Nonna’s Italian Pastina Soup Recipe with Chicken

Nonna’s Italian Pastina Soup recipe is the ultimate Italian comfort food. This simple recipe is the perfect meal when the weather starts to get cooler and you are craving something warm and delicious.  

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Nonna’s all over Italy know that the best cure for anything that ails you is pastina soup!  Regardless of whether you are fighting off a cold or just need a warm hug, pastina works wonders! Think of pastina soup as Italian chicken noodle soup.   

Serve it with a warm loaf of crusty Italian Bread for a meal that chases away the chills on a cold day!

Nonna has been making this soup for our family for years, and we can’t seem to get enough of it. She loads her hearty soup with chicken, vegetables, and pastina.  Serve it with a warm loaf of crusty No Knead Italian Bread for a meal that chases away the chills on a cold day!  

Best of all, even the picky eaters in our family love this delicious soup.  The tiny pasta shapes make it easy and fun, so we never have any problem getting the little ones to eat a bowl of Nonna’s chicken pastina soup!

 Amazingly the soup is so good that you won’t believe how simple her recipe really is. Like Italian Broccoli Soup, Lentils and Rice soup, Minestrone, and many other recipes from the “cucina povera”, this recipe calls for simple ingredients but creates a comforting soup. 

Ingredients

The Chicken and Broth

My mom uses whatever chicken parts she has on hand, so no need to have a whole chicken to make this soup. She starts by removing the skin from the chicken.  This makes it less greasy, which means you won’t need to skim any fat off.  Don’t worry; you will still have enough fat from the chicken to create a rich chicken broth.  

Nonna uses a secret ingredient (chicken bullion) to make a flavorful chicken broth in under an hour.  The chicken bullion is added to the soup as a flavor booster, so you don’t need to spend hours making stock.

The Vegetables

Nonna’s recipe calls for the basic vegetable combination of carrots, celery, and onion, but she also adds tomato to the soup to provide some added tang to the broth. Peel and seed the tomato, and then it can be added whole or in big chunks. You can also use canned whole tomatoes if you like.

The Pastina

We usually serve Nonna’s homemade chicken soup with pastina.  Pastina refers to any tiny pasta shape. The most common shapes of pastina are Alphabet pasta, Stellini (tiny stars), and Acini de Pepe (very small round-shaped pasta).  Any of these small pasta shapes is perfect in this chicken pastina soup recipe.  Of course, you can use any pasta shape you like, but the little pasta works best since you eat soup with a spoon.  But if you love spaghetti, just take a handful of it and break it into 1-2″ inch pieces.  Now you can eat spaghetti with a spoon!

How to Make Nonna’s Chicken Pastina Soup

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add the chicken, vegetables, bouillon, salt, and black pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and continue to boil slowly for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Cook the pastina in a separate pot of water.
3. Remove the chicken from the soup, remove the meat from the bones and break it up into small pieces, then add it back to the soup.
4. When the pastina is done, drain almost all of the water out. Place a ladle of cooked pastina in a bowl and top it with a ladle or more of soup. Serve with grated parmesan cheese or pecorino romano cheese if desired

Variations:

1. Serve it with rice instead of pasta.  This is a great way to make this gluten-free dish.

When we make this traditional Italian soup, we like to change things up once in a while just to keep things interesting.  Here are some of our favorite variations:

2. Add a parmesan rind to the soup while it is cooking.  This adds incredible flavor to the soup  

3. Add some fresh parsley or other fresh herbs with the other vegetables for some extra flavor.  

4. Throw in some tiny meatballs along with the chicken for an extra hearty meal.  The next time you make meatballs, make some tiny meatballs and freeze them before cooking.  Then when you make soup, just throw them in and let them cook with the other ingredients.  

Italian Chicken Pastina Soup Recipe

Nonna’s Italian Pastina Soup Recipe with Chicken

Enza Whiting

Hearty, comforting chicken soup right from Nonna's kitchen. The hearty soup is loaded with chicken, vegetables, and pastina. This delicious soup is easy to make and ready in less than an hour!  

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 10 servings

Calories 245 kcal

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1.5 lbs Chicken skinless
• ▢ 3 quarts water
• ▢ 1 Carrot large, cut into slices
• ▢ 2 Celery stalks sliced
• ▢ 1/2 Onion Diced
• ▢ 1 Tomato peeled and seeded
• ▢ 1 Chicken Bouillon cube
• ▢ 2 tsp Salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Pepper
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups Pastina or other small pasta

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Instructions

 

• Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot or dutch oven.
• Add chicken, vegetables, bouillon, salt and pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and continue to boil slowly for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check to see if the broth needs any additional seasoning.
• Fill a smaller pot with water and bring to a boil. Add the pastina and 2 heaping teaspoons of salt and cook about 10 minutes or according to package directions.
• While the pastina is cooking transfer the chicken to a plate. Allow the chicken to cool slightly. Using your fingers or a fork, pull the meat off the bones. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and add it back into the broth.
• When the pastina is done, drain almost all of the water out. Place a ladle of pastina in a bowl and top it with a ladle or more of soup. Serve with grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese if desired.

Notes

Storing and Freezing Pastina Chicken Soup 

It is always great to have a quick meal ready when you need it.  This soup freezes well and can be defrosted in the microwave or on the stovetop if you are in a pinch.  Store it in a sealed airtight container or freezer bag, and it will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and up to 3 months in the freezer.

Nutrition

Serving: 10servingsCalories: 245kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 16gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 628mgPotassium: 190mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 1221IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 22mgIron: 2mg

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