Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup) - Cookin Canuck (2024)

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You can't beat the simplicity of pasta e fa*gioli, aka Italian pasta and bean soup. It's comforting, healthy and will have your family begging for more. 242 calories and 5 Weight Watchers Freestyle SP
Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup) - Cookin Canuck (1)

So often the best recipes are not the ones from some fancy shmancy restaurant cookbook, but rather the ones learned at grandmother's side. They are the recipes that are frequently passed down verbally from generation to generation, but rarely written down with pen and paper.

Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup) - Cookin Canuck (2)

My friend, Liz of The Lemon Bowl (you know her well from our Healthy New Year Challenge) has taken on an amazing project - capturing the recipes of her family and her husband's family in a series of eCookbooks, starting with Food From Our Ancestors: The Ultimate Italian Sunday Dinner. The eCookbook is only $3.99 (less than a latte!) and features recipes such as Spinach & Potato Frittata, Sunday Gravy and Uncle Vinny's Shrimp Scampi (I can tell that I already like Uncle Vinny).

Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup) - Cookin Canuck (3)

The wonderful thing about good Italian food is that the ingredients lists are often very basic. It's the quality of the ingredients and the seasoning that makes the difference. Good olive oil, high quality canned tomatoes, fresh basil and so on.

Pasta e fa*gioli, otherwise known as pasta and beans is a classic vegetarian soup that is hearty and healthy, and practically begs for a piece of crusty bread to dunk into the broth. You may have seen me making Liz's recipe on Snapchat and my Instagram stories (I'm @cookincanuck in both places). What you didn't hear was my family's enthusiastic reviews of the soup, including T (my younger son) saying, "I could eat this every night." That says it all.

Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup) - Cookin Canuck (4)

Other healthy vegetarian soup recipes:

Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup) - Cookin Canuck (5)
Cookin' Canuck's Slow Cooker Vegetable Barley Soup
Cookin' Canuck's
A Cedar Spoon's Thai Coconut Zoodle Soup
The Healthy Maven's Quinoa Tortilla Soup
Eating Bird Food's Roasted Garlic Lentil Soup

Printable Recipe

Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup) - Cookin Canuck (6)

Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup)

You can't beat the simplicity of pasta e fa*gioli, aka Italian pasta and bean soup. It's comforting, healthy and will have your family begging for more. 242 calories and 5 Weight Watchers Freestyle SP

4.75 from 16 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Entrees, Soups

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Clean Eating, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 15 Cups

Calories: 242.6kcal

Author: Dara Michalski | Cookin' Canuck

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large soup pot and saute onion, garlic and spices until just tender about 4-5 minutes.

  • Add tomato paste and stir well. Reduce heat to low and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  • Add the water, chicken stock and beans to the pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

  • Stir in cooked pasta and parsley just before serving. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and serve with crusty bread for dunking, if desired.

Notes

Weight Watchers Points:5 (Freestyle SmartPoints), 6 (Points+)

* The salt and pepper to taste are not included in the nutritional information.

Reprinted with permission from Food From Our Ancestors: The Ultimate Italian Sunday Dinner

Nutrition

Serving: 1.5Cups | Calories: 242.6kcal | Carbohydrates: 38.6g | Protein: 10.6g | Fat: 6.7g | Saturated Fat: 0.8g | Sodium: 557.3mg | Fiber: 7.1g | Sugar: 3.3g

Tried this recipe?If you make this recipe, I'd love to see it on Instagram! Just use the hashtag #COOKINCANUCK and I'll be sure to find it.

Disclosure: This post contains links to my Amazon affiliate page. Any revenue made from sales through these links helps to support this blog. Thank you!

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  1. Janet

    Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup) - Cookin Canuck (12)
    I added a pound of sweet Italian sausage (sliced) and used 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning instead of 2 Tablespoons. This was delicious and a keeper.❤️

    Reply

  2. Bonnie

    Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup) - Cookin Canuck (13)
    Reading other reviews about thickening I decided to add dry pasta without cooking first. also added leftover shredded chicken for more protein. Lovely soup. i might add celery to the garlic and onion saute the next time.

    Reply

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Pasta e fa*gioli Recipe (Italian Pasta & Bean Soup) - Cookin Canuck (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between minestrone and fa*gioli? ›

Pasta fa*gioli and minestrone are both Italian soups with similar flavors that make use of whatever vegetables you have on hand. The main difference is the beans in the pasta fa*gioli that result in a thicker soup than minestrone, which is traditionally very brothy.

What is pasta e fa*gioli soup made of? ›

Pasta e fa*gioli, sometimes shortened to pasta fa*gioli (or pasta fazool if you're a Sopranos fan), is a classic Italian soup. Its name literally translates to “pasta and beans,” and it consists of tiny pasta, creamy beans, and tender vegetables in a fragrant tomato broth.

What are the ingredients in Progresso pasta fa*gioli? ›

Water, Tomato Puree (water, tomato paste), Great Northern Beans, Kidney Beans, Mezzanini Rigati Pasta (semolina wheat, egg whites).

What is a substitute for fa*gioli beans? ›

Cannellini beans would probably be the next closest bean as when cooked they have similar texture to borlotti beans and cannellini beans are also popular in Italy. However, the cooking time of beans depends on the type of bean and also their age, so the cannellini beans may take longer to cook.

Do Italians eat minestrone? ›

The tradition of not losing rural roots continues today, and minestrone is now known in Italy as belonging to the style of cooking called "cucina povera" (literally "poor kitchen"), meaning dishes that have rustic, rural roots, as opposed to "cucina nobile", or the cooking style of the aristocracy and nobles.

Did Olive Garden discontinue pasta fa*gioli soup? ›

fa*gioli has been taken off the menu. Sorry to disappoint you.

What does fazool mean in Italian? ›

Actually spelled "fa*gioli " 1. Italian for bean . 2. Term used for money or a bill .

What was Dean Martin's favorite Italian dish? ›

“When the stars make you drool just like a pasta fa*gioli, that's amore,” Martin croons. The pasta and bean dish is more than just an apt rhyme for “drool,” Martin is actually singing about one specific version of pasta fa*gioli that he loves: his mother's.

Why is it called pasta fa*gioli? ›

Pasta e fa*gioli (pronounced "pasta fazool") is a traditional Italian soup or stew made with pasta and beans. The name means "pasta and beans" in Italian.

What part of Italy does pasta fa*gioli come from? ›

Pasta e fa*gioli
Alternative namesPasta fa*gioli, pasta fasul, pašta fažol, pasta fazool
Region or stateCalabria Campania Emilia Lazio Lombardy Piedmont Tuscany Veneto
Main ingredientsSmall pasta (elbow macaroni, ditalini), cannellini beans or borlotti beans, olive oil, garlic, onions, spices, stewed tomato or tomato paste
4 more rows

Is pasta fa*gioli high in carbs? ›

Olive Garden Pasta E fa*gioli (1 serving) contains 21g total carbs, 17g net carbs, 6g fat, 9g protein, and 180 calories.

Is cannellini beans the same as butter beans? ›

No they aren't. Butter beans are lima beans AKA sieva beans or madagascar beans. Cannellini beans are white kidney beans. If you are asking because you need to substitute, you can use regular kidney beans if the recipe wants cannellini.

Are soup beans and pinto beans the same thing? ›

While soup beans are traditionally pinto beans (called brown beans in the mountain region), other types of beans are also used. White beans — Great northern beans and Navy beans are often used to make a soup bean dish.

Do cannellini beans taste the same as butter beans? ›

Compared to butter beans, cannellini beans have a nuttier flavor and sturdier makeup. Nutritionally, both butter and cannellini beans are high in protein and fiber and have very similar nutritional profiles.

What does fa*gioli mean in English? ›

The word fa*gioli (pronounced "fa-JOLE-ee") is the Italian word for beans.

What is the difference between minestrone and soup? ›

Minestrone soup is unique because it typically includes beans, pasta, or rice, as well as vegetables, and the ingredients are always left chunky (it's never blended), making it a heartier option. Vegetable soups are usually simpler and don't typically include beans or pasta, and you could have a blended vegetable soup.

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