Pasta Fagioli: The Olive Garden Copycat

Some restaurant soups earn their copycats, and this is the big one. Pasta fagioli the Olive Garden way — Italian sausage, two kinds of beans, little tube pasta, all simmered in a tomato broth with real seasoning behind it. The Instant Pot version of this has been making the rounds, and after making it, I get it: thirty minutes, one pot, and it genuinely rivals the bowl you'd drive across town for.

Why it works

It starts the way every good soup does — with the meat. Browning the sausage first leaves seasoned drippings in the pot, and everything after that builds on them. Onion, garlic, carrot, and celery soften right in that fat. The stock goes in next and you scrape the bottom clean, which isn't just about avoiding the Instant Pot's BURN warning — those browned bits are pure flavor, and they melt straight into the broth. Tomatoes, beans, and ditalini go in last, and the pasta cooks under pressure in the soup itself, soaking up all of it. Four minutes. That's the whole cook.

One rule with this soup: serve it right away. Ditalini keeps drinking up broth as it sits, so the bowl is at its best the minute the lid comes off. Finish it with parmesan, fresh parsley, and a drizzle of your good olive oil.

The recipe

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian pork sausage, mild or hot (or half sausage, half ground beef)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup onion, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup carrot, roughly cubed
• 3/4 cup celery, roughly chopped
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 14 oz canned diced tomatoes, with juices
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp tomato paste, loosened with a splash of water
• 15 oz kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 15 oz Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup ditalini pasta
• 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, salt to taste
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• To serve: grated parmesan, chopped fresh parsley, extra virgin olive oil

Steps

1. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté on HIGH. Add the olive oil and the sausage; cook, breaking it into crumbles, until nicely browned. Keep the drippings in the pot.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook about 1 minute. Add the carrot and celery and cook 1 minute more.
3. Pour in the chicken stock and scrape the bottom and sides of the pot thoroughly. Stir in all the seasonings, the Worcestershire sauce, and salt.
4. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, both beans, and the ditalini. Stir well.
5. Cancel Sauté, seal the lid and valve, and pressure cook on HIGH for 4 minutes. Quick-release the pressure and open the lid carefully.
6. Stir, taste, and adjust salt and pepper. Serve immediately with parmesan, parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Freezer note: if you're making this ahead to freeze, leave the pasta out and stir in freshly cooked ditalini when you reheat — pasta frozen in soup turns mushy.

Here's the card — save it for next time:

Here's the card — save it for next time:

Want the printable version? Get it here: Pasta Fagioli

Credit: Recipe adapted from Foodies Terminal, shared by Meghna Chakraborty — and Original Facebook post

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— Dad