To make Chicken Pastina with Egg, tiny pastina pasta, or stelline, are simmered in rich chicken broth and combined with an egg, butter, and cheese for this delicious italian classic. This simple pasta dish is comfort food in a bowl and just like your mom made. Grab your favorite bowl and make yourself up a warm and filling pasta meal with this best pastina recipe. You can even make Pastina with egg for babies. Pastina for babies is a great first food because its soft and easily digestible!

close up of pastina with egg that has been topped with parmesan cheese and black pepper

Pastina with egg, cheese, and butter. It's hard to think of more simple ingredients, but when they come together they make something so creamy and filling. When eating it, it is easy to forget that there is only a bit of parmesan romano cheese in it. It reminds me a bit of the flavor of a good, homemade mac and cheese.

This italian comfort food with egg is delicious and filling. I have found lots of cultures have their takes on simple recipes like pastina and the recipes that come to mind are Mexican Sopita, Egg Drop Soup and Kotosoupa Avgolemono. Egg Drop soup has no pasta or rice but has tender egg strands floating in chicken broth. In fact, some people even call pastina soup with egg, "pastina egg drop soup." Greek Kotosoupa Avgolemono (avgo- means "egg") reminds me of Italian pastina with egg, just with rice instead of pasta.

What does pastina mean?

hand holding dry pastina pasta to show its shape

Pastina literally means "little pasta" and it refers specifically to the small star shaped pasta. This tiny pasta is also referred to as stelline. Pastina is also the name of an italian dish, pastina with egg and cheese. There is another pastina recipe called chicken pastina soup. That pastina recipe is very similar, but has more broth in it and often has chicken pieces and a few veggies as well.

Ingredients for Italian Pastina

ingredients for pastina on a white wooden background

pastina pasta (or some other similarly small pasta shape)
egg
chicken broth
butter
parmesan cheese
black pepper

How do you make pastina with egg

In a small saucepan or pot, add broth and bring it up to a soft boil.

pasta being poured into simmering chicken stock

Add pastina to the broth and simmer until cooked through and the broth is almost completely absorbed, about 7 minutes. You may have to add more broth depending on how much has been absorbed and whether the pasta has finished cooking at that point.

Once the pastina pasta is cooked through, turn off the heat and add one whole egg to the pastina with butter and broth. Gently and quickly fold the egg in so that it combines with the stelline pasta and doesn't scramble into too big of pieces.

whole egg being added to cooked pastina pasta with yolk in the center

pastina with egg mixed in and a wooden spoon in the pan

Add butter and cheese and allow them to melt. Top with more cheese, salt and black pepper, if desired.

last step of pasta with butter, pepper, salt, and cheese being mixed in by a wooden spoon

Pastina for baby

You may have heard that pastina makes a great first food for babies. Similar to rice cereal, pastina with egg is easy to digest and soft for babies gums. Pastina with egg for baby is filling for their little tummies, but with some added nutrients, as well. Eggs are considered a great first food for babies, and tiny pastina pasta is soft and easy to swallow, even without teeth.

If you would like to make a more simple baby pastina recipe, you can omit the parmesan cheese and pepper. There is some butter in this recipe, which you can omit as well. Most doctors consider butter a safe ingredient for babies to have in small quantities.

My toddler absolutely adored this pastina recipe and kept asking for more. So this recipe can work equally as well for toddlers (and everyone!).

finished pastina in a white bowl with a spoon and fork placed decoratively

Different variations of pastina recipes

Everyone has a different version of pastina that "their mom used to make" or that they think is the "best pastina recipe." All of these versions of pastina are delicious in their own right. Feel free to adjust this recipe and try adding milk, spinach, lemon, or more chicken broth to your pastina recipe.

Chicken soup pastina. Some people make a pastina recipe that is more like chicken soup, where it is heavier on the broth and there is generally a mirepoix added. This type of chicken pastina also generally has shredded chicken in it.

Add lemon. I'm never one to shy away from lemon juice on just about anything. In fact, I always have a costco bag of about 15 lemons in my fridge to used for recipes or squeezing on top of dishes. Lemon juice in pastina with egg and chicken broth is no different. Adding lemon to pastina makes it even more like Greek avgolemono.

Add milk. I have come across several recipes that call for milk. I personally think the pastina without milk is creamy enough, but you can add a splash or two if you would like!

Add spinach. A lot of recipes for pastina, call for fresh spinach. I love this idea, as the tender spinach mirrors the tender pastina and egg. Pastina with egg and spinach is totally worth a try. I would add one cup of lightly packed fresh baby spinach that has been roughly chopped, added in right before you turn off the heat.

finished dish with ingredients that were used placed in the background of the shot

Storage

Pastina is best eaten fresh and it's so simple to make that it doesn't take much time to do so. The delicate egg is just barely cooked (the heat has already been turned off at that point) and recooking it to heat it back up, may affect the texture. If you do need to refrigerate it, it should last 2-3 days.