Once you realize you can make an easy pasta e fagioli recipe at home in your Instant Pot, you won’t ever think about the olive garden again!

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 12 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

What is Pasta e Fagioli?

Pasta e fagioli, meaning “pasta and beans” in Italian, is a classic Italian dish with deep roots in Italian peasant cooking. Its history is tied to the “cucina povera” tradition, or simple, hearty meals made with affordable, accessible ingredients. The dish originated as a way for Italian families to stretch their limited food supplies, making it a staple in many regions of Italy. You will love the taste of this super savory soup!

Here are a few things that you should note about this recipe:

1. Carrots. When I cook tomato-based food. I mainly eat Italian food and add about twice as many carrots as an average person. Carrots are a natural sweetener and reduce the acidy of tomato-based food. You don’t have to add as many carrots as I did, but I highly recommend it! You will also find carrots as the secret ingredient in my tomato soup recipe.
2. Pasta. I cooked the pasta separately and kept it in the fridge until it was time to eat the soup. I love my Italian food to be al dente, so that is what I recommend.

I created a video to see the step-by-step instructions I used for this recipe.

Ingredients Needed

• 1 pound ground beef
• dash of salt and black pepper
• 1/2 pound Italian sausage
• One small yellow onion chopped
• Five carrots, peeled and chopped
• Three stalks of celery, chopped
• Two cloves of minced garlic
• Two tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• One teaspoon of dried basil
• Two bay leaves
• One teaspoon oregano
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• Three 15-ounce cans of tomato sauce, or you can use diced tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• One can of red kidney beans
• One can of Great Northern Beans or Cannellini Beans
• 2 cups Ditalini pasta.  You can also use alphabet pasta or elbow macaroni.

Garnishes 

Parmesan cheese

Italian seasonings like fresh parsley, thyme, or basil.

Red pepper flakes

Optional Ingredients: you can throw in the parmesan rind before you start pressure cooking.

Equipment

Pressure Cooker

Wooden Spoon

Instructions

Pressure Cooker Instructions

1. Set your pressure cooker to saute brown ground beef and Italian sausage. Drain and set aside.

2. Set your pressure cooker to saute. Pour olive oil into the bottom of your pressure cooker.  Add onions and cook until transparent.

3. Stir in celery, carrots, garlic, spices, the cooked meat, tomato sauce, water, and the chicken broth.

4. Put the lid on your pressure cooker and cook on high or manual pressure for 12 minutes. Use the quick release by rotating the release valve.

   Cook your noodles on a stovetop. If you are warming up individual servings, keep them in a bowl, separate from the soup, until you are ready to serve. I recommend heating the soup first, then adding the noodles right before eating.

Storage: store noodles and soup separately in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.

5 from 2 votes

Print

Pasta e fagioli soup

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound Italian sausage
• 1 small yellow onion chopped
• 5 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 3 15 ounce cans tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can northern white beans
• 2 cups Ditalini pasta

Instructions

Pressure Cooker Instructions

1. Set your pressure cooker to saute.  Brown ground beef and Italian sausage. .Drain and set aside.  

2. Set your pressure cooker to saute.  Pour olive oil in the bottom of your pressure cooker pan.  Add onions and cook until transparent. 

3. Add celery, carrots, garlic, spices, the cooked meat, tomato sauce, water, and the chicken broth. 

4. Put the lid on your pressure cooker, and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.  Let your pressure cooker naturally release. 

5. Set your pressure cooker to saute, and add both cans of beans.  Let the soup saute for about 10 minutes.  

6. Cook your noodles on a stove top.  Keep them in a bowl, separate from the soup until you are ready to eat if you are warming up individual servings.  I recommend that you heat the soup, then add the noodles in the right before eating. 

Slow Cooker Instructions

1. Cook the meat on the stove and drain. Set aside.  

2. Cook the onions in the olive oil on the stove until they are translucent and set aside.  

3. Place meat, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, spices, tomato sauce, water, and chicken broth in your slow cooker and cook on slow for 4-6 hours. 

4. Add the beans about an hour before the cooking process ends. 

5. Cook the pasta separately and add the pasta to individual bowls of soup when you are ready to eat.  

Check out more of my Instant Pot Soup Recipes!

Pastina Soup 

Instant Pot Minestrone 

Beef and Barley soup 

This recipe can also be adapted to be cooked on the stovetop. 

I have made this soup several times to get it right. I made it with only ground beef and with the ground beef/Italian sausage combo. Although I decided that the ground beef/Italian sausage combo was best, this recipe is also delicious if you use ground beef only. This soup is a colorful bowl of comfort and will be added to my regular winter dinner rotation!

A piping hot bowl of Pasta e fagioli soup is the most delicious way to warm up on a cold day! This Instant Pot pasta e fagioli is filled with fiber, calcium, potassium, vitamin C, and protein and has the most satisfying flavor!

Did you make this Instant Pot pasta fagioli soup?  I would love to hear how this recipe turned out for you!   Please comment below this post or tag me on social media to let me know how it turned out!  You can find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter!