- compliments all the salty ingredients.
DELICIOUS! It was a little too thick to be considered soup for my family so I would recommend doubling the broth. Other than that, this recipe is a keeper!! Thank you
I am making your pasta fagioli soup, could you please tell me what the name of the noodles are? I looked for the ones in the recipe and couldn’t find them, could they go by another name?
Thanks you so much!