Pasta e Fagioli

Italian soup with pasta and beans

Sometimes we need a warm bowl of soup – especially on these cold snowy days! Pasta e Fagioli is an Italian soup with pasta and beans. This is a completely satisfying soup for lunch or dinner. 

For this soup I used white beans, but you could also use kidney beans, garbanzo beans or really almost any kind of bean. The pasta is pretty flexible too. You just want a small sized pasta.

I made a huge pot of this soup for dinner and then reheated the leftovers for lunch the next day. Totally delicious and satisfying for both meals.

To make this soup, you start with bacon! Yes, bacon!!! The bacon is cooked crisp and then reserved for topping when serving. You use all that delicious bacon grease to saute the onions and garlic. It really sets the flavor up for an amazing soup. The most difficult part is not nibbling on all those cooked crunchy bacon bits! You may want to consider cooking an extra piece just for nibbling!

5 from 4 votes

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Pasta e Fagioli

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 30 mins

 

Italian soup with pasta and beans

Course: Dinner, Soup

: Italian

Servings: 10 people

Calories: 153 kcal

Author: Kathy

Ingredients

• 3 slices bacon
• 1 large onion finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 10 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups carrots finely diced
• 3 stalks celery finely diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes 14.5 oz can
• 2 cans white beans 15 oz can
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup pasta small size

Topping

• Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• Chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Cut bacon into small bits.  Cook in a large soup pot until crispy.  Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Keep bacon grease in pot.

2. Add diced onion.  Cook over medium heat until onion is soft. Add garlic and continue cooking for another 2 minutes.  

3. Add one cup of chicken broth. Stir and try to stir all brown bits on bottom of pan into the broth.  Add remaining broth.

4. Add carrots and celery and can of tomatoes with juice.

5. Drain and rinse beans.  Add to pot.

6. Add salt, pepper and bay leaf.

7. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes until carrots are cooked through.

8. Add pasta.  Continue simmering for 8-10 minutes until pasta is cooked through.  Taste soup and add additional salt and pepper as needed.  Remove bay leaf.

Topping

1. Dish up soup and sprinkle on a small amount of Parmesan cheese, bacon bits and fresh parsley. 

Nutrition Facts

Pasta e Fagioli

Amount Per Serving

Calories 153 Calories from Fat 27

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 3g 5%

Saturated Fat 1g 5%

Cholesterol 4mg 1%

Sodium 1167mg 49%

Potassium 684mg 20%

Total Carbohydrates 23g 8%

Dietary Fiber 4g 16%

Sugars 2g

Protein 8g 16%

Vitamin A 66.2%

Vitamin C 27.7%

Calcium 8.8%

Iron 16.3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Other Great Recipes to Try

Chicken Broth 

Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup