If you love Olive Garden recipes, you’ve gotta try my Easy Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup, Olive Garden Breadsticks, and Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup.
This Pasta E Fagioli features two kinds of beans, which you may already know are part of the pulses family. Pulses are completely delicious, protein-packed (hoorah!), and one-hundred-percent sustainable. It’s a win-win-win all around when you’re working pulses into your daily diet. These days I am looking for any way I can to sneak more protein into my kids’ diets in particular because my twin toddlers are picky, picky, picky and I can hardly get them to eat typical proteins like meat. Luckily, they’ve started warming up to soup and I’m praising heaven for that since I often slip pulses, including split peas, lentils, chickpeas, and beans, into our soups at home. But this soup in particular? It’s one of our favorites! It’s packed with savory Italian flavors and has the most amazing consistency: It’s the perfect balance between brothy soup and chili. If that wasn’t tantalizing enough, this hearty soup is also a cinch to whip up in your Instant Pot (or slow cooker if you prefer – see more info on that below!) and will make your weeknight dinner routine a breeze. I hope you give this easy recipe a try and that you enjoy this savory instant pot pasta e fagioli soup as much as we do!
HOW DO YOU MAKE PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP?
The combination of Italian seasonings, garlic, and a pinch of red pepper flakes really make the flavors of this dish stand out. My family took a vote and we say it’s better than restaurant versions, plus cooking it in the Instant Pot means we can have our favorite soup that much faster! Before you put the beans in the Instant Pot, you’ll need to soak them a bit by covering them with cold water and letting them soak the night before (or at least 6-8 hours). Then, after they have soaked, you should drain and rinse that water, add them to a large stock pot, and cover with fresh water. Bring them to a boil, then reduce heat and let them simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and cooked all the way through. Drain again. Set your Instant Pot to “saute” and add the Italian sausage and onions and saute those together for 3-5 minutes or until the sausage is browned. Add the garlic and cook that with the sausage and onions for about 1-2 minutes longer. Switch the Instant Pot setting to “soup” and add the broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, beans, and Italian seasonings and give it a good stir to combine. Lock the lid in place and seal the pressure release or the valve to seal, depending on your make and model. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. All the pot to manually release for 3-4 minutes, then turn the release valve all the way to “quick release” the rest of the steam. Final step: Stir in the cooked ditalini pasta, garnish with cracked black pepper, fresh basil, and grated parmesan cheese if desired and serve!
HOW DO YOU MAKE PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP IN THE SLOW COOKER?
If you’d prefer to make this in the slow cooker, you’ll want to still go ahead and soak and cook the beans as instructed. Then, instead of sauteing the first few ingredients in the Instant Pot, instead do this on the stovetop. (So that would be all of step 4 on the stove.) Then, add all of the ingredients listed in step 4 into the slow cooker, cover, and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4 hours. Stir in pasta at the end before serving as instructed in step 5.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PASTA E FAGIOLI AND MINESTRONE?
These two soups are very similar, but minestrone has a lot more veggies in it (what kinds of veggies varies). The name “pasta e fagioli” translates to “pasta and beans,” and so this soup’s two main components are just that, with all the other ingredients simply there for accompaniment. This post is in partnership with USA Pulses & Pulse Canada.
