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A classic Italian soup, this delicious Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli Soup takes about 45 minutes to prep, then the slow cooker does the magic!
Sweet little Emmy (our two-year-old granddaughter) and I were sitting together earlier this week, enjoying breakfast. She was cheerfully gobbling up her bowl of granola, yogurt and fresh fruit and I was eating a bowl of this delicious Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli Soup. After a few minutes, she stopped and peered into my bowl. She looked up at me and asked, "Why you eat soup for breakfast, Gigi?"
"Because I'm odd." I replied.
"Why you odd?" she asked quizzically.
"That's how God made me".
"I no think I wanna be odd, Gigi."
Okay I agree, it is a bit odd to eat soup for breakfast, but after having this delicious Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli for dinner the night before, I could hardly wait to try it again. I'd been working on the recipe for a few days, tweaking this, changing that and I was pretty sure it was right. After my "odd" breakfast, I was sure it was ready to roll!
If you check online, there are lots of unique versions of this classic Italian soup which, literally translated means "pasta and beans". It was traditionally meatless, originating as a peasant meal. The recipe varied according to the region and available ingredients. These days, some versions are thin and soupy where others are thicker, with more pasta, beans and other ingredients, almost like a potage. Pancetta (an Italian bacon) is often added for flavor and here in the States, Olive Garden has made Pasta Fagioli quite famous with their rendition, which includes ground beef.
In our recent Café Reader Survey, there were lots of requests for more slow cooker recipes as well as easy entertaining recipes. With this in mind, I had fun creating a delicious meal-in-one Pasta e Fagioli, specially designed for the slow cooker. It can be prepped in the morning (or even the night before), left on it's own all day and requires minimal last minute effort. And the fragrant aroma that'll greet you after a day at work or school is amazing!
The type of beans that are used in Pasta e Fagioli varies widely. In Italy, the bean of choice is the borloti (aka cranberry) bean but seems that here in the U.S., red beans, white beans, big beans, small beans are all quite common. The New York Times has a version with pinto beans and another recipe I looked at called for cannellini beans AND lentils. I chose dark red kidney beans and loved the way they came out intact and beautiful, yet meltingly tender after their stint in the slow cooker.
One other variable is the pasta. I saw lots of versions that used elbow pasta, though it seems that Ditalini (a small straight pasta with open ends) was the traditional pasta of choice. Ditalini can be found at most larger grocers that carry a decent selection of pasta, or you can go online. Feel free to use elbow pasta or any small pasta, if you have difficulty finding Ditalini.
I always love to incorporate as many veggies as possible in my soups, so in addition to chopped onion, this one calls for a whole pound of carrots. Being a bit lazy, I used the baby carrots which don't require peeling. Another time saving ingredient I love to use in soups and sauces is purchased pesto. It adds a ton of delicious basil and garlic flavor with almost no effort.
I keep a jar of pesto in my freezer. When I want to use it, I let it thaw slightly, just enough to scoop out what I need, then return it to the freezer. It can also be frozen in small individual jars or ice cube trays. I used to do that, but find it easier to just freeze the whole jar. If I can't make my own, I really like the pesto from Costco's. It's reasonable and the big jar lasts a long time in the freezer.
Other than chopping the veggies, the only other prep that's done for this Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli is browning the meat. I used lean ground sirloin, as well as a smaller amount of Italian sausage, for lots of hearty flavor. Once the meat is browned, make sure to drain off any fat that's accumulated to keep the soup healthy. Before transferring the meat to the slow cooker a splash of dry red wine is added and cooked away till nothing but rich flavor's left. I also add a small can of tomato paste at this point and let it cook with the meat for a few minutes till it's deeply red and fragrant. This little bit of extra time in the beginning yields a finished soup, well worth the effort!
Other than fresh rosemary, the rest of the ingredients come from pantry cans and bottles. Just dump everything in the slow cooker and the magic begins! Oh and speaking of slow cookers, I have to tell you about about an amazing little machine I've had fun playing with. Though this is not a sponsored post, I recently received a slow cooker from KitchenAid.
It's actually called a Multi Cooker because it (get this!) has the ability to sear, boil, sauté, simmer as well as slow cook. What that means is, I can brown my meat right in the slow cooker, then add the other ingredients and switch it over to slow cook.
Talk about a time and work saver, I'm very impressed! It's also so sleek and gorgeous that it's perfect for serving guests. Thank you KitchenAid!
Serve the soup topped with a handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of beautiful, green parsley for a delicious and lovely presentation.
Although most slow cooker recipes are intended for easy, everyday dinners, this one's also elegant and delicious enough for entertaining. I won't promise everyone will speaking Italian by the time they finish dinner, but I can tell you they'll be seconds requested. Hey, it's so good, some oddball might even want the leftovers for breakfast!
Disclosure: Although I was given a KitchenAid MultiCooker, I was not required to write this post or compensated for it monetarily. The opinions are definitely my own.
- 1 pound ground beef*
- ½ pound Italian sausage**
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt for meat
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 1 6- ounce can tomato paste
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 pound carrots*** peeled and sliced
- 1 14 ½- ounce can fire-roasted canned tomatoes if you can't find these, just use regular diced tomatoes
- 8 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons pesto****
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 15 ounce can dark red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1 ¼ cups ditalini pasta uncooked
- For garnish:
- fresh parsley for serving
- freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving
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Brown ground beef and Italian sausage and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium size pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. (If you're using the KitchenAid Multi Cooker, just brown the meat right in the insert.) Cook, stirring frequently and breaking up meat with a metal or plastic spatula, till meat mixture is deep golden brown. With a large spoon or spatula, push meat to one side and tip pot so that any grease will accumulate on the other side. Remove any accumulated grease with a spoon or sop up with paper towels and discard.
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Add the red wine to the meat and bring to a steady simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until almost all the wine has evaporated, about 3-5 minutes. Add tomato paste and, stirring frequently, cook for another few minutes, until mixture is fragrant and turns deep red in color. Transfer mixture to the insert of your slow cooker.
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Add all remaining ingredients except pasta. Cover and cook on low power for 7-8 hours or until carrots are nice and tender.
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Just before serving, cook Ditalini (or other pasta) according to package directions until al dente. Drain and add to soup***** (see notes below). Serve soup with a handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of finely chopped fresh parsley.
* I like to use ground sirloin as it's leaner.
** I use Johnsonville brand as it's very lean and has great flavor.
*** I like to use the baby carrots as there's no peeling.
**** Homemade or purchased pesto is fine. I really like the pesto sold at Costco. I store it in the freezer, thaw it slightly and just scoop out what I need.
***** If you're not serving all of the soup right away, you may want to store the soup and pasta separately as the pasta will continue to absorb the liquid from the soup. The other option is to add more beef broth when serving leftovers if you like to keep the soup more "brothy". I like it both ways, it's a little heartier after some of the broth is absorbed.
This recipe makes a large batch. Feel free to half it if you don't need as much however it makes wonderful leftovers!
Makes 12 1 ½-cup servings
Chris says
This soup was sooo delicious! I didn’t have dry red wine on hand when prepping meat so I just used beef broth. Yummy comfort soup!
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Chris!
Laura says
Hi Chris, I'm planning to make this tomorrow, but accidentally bought hot italian sausage - is hot okay or should I run back to the store in the morning? Laura
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Laura, it will be spicier but if you're okay with that, it will still be delicious. It just depends on your level of heat tolerance.
Candace says
My goodness! Can soup get any better than this? I usually test a recipe before serving a new recipe to guests. So far none of your recipes have failed so I went ahead & invited my neighbor for dinner. Both he & my husband loved the soup. Sorry to say no left overs for the next night. Served with your focaccia & herb bread for a perfect meal.
Chris Scheuer says
I'm so glad! Thank you for letting us know, Candace!
Candace says
Slow cooker season is finally here & I can't wait to try this soup. Can I use pancetta in place of the sausage? Thank you for all your tips on the different products you use. Need to try the Costco basil pesto. Something kept eating my basil so no homemade pesto this year.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Candace, yes, I think pancetta would be delicious!
Christy says
If I leave the pasta out I can freeze this right? Then when I defrost it I can cook the pasta and add when I heat it up. I made this when you first posted this a few years ago but it never made it to the freezer . It was soooo good. I want to make it for the freezer for just the two of us when I don’t want to cook pop it in the double boiler salad and bread an we’re good ..
Chris Scheuer says
Yes! That's exactly what to do, Christy! The pasta will get soggy if you freeze this soup with the pasta in it. But if you add the pasta after defrosting, it will be perfect! Thanks for sharing your review!
Wendy says
Have you ever added fresh garlic? I was thinking of adding it. Love garlic!
Chris Scheuer says
Fresh garlic would be wonderful!
Lorna Houk says
Can u cook it on high
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Lorna, I think it's better to cook it on low as the flavors have time to develop but if you don't have time, feel free to cook it for less time on high.
Carrie Hammett says
Yikes, I put the noodles in uncooked. Just one of those days. Can I save my first attempt?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Carrie,
Yes, I think you'll be okay. Simmer it until the noodles are done. You're going to have to add more broth because the noodle will soak up a lot of the broth as they're cooking. Add an extra cup now and then after the noodles are cooked you can add more, if needed. Enjoy!
Kathy says
OMG!! I love soups especially when it’s cold. I’m always looking for a tasty hearty (got to fill up my husband) soup. This soup is amazing. I had to leave put the wine. I didn’t have any but it’s still delicious. Really enjoyed it. I’ll be rotating this through the menu a lot.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Kathy, for taking the time to share your results. I'm so happy you enjoyed this soup. We love it too!
Sarah says
I made this soup yesterday and both my husband and I could hardly wait to try it because it smelled so good while it was cooking! After we ate my husband told me that it was one of the best, if not THE best, soup I've ever made him! A very high compliment, mind you, because we eat a lot of really yummy homemade soups! We are both excited for leftovers tonight. I imagine it'll be even better tonight as most good soup recipes are better the second day! Thanks for sharing!
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! So happy you enjoyed this soup, Sarah! It's definitely one of our favorites too!
Kari says
First of all, love your recipes and your site. I am looking to make up some meals for my son and daughter-in-law who are expecting a baby any day now. They live in a small town an hour away, so how would you suggest I package or freeze the pasta recipes. Several of your recipes say to add later.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Kari,
First of all, congratulations, how exciting to be expecting a baby. There's just nothing like it in the whole world!
Regarding the pasta recipes, if a soup sits too long with pasta in it, the pasta tends to absorb all the liquid, leaving no broth left. I would just place the soup and pasta in separate containers and then leave an instruction to combine them when reheating.
Sherron says
We just got a new Instant Pot and would like to try this. Can you just leave out the meat? I would substitute good quality vegetable stock instead of the beef broth and our favorite veggie sausage. I realize it may change the taste somewhat, but is there any reason that the recipe would not be successful? We no longer eat meat.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Sherron, you could certainly try it without meat. I haven't made it that way so I can't guarantee the results. The beef does add a lot of flavor but veggies are yummy too!
Lisa Lemieur says
We are in the middle of a giant snow storm....I think you might be too! And I just got all the ingredients into my crock pot for eating later today. My house smells so good! Love your recipes! Thank you!
Katie Zack says
I made this tonight on the stove!! It is delicious. Just had a little and will put the pasta in tomorrow.
Diana Anderson says
My Italian dad used to make a huge pot of this for us 5 kids. Of course no crockpot then! This is now cooking in my kitchen, and the smells are a amazing memory of my childhood. I’ve snuck a taste after 5 hours, and Oh My Gosh. It is spot on. Thank you so much.
Chris Scheuer says
I love this Diana! So awesome to me how the aromas of certain foods can take us back in time!
Karen L. Calanchini says
This soup is amazing. Last time I used home made pesto. I just purchased the Kirkland pesto from Costco and found it delicious . Do you freeze it in the jar it comes in ?
Thank you.
Chris Scheuer says
Ah, I love it! Yes, we're feeling like we're in the middle of a snow globe right now up on this mountain! It's so beautiful and so fun to be tucked in a warm, cozy house! Just praying that we don't lose power!
Enjoy the soup! It's one of our favorites.
Susan says
I have a question....Do you need to put brown sugar in ALL of your soups???
Chris Scheuer says
You could certainly skip the brown sugar, Susan. It doesn't make the soup sweet - but tends to round out the flavor.