The coziest pastina soup with vegetables, tiny pasta, chicken broth and parmesan cheese. Italian nonnas call this “Italian penicillin soup,” because not only is this little noodle soup comforting and healing in the best way, but it’s an easy weeknight recipe takes one pot and is on your table in just 30 minutes!
Pastina soup is often called Minestrina, Pastina in Brodo, or, affectionately, “Italian penicillin.” After one spoonful of tiny star-shaped pasta swimming in delicate chicken broth you’ll understand why!
Like Greek Avgolemono soup or Turkish Mercimek Çorbası (lentil soup), pastina soup is a simple pantry dinner used to warm a child’s belly, often to ward off a cold or just create that cozy comfort that only soup can provide.
While pastina is traditionally made with homemade chicken stock or broth, I swap in low sodium store-bought for an easy weeknight version that comes together quickly. And you can use any tiny pasta you have on hand, like acini di pepe or orzo.
Whether you need a soup for cold to get an immunity boost or not, I know you’ll love this nourishing easy soup!
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Pastina Soup
Pastina is meant to be a humble pantry meal. You likely have most everything on hand! Here’s what you need:
- Chicken broth: Use homemade chicken stock or low sodium store-bought chicken broth. That way you can add salt to your liking.
- Fresh Vegetables: Onion, carrot, and celery make the aromatic foundation of the broth. I like the mild sweetness of yellow onion, but you can use white onion or 2-3 shallots in its place.
- Parmesan rind: Spikes the broth with loads of umami flavor. Save your leftover parmesan rinds in the freezer to keep them on-hand. You can also use a large chunk of parmesan, though it’s more expensive than using the rind which would typically end up in your trash can.
- Kosher salt: Enhances the flavor.
- Pasta: I love pastina’s cute star shape for a cozy, nasutalgic quality. But any tiny pasta, like alphabet, orzo, or acini di pepe would also work.
- DIG DEEPER: The Complete Guide to Italian Pasta Shapes and the Sauces that Love Them
- Parsley: Adds freshness and depth of flavor. You can substitute with dill or basil.
- Parmesan: Freshly grated parmesan cheese adds a perfectly salty umami-rich finish.
How to Make Pastina Soup
Pastina soup is an easy weeknight recipe you can memorize and make on repeat. Here are the four easy steps:
- Simmer the broth. Peel and chop 1 onion and 2 carrots into large pieces. Chop 2 celery ribs into large pieces. Add to a large pot with a lid, along with 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth, a parmesan rind, and a pinch of salt. Turn the heat to high to bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cover. Simmer until the vegetables are very tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Puree the vegetables. Discard the parmesan rind, then use a slotted spoon to transfer the vegetables to a food processor. Add a couple ladles of the broth and blend until the vegetables are fully smooth. Scrape the pureed vegetables back into the pot.
- Boil the pasta. Turn the heat to high to bring the broth to a boil. Once boiling, stir in 1 1/2 cups pastina. Cook until the pasta is tender, about 3 minutes or so. Remove the soup from the heat.
- Serve. Taste the soup and adjust seasoning, adding more salt if it tastes flat. Ladle the pastina into serving bowls. Finish each bowl with a sprinkle of parsley and grated parmesan cheese and serve hot.
Getting Ahead and Storage
For this pastina soup recipe you can make the broth ahead of time, cover, and store in your refrigerator for up to 5 days. The tricky part is that the pasta will soak up the broth and get rather floppy. To prevent this, I like to cook my pasta separately then add it to my soup as needed. If you’d like to get ahead:
- Wait to add the pasta. Make the broth and allow to cool fully. Store, covered in your refrigerator for up to 5 days or your freezer for up to 3 months.
- Boil the pasta. When you’re ready to serve, heat the broth over high until. Cook the pasta in the boiling broth.
- If you don’t plan to eat the whole pot. Cook your desired amount of pasta in boiling salted water, then drain and divide among your serving bowls. Top with the hot broth and serve.
Or, if you’re looking for a proper “meal prep” chicken soup you can freeze and easily reheat in one step, try our Soupe Jo (Persian Chicken Barley Soup) or Chicken Stew.
What to Serve with Pastina Soup
Pastina soup is a one pot meal–it’s satisfying enough to go without sides. If you’d like to up your fresh greens, though go for a crisp and effortless lemon parmesan lettuce salad or a simple green salad dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.
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Pastina Soup
Ingredients
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 medium yellow onion, sliced into large pieces
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into large pieces
- 2 celery ribs, sliced into large pieces
- 1 parmesan rind (about 2-inches long)
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cup pastina or any tiny pasta variety, like alphabet, orzo, or acini di pepe
- 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley leaves, for garnish
- Grated parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
- Simmer the broth. In a large pot with a lid, stir together the broth, onion, carrots, celery, parmesan rind, and a pinch of salt. Turn the heat to high to bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cover. Simmer until the vegetables are very tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Puree the vegetables. Discard the parmesan rind, then use a slotted spoon to transfer the vegetables to a food processor. Add a couple ladles of the broth and blend until the vegetables are fully smooth. Scrape the purreed vegetables back into the pot.
- Boil the pasta. Turn the heat to high to bring the broth to a boil. Once boiling, stir in the pastina. Cook until the pasta is tender, about 3 minutes or so. Remove the soup from the heat.
- Serve. Taste the soup and adjust seasoning, adding more salt if it tastes flat. Ladle the pastina into serving bowls. Finish each bowl with a sprinkle of parsley and grated parmesan cheese and serve hot.
Video
Notes
- Parmesan rind: Save your leftover parmesan rinds in the freezer to keep them on-hand (you can add them to the soup straight from frozen). You can also use a large chunk of parmesan, though it’s more expensive than using the rind which would typically end up in your trash can.
- Getting ahead & storage: The broth will keep, covered in your refrigerator, for up to 5 days, but leftover pasta will soak up the broth and get soggy. If you don’t think you’ll finish the entire pot, cook your desired amount of pasta separately in boiling salted water. Drain, add to your serving bowls, then ladle hot broth over top before finishing with parmesan and parsley.
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A household favorite in the fall & winter! Turns out amazing every time.
The recipe was a flop for me, as it’s written. I used acini de pepe (which was recommended in the recipe), and added to the boiling stock. The recipe says to cook the pasta for about 3 minutes which doesn’t make any sense to me. Maybe actual pastina cooks a lot faster, but mine took around 8 minutes to get al dented, at which point basically all the broth absorbed into the pasta. I had to add extra chicken broth, and still just have a bit pot of pasta sludge…
The recipe does say to boil the pasta separately and add to the broth if you aren’t planning on eating it all, or storing for later, but I think this should be an actual required step of the recipe instead of a suggestion. OR cut the amount of pasta used, 1 and a half cups is a huge amount of pasta once it actually cooks.
I will try this again by cooking and then adding pasta to the broth per bowl, as the broth was really delicious before the pasta fiasco, but I think the recipe should maybe be tested again as written and tweaked
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, Nicole. I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out well for you the first time. I do hope you give this one another try.
Has anyone used rice, farro or quinoa successfully in place of pasta?
Yes! I know rice works well here. The others may, as well. If you decide to give any of these swaps a try yourself, please stop back and let us know how it turned out for you!
I’ve made the pastina recipe numerous times now, it’s become a household favorite. I like to saute the vegetables in a little olive oil first and once there’s a bit of browning, I add the broth, rind and a clove or two of garlic, plus a few dashes of Aleppo and smoked paprika. From there on out, I follow the recipe as written and it is divine. Soothing, even. I freeze leftovers in single servings (minus the pasta) and it makes a great light lunch.
This is absolutely delicious