Name: Instant Pot Pasta Fagioli
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 2 min
Total time: 32 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 large yellow onion (minced); 2 stalks celery (minced); 2 medium carrots (chopped); 4 cloves garlic (minced); 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning; ½ cup dry red wine (or additional broth); 6 cups low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable broth; 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar; 1 (15.5 oz) can cannellini beans (drained and rinsed); 1 (15.5 oz) can kidney beans (drained and rinsed); ½-1 cup dried ditalini pasta (or elbow macaroni (see note)); 1 sprig fresh rosemary (or ½ teaspoon dried rosemary leaves); 2 dried bay leaves; 1 (15.5 oz) can diced tomatoes; 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce (or crushed tomatoes); Parmesan cheese and parsley ( for serving)

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Made with humble ingredients and ready in 30 minutes, Instant Pot Pasta Fagioli is a flavorful, hearty, tomato-based Italian soup filled with pasta and beans. It is guaranteed to warm you to your core!

Bowl of pasta fagioli topped with parmesan cheese.

I am back with yet another Olive Garden Copycat recipe. And just like my recipes for Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana, Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup, and Instant Pot Minestrone, this recipe for Instant Pot Pasta Fagioli is better than the original!

Pasta Fagioli, or Pasta e Fagioli is pronounced pasta fazool and translates to pasta and beans. This tomato-based soup is rich, hearty, and filled with, you guessed it, pasta and beans! And this healthy family dinner recipe is super easy to make using the Instant Pot!

Reasons to Love Instant Pot Pasta Fagioli

Quick and Hearty Vegetarian Dinner Recipe. Made in just about 30 minutes and filled with pasta and beans, this soup is filling and nourishing.
Inexpensive Recipe. This classic Italian soup is made with simple, inexpensive ingredients that you likely have on hand in your pantry.
Picky-Eater Approved. While the broth is richly flavored, Pasta Fagioli is made with rather simple ingredients and unlike Minestrone this soup is not filled with veggies like spinach and zucchini that picky eaters may refuse to eat.

Notes on Ingredients and Equipment

Ingredients in pasta fagioli on counter labeled with text overlays.

Aromatics: A yellow onion, celery, carrots, and garlic help to build layers of flavor in the Pasta Fagioli. Feel free to omit the celery if you don't care for it, but it adds a nice fresh element to the soup.
Herbs: To season the pasta fagioli, use a combination of fresh rosemary, dried bay, and Italian seasoning. You can replace the fresh rosemary with dried rosemary if desired.
Broth: Use low-sodium vegetable broth to control the sodium in the soup. If you aren't vegetarian, feel free to use low-sodium chicken stock in place of the vegetable broth.
Red Wine: To add a rich, nuanced note to the soup, I love adding a bit of dry red wine, like Cabernet, Pinot Noir, or Merlot. If you don't care to cook with wine, use additional broth in its place.
Beans: Use a combination of kidney beans and cannellini beans. Dark or light kidney beans work equally as well.
Pasta: Ditalini pasta is the traditional choice for Pasta Fagioli. If you can't find ditalini, elbow noodles, orecchiette or small shells are suitable substitutes.
Tomatoes: For the best texture and liquid content, use both diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Crushed tomatoes can be used in place of the tomato sauce.
Balsamic Vinegar: Adding a splash of balsamic vinegar will make the flavors pop and deepen the rich notes in the soup. Feel free to use red wine vinegar in place of balsamic vinegar if needed.
To Finish: Pasta Fagioli benefits from being topped with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese if you aren't vegan or dairy-free.
Instant Pot: For a 3-quart Instant Pot, this recipe will need to be halved. It can be doubled if prepared in an 8 or 10-quart pressure cooker.

Recipe Modifications

Thick or Thin: For a super thick, hearty Pasta Fagioli, add a full cup of dried pasta. For a thinner soup, add ½ cup.
Gluten-Free Pasta Fagioli: Barilla Gluten-Free elbow noodles in this recipe for Instant Pot Fagioli. Other brands of gluten-free noodles give off too much starch to work.
Vegan-Friendly: Omit serving the soup with parmesan and this recipe is dairy-free and vegan-friendly as written.
Add Meat: If desired, feel free to brown ½ pound of lean ground beef or turkey along with the onion, celery, and carrots until fully cooked, and then proceed with the recipe as written.

How to Make Pasta Fagioli in the Instant Pot

The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post or follow along as I make this dish in the video below.

Step One: Saute Aromatics. Taking a few extra minutes to saute the onions, celery, and carrots with garlic and oregano will help deepen the flavor of the herbs and veggies, in turn making this Pasta Fagioli soup much more flavorful.

Sauteed onions, carrots, celery in inner pot of Instant Pot.

Step Two: Deglaze the Inner Pot. Any time you saute something in your pressure cooker, you want to add thin liquid and scrape up any browned bits from the inner pot. This will prevent a burn notice. For this pasta fagioli recipe, add in dry red wine (or broth) and use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits off the inner pot, while the wine simmers.

Sauteed onions, carrots, celery in inner pot deglazed with red wine.

Step Three: Layer Ingredients. Once the aromatics have been sauteed and the pan deglazed, you simply need to add the remaining ingredients into the inner pot. Add the broth, vinegar, beans, pasta, rosemary, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Pour the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce on top of the ingredients inside the inner pot, but do not stir--this will also help to prevent a burn notice.

Ingredients Layered in Instant Pot for Pasta Fagioli.

Step Four: Pressure Cook. To ensure the pasta is cooked to al dente, cook the soup on high pressure for 2 minutes followed by exactly 10 minutes of natural pressure release.

Pasta fagioli inside inner pot after pressure cooking.

Serving Suggestions

This pasta and beans soup is so hearty and filling it can stand alone as an economical meal. However, pairing it with some whole wheat rolls or Dutch oven bread and a Greek salad or Caesar salad is never a bad idea. And if you aren't dairy-free, don't forget topping Pasta Fagioli with a generous amount of parmesan cheese.

Spoonful of Instant Pot pasta fagioli with parmesan.

Storage and Reheating Instructions

Refrigerate: Allow any leftover Pasta e Fagioli to cool slightly and then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freeze: Transfer the cooled soup to a freezer-safe container, leaving 1 inch of space for expansion. Freeze the soup for up to 2 months.
Reheat: If needed, defrost the pasta fagioli overnight in the refrigerator. To reheat the soup, reheat individual servings in a heat-safe bowl covered with a damp paper towel in 60-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until warmed through, adding additional broth if needed.

More Cozy Instant Pot Soup Recipes

If you gave this Instant Pot Pasta Fagioli Soup recipe a try, I would love for you to leave a review and comment below.