This hearty soup, similar to the pasta e Fagioli you'd find at olive garden, makes a batch large enough to feed a crowd. If you have a large Crock Pot, you can set it to go in the morning and have an easy meal when you come home in the evening.
Olive Garden Crock Pot Pasta e Fagioli
2 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 (28-oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (16-oz.) red kidney beans, drained
1 (16-oz.) white kidney beans, drained
3 (10-oz.) beef stock
3 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. pepper
5 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 20-oz. jar spaghetti sauce
8 oz. cheese tortellini (in your freezer section)
Brown ground beef in a skillet. Drain fat from ground beef and add to a large crock pot with everything except the tortellini. Cook in a crock pot on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
During the last 30 minutes on high or 1 hour on low, add pasta (adding it sooner will cause pasta to get mushy). Cook until pasta is heated through.
Variations: I cooked my pasta e fagioli in a big stock pot on simmer for a couple of hours instead of using a Crock Pot. The recipe above made a HUGE batch. I think we could have halved it and still had plenty to eat. Next time I make it I am going to freeze half of it before adding the tortellini.
Thanks to Mommy2Mercedes for posting this recipe in our Crock Pot Cooking Forum!
I made this last night for supper and it was probably the first copy cat recipe that I have used that tastes just like the original. We live in Newfoundland, Canada and we don’t have an Olive Garden here so I am in a bit of withdrawal! haha I used small bowtie pasta instead of the tortellini and I used 4 cheese pasta sauce in place of the spaghetti sauce. It was amazing! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
So glad you liked it!
I work at Olive Garden and we use cut ziti and shredded carrots and I don’t know the rest of the recipe by heart but that is what I know off the top of my head.
So I’m new to this cooking thing….do we have to boil the beans first or just rinse them and place them in the pot/crock Pot? Thanks!
Hi Juliette – The recipe calls for canned beans. If you’re doing dried beans, make sure they’re cooked first.
making this today and using ground turkey instead of the beef can’t wait to try this
Let us know how it turns out!
i love using jimmy dean sausage in place of ground beef. SO good.
Made this soup in my crock pot and it was amazing! Need to use my stock pot next time, it makes alot, crockpot was really not big enough. I used egg noodles and cooked them separately and added just before serving. Freezer the rest of the soup without add the pasta. This is a keeper!!
I’m glad you liked it, Sandy! I need to make it again soon. It’s great this time of year.
Wondering if the measurements for the herbs were for dried or fresh herbs. Thanks
The measurements are for dried herbs. I hope you enjoy it! 😉
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but it calls for tortellini from the freezer section–so did you defrost the pasta before adding it at the end? If not, was the frozen pasta cooked enough after only 1 hour?
Tortellini cooks very quickly, even when frozen. No need to defrost before adding it.
Have you tried freezing it? I’ve got it cooking and it looks like a lot of food 🙂
How many servings does this make? I’m cooking for 10-12 college students. It looks like it makes a lot, just making sure one recipe is enough.
I have made this several times now. I cook my pasta separate as it does not seem to freeze well, and there is plenty left to freeze for another meal. I just add fresh pasta to my bowl and cover with soup! Everyone loves it!
Made this today and used ditalini pasta and the Sam’s Choice pasta sauce with olives. It was out of this world delicious.