Here’s a list of the best ditalini pasta recipes, from the classic Fagioli and minestrone to not-so-traditional recipes for this tiny pasta.
Plus we include some tips for how to cook ditalini pasta for best results.
Small pasta shapes deserve all the love and attention, too.
Ditalini is still gaining popularity compared to its well-known pasta relatives, but it’s just as delicious and versatile.
Ditalini is also a nice alternative to penne or rotini in pasta salad recipes where you need just a little pasta bite.
So what is ditalini pasta?
Ditalini pasta are small, tube-shaped pasta that are perfect for soups, salads, and other dishes where you want the pasta to blend well with other ingredients.
- Salt the water: Always salt the water generously before adding the pasta. This will help to season the pasta and enhance its flavor. Use about 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon of water.
- Use plenty of water: Use a large pot with plenty of water to ensure the pasta has enough room to cook evenly and to prevent sticking.
- Stir occasionally: Stir the pasta occasionally as it cooks to prevent it from sticking together or to the bottom of the pot.
- Follow package directions: Check the package for the recommended cooking time, which usually ranges from 8-12 minutes for ditalini. Start testing for doneness a minute or two before the suggested time to avoid overcooking. (I always recommend it al dente.)
- Taste test: To check if the pasta is cooked al dente (tender but still firm to the bite), remove a piece from the pot, let it cool slightly, and taste. The pasta should have a slight resistance when bitten.
- Reserve pasta water: Before draining the cooked pasta, save a cup of the pasta water. This starchy water can be used to adjust the consistency of your sauce, help it cling to the pasta, or add moisture to the dish.
- Avoid rinsing: Do not rinse the pasta after draining, as this removes the starch that helps the sauce adhere to the pasta. The only exception is if you’re using the pasta in a cold salad, in which case rinsing can prevent sticking.
- Mix with sauce: Combine the pasta with the sauce as soon as it’s drained to ensure even distribution and absorption of the flavors.
- Cook in soup: If using ditalini in a soup, you can cook the pasta directly in the broth. This will infuse the pasta with the soup’s flavor and thicken the soup slightly due to the released starch.
- Store leftovers: If you have cooked ditalini pasta leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can reheat them in the microwave or on the stovetop with a little bit of water or sauce to prevent it from drying out.
It’s one of the best pastas for soup because of its tiny size, but it’s also great for any other pasta dish: in a salad, baked, or covered with rich, thick sauces.
Ditalini also cooks in a flash compared to larger shapes, making it a fantastic pasta if you’re in a rush for a filling home-cooked meal.
Check out our list right here of ditalini pasta recipes from traditional to contemporary.
Classic Italian Minestrone Soup is a popular veggie soup recipe that uses Ditalini.
Try Southwest Style Cowboy Casserole for something a little bit on the wild side.
Stay tuned until #13 for a recipe with an exciting twist.
Best Ditalini Pasta Recipes
Let’s kick off this list with a rustic chicken soup recipe that can get you back on your feet.
Nothing says home-cooked better than a tasty chicken soup.
Comforting, savory, and satisfying, this dish brings out the best from simple ingredients.
It gets a meaty and satisfying flavor from just chicken, veggies, and a few herbs and spices.
Tomato gives it nice umami and a hint of sweet.
Be sure to use low-sodium chicken stock to control the salt level as desired.
Homemade stock or broth is ideal, but you can use vegetable broth, bouillon cubes, or any substitute!
You know what we say: if it works, it works!
This unconventional risotto doesn’t use rice, but it’s as yummy and creamy.
Cacio E Pepe—cheese and pepper in Italian—is a one-two flavor punch combination that will excite your taste buds.
It’s risotto-style, so the pasta is cooked in the same pan as the other ingredients.
The richness of the butter-and-olive-oil sauce is complemented by the fragrance and mild heat of cracked black pepper.
Tangy pecorino romano cheese is grated at the end and mixed until it’s completely melted in the pasta.
A cup of wine gives the dish a pleasant acidity.
This dish is perfect for an afternoon garden party!
Crisp summer vegetables give this salad an incredible, refreshing bite.
Their texture goes excellent with the al dente pasta, creamy avocados, and soft mozzarella cheese pearls.
A mix of mayonnaise and dijon mustard binds all the ingredients together.
This recipe is very adaptable.
You can easily make this dish your own by using your favorite fresh vegetables or adding some protein.
This dish can be pretty filling as it is with the pasta, but adding a little shredded chicken breast will make it more satisfying and tasty.
Peas, baby, peas!
This is an easy dish that even beginners can make in no time.
The garlic butter and pea sauce should be ready once your pasta is a nice al dente.
While the peas cook in the microwave for a few minutes, you can gently cook a few crushed cloves of garlic and red pepper flakes with melted butter.
Baby peas have a fantastic texture that is irresistibly soft and mushy.
Their mellow sweet and savory taste is boosted with flavorful garlic butter.
Everything’s better with butter, right?
Red peppers add some heat, but you can leave them out if you want.
Minestrone is an Italian favorite!
This is an easy one-pot dish packed with bright and flavorful vegetables.
The key to making a delicious minestrone is timing in the cooking process.
Diced carrots and squash are sauteed with onions, garlic, and celery in the first step.
They will soften nicely as all the other ingredients cook, giving them a pleasantly sweet and savory flavor.
Be sure to add the kidney and green beans near the end to keep their shape and texture.
You can enjoy this hearty soup with fresh or reheated garlic bread.
Craving a meaty soup that can pick you right up?
Try out this Fagioli recipe!
Like minestrone, it’s filled with fresh veggies that impart a lot of flavor to the soup.
It uses fresh sausage instead of cured or smoked ones to highlight the bright and savory flavors of the vegetables.
It has a lot of warm flavors from a blend of cumin, oregano, chili powder, and red pepper flakes.
Squeeze in two tablespoons of tomato paste to give that delicious umami.
It’s best to make a large batch of this to save time.
It freezes well, so you’re good to go for another meal for the family.
This minty and lemony pasta recipe is so delicious!
The ricotta cheese has a mild, creamy, milky flavor that tastes amazing with fresh peas.
Lemon zest wakes up the flavor of this pasta dish by adding acidity.
The brightness of the lemon and mint is complemented by the aged nutty and savory flavor of parmesan cheese.
A good grating of parmesan before you finish cooking will season the entire dish beautifully.
You can use lime zest, lemon extract, or other substitutes if you’re all out of lemons.
Try out this recipe if you want something rustic that tastes like home!
Like any home-cooked favorite, this dish features simple but tasty flavors from just a few ingredients.
Rendered pancetta gives the dish a lot of fatty, meaty, and briny flavors.
It’s like bacon but has a cleaner, smoke-free taste that won’t clash with the other ingredients.
Tiny lentils go perfectly with the size of the small-cut ditalini.
Their tenderness matches the soft pasta, making for a pleasant mouthfeel.
Say howdy to this cheesy baked Cowboy Casserole!
It’s loaded with meat and veggies and covered with gooey cheese—who can say no?
Ground beef and country-style pork sausage give the casserole a robust, meaty flavor.
Browning allows the meat to develop deep, complex flavors that are hard to get from any ingredient.
You can swap out the country sausage for garlic or Italian sausage if you want something with a bit more kick.
In this house, we like it fresh, and this dish ticks all the boxes!
You can use any tender herb or leafy green for this recipe.
Roughly chop any leftovers in your pantry and add them to the mix.
The key is to cook the greens well enough to blend into the garlic and anchovy sauce.
Anchovies have a robust salty, umami taste balanced by smooth, creamy, and tangy yogurt.
The yogurt improves the consistency of the sauce, so feel free to use enough to get the thickness you like.
A dollop of yogurt and a topping of more greens right before serving makes this dish look so appetizing.
Looking for a recipe to make in your old reliable instant pot?
You got it!
Turkey, like chicken, has a mellow flavor that works great for dishes with lots of simple, fresh ingredients.
Parmesan rind is tossed into the pot with the other ingredients.
This allows the nutty flavor of the cheese to blend into the soup.
The high-pressure level of the instant pot will help melt the rind, which will thicken the dish.
If you can’t get ground turkey, this dish is excellent for using leftover turkey in your freezer.
Just shred them into bite-size pieces before adding them to your instant pot.
This is one of those quick and yummy dishes you’ll want to cook over and over again.
It’s done in no time—perfect for a weeknight meal.
Chicken breasts are cut and pounded to make tender cutlets before searing them in a hot pat.
A simple seasoning of S&P and garlic powder brings out the savory browned flavors of the chicken.
The sweetness of the zucchini works well with the tomatoes and the lemon.
You can swap out the chicken breast for deboned chicken thigh if you want something more tender and easier to cook.
This pasta dish is cooked in beer and beef broth instead of plain water.
The malty sweetness and pleasant floral fragrance of the reduced pilsner beer all get absorbed by the pasta.
Reducing the beef broth also improves its deep, savory flavor.
Season the cooked pasta with salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese, and you’ve got a filling meal.
This dish is excellent with mixed greens on the side, but you can also pair it with bread or fish.
This Zucchini Ditalini takes some lush cheeses like mascarpone and pecorino for a creamy, rich sauce.
With the deglazed white wine, you’re going to be glad there’s a green vegetable in here so you don’t feel toooo pampered.
Ingredients line: Zucchini, butter, white wine, ditalini, and mascarpone cheese.
This recipe for Ditalini With Peas & Parmesan is the epitome of a lazy midweek night’s dinner.
The option for when you’re against microwave dinners and want something homecooked.
It’s simple, quick, and delicious.
Ingredients line: Frozen peas, ditalini, parmesan cheese, onion, and sea salt.
White Pasta Fagioli is what people were thinking about when they coined the term ‘comfort food’.
When it’s snowing hard out, and you’ve just come home after the longest week at work ever, nothing beats sitting hunched on your favorite chair with a bowl of delicious steaming soup to keep you company.
Throw in some crusty bread, and you’re set.
Ingredients line: Bacon, celery, cannellini beans, ditalini, and red pepper flakes.
If you liked #16 but want something else to try, how about giving this recipe for Spinach & White Bean Soup a shot?
Earthy flavors from the beans mingle with the subtle bitterness of the spinach to produce a flavor that’s as interesting as it is filling.
Ingredients line: Baby spinach, cannellini beans, chicken stock, parmesan cheese, and ditalini.
More of a stew than it is a soup, Pasta E Ceci starts out as any other soup does, with the broth, prepped and seasoned before adding the ditalini, at which point it is left boiling, with the broth growing thicker and thicker as more and more of it is absorbed by the pasta.
You may stop at any point between here and at the point when the broth is completely absorbed.
Whether you end up with a soup with lots of broth, a stew with thicker broth, or some flavorful pasta with no broth at all, it is all up to you.
Ingredients line: Chickpeas, tomato paste, vegetable broth, ditalini, and rosemary.
And yet another soup.
This time for Creamy Parmesan Ditali.
If you’re looking for cheese and comfort, this one’s for you.
Ingredients line: Parmesan cheese, chicken stock, ditalini, dry sherry, and milk.
Spring Minestrone Soup is our most popular entry so far.
Even if you’ve been frozen in suspended animation for the last 50 years like Captain America or maybe just been living under some rock all this time, chances are you’ve already seen a can of this proliferate soup somewhere.
So if something has been in circulation for this long, you’d almost have to agree that there’s something behind the longevity, right?
Ingredients line: Kale, asparagus spears, ditalini, scallions, and thyme.
Mexican Street Corn, or Elote, is a popular Mexican side dish found throughout Mexico: from roadside stalls to people hawking them by hand or as a part of a multi-course meal at a fancy restaurant.
It’s sweet, with all your favorite Mexican flavors lent by jalapeno, cilantro, and cotija cheese.
It’s earned its place in Mexican pop culture as a snack and side dish, but with the addition of Ditalini al dente, we can turn it into a not-as-well-known but every-bit-as-delicious salad.
Ingredients line: Ditalini, corn, cotija cheese, cilantro, and lime juice.
If you’re looking to serve some soup with ditalini to your guests but haven’t come across anything you can use yet, well, here it is.
This recipe for Creamy Pasta E Fagioli is simply delicious.
It’s a hearty soup with ditalini al dente in a thick cream soup that is super satisfying.
Ingredients line: Vegetable stock, sundried tomatoes, kale, Italian seasoning, and vegan cream.
If you like Italian Hoagie Sub Sandwiches, with their salty cured meats, fresh veggies, Italian dressing, and of course, the red wine-based vinaigrette, but are more in the mood for a pasta salad, then this recipe is for you.
This recipe swaps out the bread in favor of perfect al-dente ditalini, which transforms the whole dish into a perfect Italian Hoagie Sub Sandwich.
Ingredients line: Salami, pepperoni, cherry tomatoes, olives, and ditalini.
No barbecue or potluck is complete without a bowl of macaroni somewhere in the mix.
The recipe we have for this entry is for Simple Macaroni Salad: It’s quick, easy, and ultimately delicious, and can be whipped up at a moment’s notice; perfect for those emergencies like that potluck today that you’ve forgotten that’s happening in 2 hours?
Ingredients line: Ditalini, red onion, sour cream, apple cider vinegar, and celery.
25. Tuna Pasta Salad
Now if you’re looking for something to make with ditalini other than the tired old mac and cheese and mac salad, how about this recipe for Tuna Pasta Salad instead?
Ditalini, sweet peas, savory tuna chunks, and crunchy bits of celery combine to make this flavor-packed dish.
Impress your friends on your next summer barbecue by whipping out a bowlful of this delicious salad.
Ingredients line: Tuna, ditalini, dill pickle, mayonnaise, and lemon juice.
The bottom line
One of the most famous recipes featuring ditalini pasta is Pasta e Fagioli, a traditional Italian soup made with pasta, beans, and a variety of vegetables.
The dish is hearty, flavorful, and comforting. There are three versions here; let us know which one you like the best!
Enjoy experimenting with ditalini pasta recipes, from minestrone soup to pasta salads, or even as a substitute for other small pasta shapes like orzo or macaroni.
25 BEST Ditalini Pasta Recipes 🍲
Here’s a list of 25 unique ditalini pasta recipes, from classic Fagioli and minestrone to not-so-traditional recipes for this tiny pasta.
Ingredients
- Sicilian Chicken Soup
- Cacio E Pepe Pasta Risotto
- Ditalini Pasta Salad
- Sweet Baby Pea Ditalini Pasta
- Classic Italian Minestrone Soup
- Pasta Fagioli
- Ditalini Pasta With Lemony Ricotta & Peas
- Sicilian Lentil Pasta
- Southwest Style Cowboy Casserole
- Ditalini With Tender Herbs, Chickpeas, & Yogurt
- Instant Pot Turkey Meatball Ditalini Soup
- Lemon Chicken Ditalini
- Cheesy Ditalini With Mixed Greens
- Zucchini Ditalini
- Ditalini With Peas & Parmesan
- White Pasta Fagioli
- Spinach & White Bean Soup
- Pasta E Ceci (Pasta With Chickpeas)
- Creamy Parmesan Ditalini Soup
- Spring Minestrone Soup
- Street Corn Pasta Salad
- Vegan Creamy Pasta E Fagioli
- Italian Hoagie Pasta Salad
- Simple Macaroni Salad
- Tuna Pasta Salad
Instructions
- Find your favorite recipe from our Ditalini Pasta Recipes list.
- Gather all the ingredients needed and maybe a helper.
- Love it? Share it.