Score: 4.82 (votes: 311)
Menu Description: "White and red beans, ground beef, tomatoes and pasta in a savory broth."
It's amazing how many lousy clone recipes for this delicious chili-like soup are floating around. Cooking message boards, and questionable sites that claim to have "actual restaurant recipes" have for years passed off numerous versions that disappoint home chefs. Other formulas leave out major ingredients that you can clearly see in the real thing, like the carrots, or ground beef, or two kinds of beans. Others don't even get the pasta right—it's clearly ditalini pasta, which are short little tubes. If you want the same taste of the original at home, try my Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli copycat recipe below. It may be the only one that will live up to a side-by-side taste test. Beware of imitation imitations!
Find more of my Olive Garden copycat recipes here.
Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.
Get This
_main
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced (1 cup)
- 1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)
- 3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 1 15-ounce can red kidney beans (with liquid)
- 1 15-ounce can great northern beans (with liquid)
- 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 12-ounce can V-8 juice
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 pound (1/2 pkg.) ditalini pasta
Do This
1. Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Drain off most of the fat.
2. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and saute for 10 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.
4. About 50 minutes into the simmering, cook the pasta in 1 1/2 to 2 quarts of boiling water over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes or just until the pasta is al dente, or slightly tough. Drain.
5. Add the pasta to the large pot of soup. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more and serve.
Serves 8.
Reviews
Kathleen Smith
Feb 25, 2020, 21:09
This is the real deal! My husband and his parents could not tell the difference in the taste or appearance of this dish. Having not tried it at the restaurant, I couldn't confirm or deny. Suffice it to say, I have since verified that OG makes it just like I do! Delicious. You may want to add more liquid for a thinner soup, as some is absorbed, but you will not be disappointed!
Monica Provine
Dec 14, 2019, 11:10
As a former Olive Garden server, I can tell you this recipe tastes exactly like the restaurant’s! We make it often in our home and spice it up by using the diced tomatoes with chiles. Delicious on cold winter nights with sliced sourdough bread with butter. Hearty and filling.
I'm Todd Wilbur, Chronic Food Hacker
For over 30 years I've been deconstructing America's most iconic brand-name foods to make the best original copycat recipes for you to use at home. Welcome to my lab.
.png)
