Pasta e Fagioli Soup Recipe

This tasty Pasta e Fagioli soup recipe is packed with beans, pasta, veggies, and pancetta for the perfect cold-weather meal. You will love the simple flavors in this traditional Italian recipe.

I used to call it my first love; that’s how much I love it. If you’re unsure how to make soup flavorful, I go into detail on just about every recipe I have to show you how to do that. Try my Matzo Ball Soup or Creamy Carrot Soup.

Pasta Fagioli

Pasta Fagioli, pronounced as “pah-sta eh faj-o-le,” translates in English as pasta and beans. It is a simple classic Italian recipe consisting of slow-cooked beans with pork and water or broth that is then served with pasta.

This working man’s meal would be traditionally served as a main course in Italy. However, it is often served as a first course here in the US. No, this is not the Olive Garden’s version of pasta e Fagioli. This, my friends, is the real deal and much simpler in flavor and ingredients.

What Is the Difference Between This and Minestrone?

There are several differences between pasta Fagioli and minestrone, but here are the most notable:

• Pasta Fagioli – is a simple pasta and beans stew with some tomatoes that are thick and can sometimes include onions, celery, and carrots.
• Minestrone  – this is a loaded vegetable soup with legumes, green vegetables, root vegetables, and stock and often is a base to other Italian soups where you add in proteins.  This is more complex, with a lot more ingredients.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Oil – Olive or avocado oil will work. Since this recipe is Italian, olive oil is the better choice.
• Pork – Pancetta or guanciale is best to use in this recipe. However, you can substitute with thick-cut bacon, pork belly, or pork shoulder.
• Onions – You can use red, white, yellow, or sweet onions. In addition, you will also need garlic.
• Celery – Regular ribs of celery are used in this pasta e fagioli. You can substitute with celeriac root. This is optional.
• Carrots – Everyday carrots are what is needed for this. This is optional.
• Tomatoes – I used San Marzano tomatoes. Feel free to use whole peeled, diced, crushed, or home-canned tomatoes. You can use fresh tomatoes, but you’ll need to add some stock to help make up for the natural juices in the can. These are also optional.
• Beans – The classic bean would be a borlotti bean. However, you can substitute with white kidney or cannellini beans.
• Stock – Use chicken stock, vegetable stock, or brodo. You can use water if that’s all that is available.
• Cheese – You will need some parmesan cheese rinds. You can use pecorino cheese rinds if parmesan is not an option.
• Herbs – I used a combination of fresh rosemary and parsley. You can substitute 1 to 1 for dry herbs. Other herb options to replace the rosemary with would be oregano or basil.
• Pasta – Ditalini is the classic pasta used. Feel free to use any small pasta shape if it’s all you can find.

How to Make the Best Pasta Fagioli

1. Add some medium diced-up pancetta bacon to a large pot over medium heat in a small amount of olive oil and cook until they are crisp and browned and then set aside.
2. In the same pot over medium heat, add the medium diced onions, carrots, and celery and cook until the vegetables are tender.
3. Next, add in the garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes or just until cooked.
4. Add the crushed San Marzano tomatoes, drained beans, chicken stock, and parmesan rinds, and cook over low heat for 45 minutes or until the beans are tender.  I used whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes that I crushed with my hands and juice, but you can use the tomatoes if you want the pasta Fagioli soup to be more of a broth base and less tomatoey.

5. Add about 2-3 cups of the pasta Fagioli ingredients along with ½ cup of the chicken stock from the soup to a blender and blend, with the center part of the blender top removed so that it does not explode, and puree until smooth.
6. Pour the blended soup back into the pot and mix it to help thicken it up.  If you want your pasta Fagioli to be thick, mix in a slurry with three tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with two tablespoons of water.
7. Finish the pasta Fagioli with fresh chopped parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper, and the crisp-cooked pancetta.
8. Serve Fagioli with cooked homemade pasta or a boiled classic ditalini pasta with parmesan cheese and herbs.  I often reserve a few of the crisp-cooked pancetta lardons to garnish with as well.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: For freshness, you can make this Pasta e Fagioli up to 1 day ahead. Keep the pasta noodles cooked separately.

How to Store: This will hold well in the refrigerator, covered up for up to 5 days.  It will also freeze well covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.

How to Reheat: To reheat the pasta Fagioli, add your desired portion to a small saucepot and heat over low heat until hot. 

CHEF NOTES + TIPS

• I like to cook the pasta separately and add the desired portion to a bowl with the soup. The reason I do this is that pasta will keep cooking in the soup and eventually turn to mush if I let it sit.
• If I cook the pasta separately and hold it in the refrigerator in a plastic bag coated in olive oil, it will never be overcooked. It will allow me to let the soup sit for a day or two while it becomes more flavorful as the ingredients infuse. 
• If you want your pasta Fagioli to be thick, mix in a slurry with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water.
• I often reserve a few crisply cooked pancetta lardons to garnish.
• If you are in a hurry, you can cover the dry beans with boiling water and let them sit for 1 hour before using them. 

More Soup recipes

• Creamy Chicken Dumpling Soup
• Chicken and Wild Rice
• Split Pea
• Italian Wedding
• Zuppa Toscana

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Pasta e Fagioli Soup Recipe

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5 from 17 votes

This tasty Pasta e Fagioli soup recipe is packed with beans, pasta, veggies, and pancetta for the perfect cold-weather meal.

Servings: 12

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• 1 cup dry cannellini beans
• 1 cup dry borlotti
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 ounces medium diced pancetta bacon
• 1 medium diced white onion
• 4 medium diced stalks of celery
• 4 peeled medium diced carrots
• 4 finely minced cloves of garlic
• 28 ounce can of crushed San Marzano tomatoes
• 3 quarts chicken stock
• 2 parmesan cheese rinds
• 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh parsley
• 1 pound of ditalini pasta, cooked and cooled (see the video)
• coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
• grated parmesan for garnish

Instructions

• Add the beans to a container and cover them up to 6" inches with cold water. Store overnight.
• Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium heat and cook the pancetta until browned and crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes.
• Remove the cooked pancetta and set it aside. Add in the onions, celery, and carrots and cook over low to medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender.
• Mix in the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes before adding in the tomatoes, drained beans, stock, and rinds, and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the beans are tender.
• Take 3 cups of the soup ingredients plus ½ cup of the chicken stock add to a blender and blend on high until it forms a thick paste.
• Add the bean paste back to the soup pot and mix it in.
• Finish the soup by stirring in herbs, salt, and pepper.
• Serve the soup with cooked pasta, freshly grated parmesan cheese, herbs, and crisp-cooked pancetta.

Notes

Make-Ahead: For freshness, you can make this Pasta e Fagioli up to 1 day ahead. Keep the pasta noodles cooked separately.

How to Store: This will hold well in the refrigerator, covered up for up to 5 days.  It will also freeze well covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.

How to Reheat: To reheat the pasta Fagioli, add your desired portion to a small saucepot and heat over low heat until hot.

I like to cook the pasta separately and add the desired portion to a bowl with the soup. The reason I do this is that pasta will keep cooking in the soup and eventually turn to mush if I let it sit.

If I cook the pasta separately and hold it in the refrigerator in a plastic bag coated in olive oil, it will never be overcooked. It will allow me to let the soup sit for a day or two while it becomes more flavorful as the ingredients infuse.

If you want your pasta Fagioli to be thick, simply mix in a slurry with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water.

I often reserve a few crisply cooked pancetta lardons to garnish with as well.

If you are in a hurry, you can cover the dry beans with boiling water and let them sit for 1 hour before using them. 

Nutrition

Calories: 383.07kcalCarbohydrates: 48.98gProtein: 16.46gFat: 13.51gSaturated Fat: 3.76gCholesterol: 19.57mgSodium: 617.88mgPotassium: 668.7mgFiber: 5.09gSugar: 7.93gVitamin A: 3553.45IUVitamin C: 9.33mgCalcium: 70.91mgIron: 2.51mg

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Chef Billy Parisi