Back-to-school season is filled with so much excitement. But our calendars also suddenly spiral into a never-ending list of soccer practices, study sessions, play rehearsals and more. Finding time to get a decent and delicious meal on the table can feel impossible.
The slow cooker is a busy family’s best friend when it comes to meal prep during this busy time. And, with cooler weather on the way, we love the idea of a yummy bowl of soup. Passionate Penny Pincher’s copycat recipe for Olive Garden’s Pasta Fagioli Soup might be the perfect solution to an easy meal with minimal preparation that’s ready to eat when you get home.
Why go out for dinner (and pay all that money) when you can enjoy a taste of your favorite restaurant at home? That’s what we love about this recipe.
Pasta Fagioli is an Italian variety of soup that translates in English to “pasta and beans.” It has a lot in common with minestrone soup, not only in national origin but also in that it is a hearty dish with a beef and tomato base. However, the primary difference between the two soups is how pasta and beans are the stars of the show in Pasta Fagioli.
This soup is one of the most popular choices on Olive Garden’s menu. Now, Passionate Penny Pincher’s recipe makes it so simple to simmer this soup at home. You might never do takeout again!
The basic ingredients you’ll need for this Slow Cooker Pasta Fagioli Soup are ground beef; onion, celery and carrots; cans of diced tomatoes, red kidney beans and white kidney beans; and spices you likely already have on hand. You’ll also need a jar of spaghetti sauce and your choice of pasta.
You can get the exact amounts and step-by-step instructions from the Passionate Penny Pincher’s Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup recipe.
Note: This soup makes a large quantity, so you’ll want to be sure to use a large slow cooker to accommodate all the ingredients. And, be ready for delicious leftovers for lunch or dinner over the next few days!
This article originally appeared on Simplemost.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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Soup is the perfect comfort food as the weather gets cooler. That’s why we’ve put together this list of healthy and hearty recipes you can turn to time and time again. Chances are you’ll find more than a few family favorites here.
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This mild yet delicious soup is great for warming up, or giving you a light meal when you’re feeling a bit under the weather.
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If you love sweet potatoes, then it’s not a far jump to assume you’ll love a good sweet potato soup. You get all that good sweet potato flavor, a smooth and creamy brothiness, plus anything else you choose to add for flavor or texture.
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This delicious lasagna soup recipe is warm, comforting and very filling. It can be made gluten-free with gluten-free pasta (and other ingredients), and you can easily substitute beef for turkey if that’s your preference.
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This amazing recipe is one I grew up with. My grandmother always made lentils for me, so I eventually began to associate them with being “comfort food”. I loved them especially because they were always served with a bratwurst or some other German sausage.
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I had a surfeit of tomatoes, so I took out my trusty Instant Pot and started chopping veggies. The result was this wonderful, clean eating pressure cooker tomato soup that I served with a crusty, whole grain, garlic bread.
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Recently, I ran across some brown rice pad thai noodles at Whole Foods. I couldn’t believe my luck! So I grabbed a box and went straight home and got to work. But I knew that Mini Chef wanted soup for dinner, so I had to compromise by making Pad Thai Soup. It was scrumptious!
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This tasty soup is very easy to make; you can adjust the quantities of both peanut butter and coconut milk to your own taste. You can also add some chipotle pepper for a spicy touch and a smoky taste.
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This simple-to-make soup made me happy. It’s very light and easy on the tummy, and I can’t wait to have it again. The level of seasoning is up to you, of course.
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The great thing about this thick soup is that you can put it in a crock pot and forget about it. There is minimal time in front of the stove. Total prep time is 20 minutes at most, and then you can walk away and do other things while it cooks.
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You will need a very large soup pot for this one. You could definitely get away with halving or even quartering the recipe and you’d still have plenty. This was more of a “dump soup” for me. I took everything in the fridge and dumped it in. I realize it’s not a pure minestrone, but it sure tastes like the real stuff! Just add cooked pasta! (I recommend cooking the pasta separately so it doesn’t get mushy.)
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I bought some vegan white miso paste that I used to make a peanut sauce and figured it would be great to toss in some tofu and green onions and just make a simple soup. It felt great in my tummy, and you’ll love it, too.
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This classic soup (also known as potage parmentier) gets an upgrade in cooking method with this Instant Pot version. A classic potato leek soup is total comfort food. Its warm, creamy texture is soothing on a cold fall or winter night. This great recipe is even better the next day! And don’t worry, I’ll give you other cooking options as well.
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While this does have some curry flavor, I wouldn’t consider this an Indian dish. It definitely has that sort of flavor, but I guess you could say it’s pretty Americanized. The curry flavor here is mild and the soup is comforting. It’s filling and full of good nutrition. You can make it vegan/vegetarian or not, depending on the broth you use. It’s just a tasty, all-around lentil soup. It also makes a large amount so you can freeze some for future meals.
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This is is a hearty soup that fills you up with protein (both meat and plant-based protein) and fiber. Navy beans are the bean with the highest fiber content, so I tend to eat them a lot these days. And they are so crazy delicious!
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There are two camps of people when it comes to Split Pea Soup. You either cook it with ham, or you don’t. Most people tend to have a strong preference one way or the other. And in addition, you either like it soupy, or thick as mud.
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For the most part, all additions are done for you in this recipe. But if you just want to make a simple ramen broth at some point in the future, you can add just about any vegetable you like. Some soy sauce (I prefer tamari) and even spicy things like peppers. The sky is pretty much the limit, as it is with most soups.
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This soup is particularly well suited for both winter and spring. It’s light in the belly, but still hearty and filling. It’s perfect with a slice of crusty garlic bread and a side salad. A wonderful soup to ward off that chill in the air!
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This turned out to be a simple soup with simple flavors that Mini Chef and I both enjoyed. It’s not one of those soups that will bowl you over with flavor explosions, but rather a nice, gentle, comforting soup that helped us feel a little more settled and warm.
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One of the main techniques I had to work on with this recipe was sweating the vegetables. Up until now, this has actually been a frustrating process for me. I couldn’t get the heat right or keep the vegetables from browning. But for some reason, I broke through that with this recipe and now I want to sweat all the vegetables, all the time.
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French onion is a simple, delicious soup that is fairly easy to make. It takes a little time, but the process is super simple. Let’s dive in.
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This clean eating buttered crookneck squash soup recipe is straight from my grandmother’s kitchen! I know, crookneck squash is a summer squash and here we are in October. But I was at the store this week, and they had a huge pile of these beauties for sale at a really great price. So I loaded up!
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This nourishing soup is one of my favorites. Here are the ingredients: Filtered water, beef bones (grass-fed), onions, organic carrots, organic celery, organic parsley, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, black peppercorn, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary extract.
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This recipe is versatile, so you can make substitutions pretty easily as needed. It’s not as thick as the canned stuff (nothing ever is … what DO they put in that stuff anyway?????!!), but you can thicken it further by stirring in extra flour or even some organic cornstarch or arrowroot powder.
This article originally appeared on TheGraciousPantry.comand was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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