Olive Garden Copycat Pasta e Fagioli Instant Pot
Olive Garden Copycat Pasta e Fagioli Instant Pot tastes even better than the restaurant version. This healthy Pasta Fagioli soup will warm your soul any day, loaded with protein packed beans, Italian sausage, tomatoes & an amazing bunch of seasonings.
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Servings: 6 people
Calories: 352kcal
Cost: $5
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian Ground Pork Sausage **Use mild or spicy. You can use 1:1 ground beef : Sausage. 16 oz/454 g.
- 15 oz Great Northern Beans **Drained & rinsed. 439 g / 1 can.
- 15 oz Kidney Beans **Drained & rinsed. 439 g / 1 can.
- 14 oz Diced Tomatoes **with juices. I used Diced tomatoes with basil, oregano & garlic. 1 can / 411 g.
- 8 oz tomato sauce **226 g / 1 can.
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste **diluted in about 4 tbsp water.
- 1 cup onion **roughly chopped. Use yellow or white onion.
- 1.5 tbsp garlic **minced
- ¾ cup carrot **roughly cubed
- ¾ cup celery **roughly chopped. About 2 sticks.
- 1 cup Ditalini Pasta **you can use small elbow or shell pasta. Use ¾ cups in that case.
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- Salt (to taste) **use according to taste.
Seasonings
- 1 tsp Paprika
- ¼ tsp oregano **dried from the bottle.
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning **dried from the bottle.
- 1.5 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes **skip if heat intolerant. Use 1.5 tsp if you love spicy food.
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Liquid
- 6 cups chicken stock **Use 7-7.5 cups for thinner soup. I used 4 better than bouillon cubes diluted in hot water.
Garnish
- Parsley **fresh flat leaf parsley chopped, use handful.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil **drizzle the soup.
- Parmesan Cheese **grated. I did not use any
- Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot on SAUTE & set it on HIGH heat. Add oil. When the oil becomes hot gently release the ground meat and saute the meat until nicely browned. Stir frequently with a spatula.
- Once, the meat is well browned add the chopped onion & garlic and saute for about a minute.
- Now, throw in the chopped carrots and celery and give everything a good stir. Saute for another minute.
- Pour Stock. De-glaze the pot very well scraping the sides & the bottom of the pot with the help of a spatula. This will loosen any stuck food particles and prevent the BURN error.
- Next, add all the seasonings like paprika, oregano, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes & salt. Give eveything in the pot a good stir.
- Add the tomatoes (diced, paste & sauce), canned beans (rinsed and drained), pasta. Give everything in the pot a good mix.
- CANCEL the SAUTE function. Close the lid of the Instant Pot. Seal the Valve and PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for just 4 minutes. The pressure will take some time to build because it's a large quantity soup.
- Once, the Pressure cooking cycle is over the Instant Pot will begin to beep. Immediately perform a quick pressure release (QPR) by manually moving the valve from the SEALING to the VENTING position. Open the lid carefully.
- The amazing wholesome Instant Pot Pasta e Fagioli is ready. You need to serve the soup almost immediately because the longer the pasta sits in the soup the more it get's over cooked & turn mushy.
- Garnish with some chopped fresh parsley, crushed black pepper, grated parmesan and drizzles of extra virgin olive oil. Dig in!
Video
Notes
- IMPORTANT: Serve the soup immediately as the Pasta tends to absorb a lot of liquid, get over cooked and turn mushy the longer it sits in the soup.
- Ground meat: We chose Ground Italian Mild pork sausage. You an also use ground beef and pork sausage in the 1:1 ratio. You can also make the soup with only ground beef.
- Best Pasta: We vote for Ditalini. However, you can use small elbow or shell pasta. In that case use no more than ¾ cups. ½ cup or ¾ cups would be a good choice for todays soup.
- How to store the soup in the fridge? If you plan to store it in fridge I would skip cooking the pasta in the soup. Because the pasta will absorb a lot of liquid the longer it sits in the soup & turn mushy! Cook the pasta separately & mix in the soup bowl while serving only if you plan to store the soup in the fridge.
- Storing Tips: For storing or freezing the Pasta e Fagioli soup I would recommend that you leave out the Pasta and add some cooked pasta later to the soup while re-heating it. The pasta will completely mush up if you freeze or store the soup along with it. The soup will also become drier as the pasta continues absorbing liquid.
- Seasonings: Play around with the bunch of seasonings and add more or add less according to your liking.
- Basil: You can add some dried basil in the soup especially if you add regular canned diced tomatoes. I skipped adding basil because the canned diced tomatoes had basil.
- Extra flavor: I would highly recommend using canned diced tomatoes with basil, oregano & garlic. It would almost instantly face lift the soup. Avoid using regular canned diced tomatoes. You can sub the chicken stock with beef stock.
- The Pasta e Fagioli consistency: Todays soup has a medium consistency, it's not super thin nor very thick. If you prefer thinner soups add 7 or 7.5 cups stock.
- Heat intolerant: Skip the red pepper flakes.
- Hate Kidney Beans? Sun them with a can of garbanzo beans. We love these creamy, nutty beans so much. Yum!
Nutrition
Calories: 352kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 465mg | Potassium: 992mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 2468IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 5mg