Pasta Fagioli (Pasta and Beans)
Pasta Fagioli (Pasta and Beans) usually pronounced pasta fazool, is a great tasting, hearty, vegetarian Italian pasta and bean soup, perfect for the cold, super quick and freezer friendly.
Pasta Fagioli
I love hearty tomato based soups in the winter, some favorites are Minestrone, Turkey Meatball Soup and Beef and Acini Di Pepe Soup.
My trick to get picky kids to eat this, is pureeing the beans, but if you prefer your beans whole, you can skip that step. Serve this with a piece of Italian bread on the side and top with your favorite grated cheese. For an extra special treat, top this with a slice of melted Alpine Lace Swiss, delicious! Vegetarians can use vegetable broth instead.
This can also be frozen and reheated at a later time for make-ahead meals.
How To Make Pasta Fagioli
Pasta Fagioli (Pasta and Beans)
Pasta Fagioli (Pasta and Beans) is a great tasting, hearty, vegetarian Italian pasta and bean soup, perfect for the cold, super quick and freezer friendly.
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 medium celery stalk, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
- 1 15 oz can cannellini beans
- 15 oz can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 tbsp basil
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 (14 oz each) cans fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarians)
- 2 cups water
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 6 oz dry Ditalini pasta or other small pasta (gf pasta for gluten-free)
- grated parmesan cheese for topping (optional
Directions:
- In a deep pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat.
- Blend the can of beans with one can water in electric blender until almost smooth.
- Add blended beans to pan then add the can of tomato sauce, celery, carrots, chicken broth, basil, bay leaf, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper.
- Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Add pasta and cook uncovered until pasta is al dente, according to pasta directions.
- Ladle soup into bowls and top with grated cheese (extra).
Nutrition Information
Yield: 5 servings, Serving Size: About 2 cups
- Amount Per Serving:
- Freestyle Points: 5
- Points +: 6
- Calories: 255 calories
- Total Fat: 3.5g
- Saturated Fat: g
- Cholesterol: mg
- Sodium: mg
- Carbohydrates: 47.5g
- Fiber: 7g
- Sugar: g
- Protein: 10.3g
Paleo
Slow Cooker Recipes
Low Carb
Dairy Free
Whole 30 Recipes
Keto Recipes
I made this and it is super scrumptious! 🙂
Greetings Gina,
I made this last night and it was AMAZING!!! Thank you for your delicious and healthy recipes! Keep up the great work!
-Angie
FIrst-time commenter, long-time fan! I just made this for lunch today and made a few adjustments. Added more celery and onions, less carrots (I don't enjoy mushy carrots), blended 3/4 of a can of beans and kept the 1/4 intact, added twice the tomato sauce and another 1 1/2 cup of water, and another 1/2 of pasta, as well as an additional 1/2 tsp of basil & parsley and another 1/4 tsp of oregano.
It actually sounds like a lot of adjustments, but I had fun with it! I love that cooking doesn't need to be as precise as baking. It did turn out to be a little thicker than soup, but we're big pasta fans in my house, so we definitely didn't mind.
THANKS so much to Gina and all the commentors! I've learned a lot from your adjustments and will continue to cook from Skinny Taste!
So glad you all liked it.
Dried herbs or fresh, whatever you have on hand.
Lexa, that is exactly why I prefer cooking to baking! It should be fun!
Great soup. Mine didn't come out thick – when I blended the beans I didn't use the liquid in the can. I used water. Maybe that's why? But the flavor was still good and 2 cups is a huge portion! Really great recipe. Thanks Gina 🙂
The pasta is absorbing the liquid. Many cooks cook their pasta separately and add it when serving.
Hi Gina,
Do you always use fresh herbs in your recipes? I wasn't sure whether to use fresh or dried basil/parsley/oregano. I am asking because I screwed up and used dried thyme instead of fresh thyme when I made your "Scalloped Potatoes Gratin". oops! Thanks!
Making this now. The only ingredient i changed was the tomato sauce, i used diced tomatoes because that's what i have. Easy to make. My hubby who is not on weight watchers said "it's really good". We ate with your Rosemary Garlic Parmesan biscuits, they were yummy! I know it will change the points value with the biscuit. I use your recipes to plan my meal. Thank you and keep up the good work.
I just made this for lunch and I am already looking forward to having more tomorrow! I also made sure the ingredients are on the shopping list, I have a feeling I will be making another pot soon. Another keeper, Gina, thanks!
I made this and added a can of garbonzo beans to it just because after I blended up the beans it looked a little lonely! I figure more fiber can't hurt! It's really yummy and the leftovers are even better than the first night!
on the stove as I type and it smells awesome … looks a little thin, but I'm thinking if I leave it on the stove a little longer it will thicken up. and it looks like something that will be better the next day … 🙂
Made this tonight and it was delish! It thickened up really well and was nice and filling. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
I made this last night and it was wonderful! I used the immersion blender after adding the beans to the soup and I really like the half-blended beans. I had to add some more broth after I got my serving because the pasta had soaked everything up! I can't wait to try it again for lunch today!
I made this for lunch today. It was awesome! My husband and I are both following WW plan. He normally doesn't like soups because they are thin and not filling enough. He LOVED it. I didn't put the beans in the blender, but like the immersion blender idea and will try that next time. Y-U-M!
This is one of my go-to lunches…it's hearty and filling and DELICIOUS!!
One thing to note, however, is that when I make it, it comes to 5 cups total, so I get 5 servings of 1 cup each and when I calculate it on WW's site, it comes to 7 points per serving. Not sure why that is happening when I make it….any thoughts?
Another stunner! You rock Gina!!
This is the first of your recipes that I have tried and I'm DEFINITELY coming back for more. I'm a WW newby, and if I can continue to eat food that tastes like THIS, I'll stick to my program for life!
When I was first cooking it, it looked watery, and not at all like your creamy delicious photo, however, it reduced perfectly. Actually, I think I reduced it too much because it only rendered enough for 4 servings, instead of five. I added some more chicken broth to it as it got too thick, so that helped a little (I boiled it for 30 minutes before adding the pasta.)
WARNING! Do not add the pasta and then turn the heat up to high like I did. Everything will stick to the bottom and scorch! Luckily I caught mine on time. Just continue cooking it at the medium heat the whole time.
Delicious. Thanks so much! You've gained yourself another loyal follower!
I made this last weekend while my Italian husband was out of town and I raved about how great it was. I was so excited to make something worthy of what he grew up with but with half the calories. I was expecting it to be even better the next day when he returned but I have to say it got bland. The pasta definitely absorbed a lot of the liquid and I think it took a lot of the flavor with it. I think next time I might set aside half of the soup without pasta and then add it later when we're ready to eat it.
I am going to make this tonight for dinner. We're having both my siblings and their spouses over. I was going to try adding beef as well, as that's what I remember from the Olive Garden version. Has anyone else done this? I have 7% fat ground beef on hand that I was going to use.
This soup was AWESOME! Thanks so much. I made only one adjustment. I used 28 ounces of fire roasted whole tomatoes in juice and didn't add the extra cup of water or cheese. I'm not sure if this made it better or worse since it's my first time making it, but YUM!
Has anyone made this without the pasta? I should think a can of purreed beans and a can of un-purred beans would make a yummy bean soup.
This soup is amazing! I made it last Sunday, and I made a double batch yesterday night. My husband, who is not dieting, can't get enough of this soup, and yesterday told me this was his new favorite! It is delicious, I think it might be my new favorite too!
As my ten year old left the table, he gave this a thumbs up, and said "Me gusta. Make again." (No idea why he's speaking Spanish, or where his manners went.) But, I'll definitely make it again! I used an immersion blender to puree the beans, and added a can of dark red kidney beans, too. Otherwise, I didn't change a thing. I think we'll end up with about 6 servings. Thanks for another winner!
Delicious!!! I am not what I would call a soup person but I went back for seconds!!!
I put this into my recipe builder and it came out to 3pts for a 1 cup serving. I measured 10 cups when I was done. Mine wasn't very thick but that was okay with me!
Loved it!! Thanks Gina!!!
I made this today and it turned out FANTASTIC!!! I love the version @ Olive Garden so when I found this I HAD to make it. It is so delicious. I feel like there is a lot of pasta in this and can't believe it's only 6 points plus per serving. I know the pasta is quite small when dry but they got pretty big once cooked. I'm not going to question it! I will definitely be making this again.
Making this for dinner tonight. I am not following WW any longer but I am counting using My Fitness Pal. I was excited to see quite a few of your recipes are in their database! I can't wait to try this tonight. It is cold, windy and just the right night for a yummy dinner like this 🙂
I made this tonight and it was a huge hit with my husband and my 2 little boys! So delicious, I can't wait to eat left overs tomorrow. Thank you so much Gina!
This is the 4th recipe I've tried from this site and they have all been amazing! My boyfriend and I have wanted to make drastic changes in our eating habits and the recipes here have been immensely helpful and delicious. I pick all the recipes I want to try and he picks 5 of those a week for us to make. Being able to create a recipe box and use the shopping lists to plan our meals for the week have essentially eliminated our last minute delivery ordering. Thank you so much, Gina. Your site is our new cooking bible. 🙂
I've been making Pasta Fagioli for years (never used chicken broth, just water) and I never realized it was weight watchers friendly! I just made this recipe for lunch tomorrow, and had to taste a little bit now. Once again, delicious! (I omitted the celery and carrot though because I don't like them).
Have this in the crockpot and the house mulls amazing! Will add pasta at the end! Thank you for so many great recipes. Found your blog brought Pintrest and have made several of your recipes since. All are amazing! You have helped me get back on track with my WW now that I have do many new recipes to try! Thank you!
Just made this…AWESOME and so filling! I used my Ninja blender to do the beans and next time I won't add as much water…made them into water in just three pulses. This is a GREAT recipe. Your site has inspired me to cook …I'm 45 and have never considering myself a good cook…now I am on my way to being one! Thank You!
Just made this tonight for my first full day back on WW! It was DELICIOUS and I am full 🙂 Thanks!
Your blog is WONDERFUL! We are doing WW at our house and you have made it so much easier for us!
Thank you!
Made this last night and OMG…. SO FREAKING GOOD!!! Love all of your recipes!!!
Had this tonight – it is awesome! It is for sure a keeper! All of us loved it – 9 & 6 year old included!
Just made this for a rainy chilly day lunch. Fantastic! I doubled the recipe for leftovers. Thanks Gina!
Just made this tonight and it was SOO good. Added some extra beans, carrots and celery. Really yummy. So glad I came across your site. There are so many things here that I will have to try!
Excellent excellent excellent soup!
I added a can of kidney beans, didn't puree the beans at all, and added a little (1/2 teaspoon) liquid smoke!
Can't wait to make this, I had some of this at Olive Garden and I was like OMG how deelish is this! I am going to add in some ground turkey or really lean beef!
This soup is SO amazing. Adding some grated parm after really thickens it up and adds great flavor. Eat with a side of crusty bread and you have the best meal.
I made this tonight it was awsome, I added spinach, no celery, 1 can diced tomatoes & 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can puree beans, 1 can non puree all the rest the same. I could eat all of it, fantastic! Thank you!
Alright, I could not bring myself to read through all of the comments above! So please forgive me if this is a repeat question. My family prefers more of a "stew" style soup then something with lots of broth. What can I add to this for a thicker, chunkier shoup without adding a whole bunch of calories? Would a can of drained tomatos, more carrots and zuchinni be alright? Or perhaps something else? Thanks!
Where do I find the calories on these recipes?
Not sure if someone asked this in another comment but can I use gluten free pasta? Does that freeze well? Love pasta fagiole and have not made it in soooo long due to gluten sensitivity.
I added a cheese rind to this as it was cooking~really boosted the flavor~what a great recipe!
Gina, this has become one of our go-to recipes. We love it as is. But this last week, we decided to add a twist, we added 2 1/2 links of hot italian sausage crumbled and some kale. It was sooooooo amazing! I hope you'll try this twist!
I just made this recipe for dinner tonight and it is absolutely delicious! You won't believe how much the beans thicken the broth. That said, I'm not sure if I let it cook down too much, but I only got about four 2-cup servings instead of the 5 suggested by the recipe. That's okay for me, because I'm just cooking for 2 people, but if you have a bigger family, you may want to double the recipe. Thanks so much for this one, I've gotten SO many great recipes from your blog! 🙂
Gina, made this tonight and everyone liked it very much. I did accidentally add almost a whole tablespoon of oregano…. Great anyway! Thank you so much for the brilliant idea of blending up the beans. Kids didn't even know!! ha ha haaa
Gina, such a tasty recipe..I added Swiss chard for extra veggies and sprinkled pecorino romano on top. I love the sharp taste it has better than parm. Thank you so much!! ~angela~
This came out AWESOME. A keeper!!
OMG this soup is amazing!!! I highly recommend using both 1 can tomato sauce AND 1 can diced tomatoes. If you had to choose one over the other I'd choose the tomato sauce. I tried the recipe with just diced tomato and not enough of the rich tomato flavor came through but this was solved by adding a can of tomato sauce :). Also, I eat gfree so I used corn-rice blend fusilli pasta (because that's what I had on hand). One other thing I did was use 1 carton low salt chicken broth (32 oz.) plus the extra water. I did this so I could use up the chicken broth and add more flavor. I used fresh basil and parsley because I had them on had. I used celery salt because I didn't have celery. Cooking is all about using what you have on hand while still trying to stay true to the original recipe. Great job Gina! 🙂
Made this in the Pressure Cooker in 10 minutes, then added my wheat ditalini and used the saute button so it could boil the pasta and the pasta was done in another 5 minutes, so total 15 minutes in the pressure cooker for those that use one, sooo delicious!
Mmm. This looks awesome! So happy I found you on Pinterest. Thanks.
This is a great recipe! Will make again! Thanks Gina.
Guess I should have read the comments before making this, but it came out great anyway. Didn't know whether or not to drain/rinse the can of beans prior to putting in the blender (so I didn't). Added a 2nd can of beans (drained and rinsed, not in the blender) because I love beans. Delicious!!!
I've been making this soup for a few years. I love it. It is easy and very satisfying. I add fresh chopped baby spinach at the end. It is soooo…good.
Made this today. Trying really hard to prep and freeze to get my weight going in a better direction. Love this recipe. I added 3 cups french green beans and 1 cup baby lima beans. Cannot thank you enough for this great website. It's really helping. I always say I have nothing but ingredients. Now I can look at your recipes and create healthy dishes.
Do noodles turn out mushy after taking out of the freezer .? Is it best to make soup without noodles then freeze and add noodles after
Tnx.
This is my favorite pasta fagioli recipe. Delicious! I make this at least 3-4 times a month. It doesn't last too long in my house! Love Gina and all her recipes. I haven't made one I haven't enjoyed yet!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! My daughter said it was delish and my son had seconds! I did add a cup of italian sausage to it. It was still very yummy!
Delicious! I accidentally added too much pasta but will definitely try again. Yum!
This soup is amazing!!! I've made it at least 20 times, but always forgot to leave a review. Easy, cheap to make, and very filling! Love it! I have been trying to make meals without meat a few times a week to help with my food budget, this fits the bill, deliciously!
I made this soup last night and it is fantastic!! I will definitely be making a double batch next time… thank you again for posting all of your recipes!!!
Making this right now! Going to freeze portions without the pasta and just cook the pasta as needed. ANOTHER smashin recipe! I have only made one of your other recipes but will certainly be making more!
Great!
I made this last night, but we added your Italian Turkey Meatballs because we had a pound of turkey that needed to be used. It was wonderful! This recipe will be a staple in our house. Thank you so much!
I made this tonight and did what Patrick suggested (way back in 2009, apparently): I used my immersion blender to puree just some of the beans after adding them and some of the broth to the pot. This still left enough whole beans to be satisfying, but also gave a nice texture to the finished soup. We had this with a crisp white wine and a fresh boule of homemade rye bread–it was a kind of Jewish deli/Italian trattoria fusion night–totally delicious!
I made this last night and it was wonderful! I added the 15 oz can of tomato sauce AND a can of Italian seasoned crushed tomatoes. I ended up adding 2 cups of water, not reading ahead of using the 1 cup for the beans, and it did see a little too much water at first, but i let the soup simmer for about an hour before i added the pasta. I could've actually added a little more water at the end, but the dish ended up great because my husband doesn't really like soup, and this was right in the middle of soup and pasta. This is a great base for italian soup, and I could see this being great for a minestrone: a little less pasta, add some potato and more veggies. Thanks again for another delicious recipe.
What are the new smart points for this recipe? I never can figure out points for a recipe! I am making this today.
I got 7 SP per serving made just as the recipe is. No cheese figured in to each serving.
Can this be made in a crock pot? Just wondering as it wasn't mentioned as an option…
Rita
I couldn't find ditalini pasta, so I used gemelli instead. This recipe tasted delicious, but the pasta absorbed so much of the liquid before it cooled down enough to refrigerate. Does the smaller pasta do that as well? Any tricks to avoid it?
Gina, Gina, Gina…this soup is to die for, and it was soooo easy! I made it as is with a few additions: I added fresh chopped spinach along with the pasta, as well a parmesan rind while it was simmering. I couldn't stop eating it, it's that good! Thank you so much for creating so many wonderful recipes and i'm really enjoying your cookbook.
Would this keep ok for a couple of days in the fridge (cooked)? I meal prep lunches on Sunday and I love soup for lunch. It would probably only take us through Wednesday (2 people) but i know some foods aren’t great after they sit.
is there a way this could be adapted for a slow cooker?
What would the Smart points be for the Pasta Fagioli soup without the pasta and the cheese. Made some on Monday and did not put pasta in it. Did include some ground turkey.
Sorry I don’t give points if you change the recipe, you will have to go to recipe builder to see.
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Sorry if this was asked somewhere in here, but if you do not puree the beans and just add them whole, (1) do you drain and rinse them and (2) would you still use 2 cups of water? Can’t wait to try this! Have made so many of your recipes and they all turn out great!!
Leave them undrained and yes add the 2 cups of water.
Is it best to freeze with or without the pasta?
You can do either.
1 T basil — is this fresh or dried?
1 t oregano — fresh or dried?
dried
This was crazy delicious. Took advice from the comments and added a hint of liquid smoke, one Italian sausage and a Parmesan rind (removed when done). Also used crushed tomatoes.
How could this be done in a crockpot?
Do you drain the beans then add to the blender with a fresh cup of water? Or use the bean liquid and one cup of water? Thanks!
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I been making this soup for about 2 years now. It is excellent I would not add anything to change this recipe. .
Thanks Carleen!
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I loved it! Made many times. A staple for me. Gina, have you ever written directions for instant pot using dry beans? I’d really like that! I have all your cookbooks and I refer to them all the time and your website.
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Very good and easy recipe. I added TJ’s Italian chicken sausage, some chickpeas and some spinach (and parmesan rind). A good and hearty soup. A nice change from my own Pasta Fagiole recipe which is white with no tomatoes.
I just made this recipe for dinner last night, and it’s very good! My husband missed the meat, but I did not. I’ll be making this one again!
Oh my goodness—coming from someone who doesn’t always like a traditional Pasta Fagioli, I decided to make this tonight anyway. SOOOOOOO glad I did. It was incredible! My whole family loved it. I did add some ground beef, because we have a high school footballer who needs his protein, but wow!! I enjoyed this so much! Thank you for a great recipe!!
Made this last night. Loved it. When I plugged it into the WW calculator it came out at 7 pts. Did I calculate wrong.
You must use recipe builder when getting points. The SmartPoints® calculator isn’t meant for recipes and will often give you the wrong points (usually higher) because it’s counting 0 points foods such as eggs, chicken, fruits and vegetables. So if you see a recipe with a SmartPoints® value that’s different from what the calculator tells you, that is why.
The only accurate way to determine any recipe’s SmartPoints® value is to plug the ingredients into the recipe builder on the Weight Watchers website (Click on “My Foods,” select “Recipe,” and click “Create a recipe.”)
I added homemade mini turkey meatballs and cooked the pasta separately! Soo good!
I thought it had ground beef in it. Or ground pork