What to use instead of orzo
Small grains cook in broth or absorb a light dressing. Soups, a lemon and herb salad, a baked dish with tomato and feta, or cooked like risotto with stock and parmesan.
The closest swap: fregola
Toasted Sardinian pearls.
Orzo is pastina, 6 to 8 mm long, 7 to 10 minutes in the pot. Fregola sits in the pastina family and cooks in 8 to 12 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 orzo, 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
Fregola
Pastina · Sardinia
Toasted Sardinian pearls (chosen)
- 2
Acini di pepe
Pastina · All of Italy
Smaller beads (chosen)
- 3
Ditalini
Pastina · Campania
Tiny tubes for the same soups (chosen)
- 4
Stelline
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 5
Alphabet pasta
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 6
Pastina
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 7
Semi di melone
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 8
Farfalline
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces
Match the sauce, not the look
Orzo is listed against 5 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for in brodo: A clear meat or chicken broth. Pastina or filled pasta, cooked and served in the liquid.
- 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 pasta salad: Cooked, cooled pasta dressed with oil or mayonnaise and mixed with vegetables. Short shapes with folds that hold dressing.
- Best pasta for lemon and butter: Butter, lemon zest and juice, parmesan, pasta water. Light and bright. Thin strands and delicate ribbons.
- 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 orzo and each swap.