What to use instead of ditalini
A tiny tube cooks in the liquid it is served in and holds a bean or a pea in its bore. Soups, thick vegetable stews, and a simple tomato for children.
The closest swap: ditali
The larger grade.
Ditalini is pastina, 4 to 7 mm long, 7 to 10 minutes in the pot. Ditali sits in the tubes family and cooks in 8 to 11 minutes. Match the cook time first. A swap that is right in shape and wrong in time still ends up wrong on the plate.
Every swap for ditalini, ranked
A substitute must behave the same way with the sauce you are making. The ones marked as chosen are hand-picked. The rest score on family, cavity, surface, size, and shared sauces.
- 1
Ditali
Tubes · Campania
The larger grade (chosen)
- 2
Tubetti
Tubes · Campania
The same tube by another name (chosen)
- 3
Acini di pepe
Pastina · All of Italy
Smaller still, for clear broth (chosen)
- 4
Farfalline
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also smooth, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 5
Orzo
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also smooth, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 6
Stelline
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also smooth, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 7
Alphabet pasta
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 8
Quadrucci
Pastina · Lazio
Same family, also smooth, shares 4 sauces
Match the sauce, not the look
Ditalini is listed against 5 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for pasta e fagioli: Beans, soffritto, a little tomato, and small pasta cooked in the soup. Ditalini, tubetti, or broken spaghetti.
- Best pasta for pasta e ceci: Chickpeas, rosemary, garlic, and a small pasta. Roman. Ditalini, quadrucci, or maltagliati.
- Best pasta for minestrone: A thick vegetable soup with beans and a small pasta added at the end. Ditalini, conchigliette, or anellini.
- Best pasta for in brodo: A clear meat or chicken broth. Pastina or filled pasta, cooked and served in the liquid.
- Best pasta for pomodoro: Tomato, olive oil, garlic or onion, basil. Smooth and light. Almost any shape works; the classic is spaghetti or penne.
Side by side
The measured difference between ditalini and each swap.