This is a preview of the content in our Italian Food Decoder app. Get the app to:
  • Read offline
  • Remove ads
  • Access all content
  • Build a list of your own favourites
  • Search the contents with full-text search functionality
  • ... and more!
iOS App Store Google Play

Soups & Stews (Minestra)

Although nearly always overshadowed by pasta as a starter in restaurants, soups are classic Italian fare, whether they are called minestra (which often includes pasta or rice) or zuppa (which doesn't). Invalids are fed the Italian equivalent of chicken soup—pastina in brodo, while other soups, such as acquacotta are classics of cucina povera. On the gourmet end of things are sublime seafood stews, including Livorno's famous cacciucco.

acqua pazza

poached fish in a broth

acquacotta

poor man's soup

agnolini

stuffed pasta from Mantua served in soup

baggiana

broad bean soup

bazzoffia

spring vegetable soup

bisna

soup with pork and pickled turnips

bordatino

kale, bean, and corn flour soup

bottaggio

braised pork and cabbage

brodo

broth

Bro’ brusa

'burnt broth'

buddego

Fish soup with mushrooms

busecchina

chestnut soup

cacciucco

fish soup

caldaro dell'Argentario

Fish soup

carabaccia

onion soup

carbonade

Valdostan stew

carcerato

Tuscan offal soup

cassola

seafood stew, pork stew, or cheese cake

cassuoela

pork and cabbage stew

ciambotta

vegetable stew

ciaudedda

artichoke and fava bean stew

ciavarro

beans, lentil & barley soup

cisra

pork and chickpea soup

ciuppin

seafood and anchovy soup

cococciata

zucchini stew

cutturieddu

lamb stew

fagioli al fiasco

beans cooked in a flask

fasûj e uardi

bean and barley soup

fricassea

fricassée

fumette

fish stock or thin fish soup

garmugia

spring vegetable soup from Lucca

ginestrata

newlyweds' soup

giubba e calzoni

chunky lamb soup

goulash

Hungarian-style beef and onion stew

grumi di grano saraceno

buckwheat 'lumps'

imbrecciata

soup of grain and pulses

jota

sauerkraut, bean and potato soup

licurdia

onion-based soup

macco/maccu

broad bean soup

mbaniccia

a stew with 'pizza'

mesciua

spelt and bean soup

millecosedde

Calabrian vegetable soup

minestra

soup, or 'first course'

minestrone

mixed vegetable soup

pancotto

bread soup

panissa

chickpea polenta, or bean stew

paparòt

spinach soup

pappa (al pomodoro)

tomato and bread soup

passato/passata

purée/tomato sauce

pastina in brodo

broth with small pasta

peirbuieira

borlotti bean, pasta, olive oil and garlic

pendolon

bean and potato dish from Lamon

pezzetti

horse meat stew from the Salento

pignattaccia

beef stew, baked in the oven

pistum

sweet dumplings or turnip greens soup

pizz' e foje

corn flour pizza and greens stew

ribollita

Tuscan vegetable soup

rigaglie

giblets, or an offal stew

sbroscia

lake fish soup

scafata

spring vegetable stew

scattone

pasta water, wine and pepper soup

sciuscelle

carob, sweet or soup

seupa

soup

squazzetto

stew

stracciatella

egg drop soup or ice cream or cheese

stufato

stewed

taccu

soup with tagliatelle-like pasta

tapulon

ground donkey and onions

tardura

beef broth with eggs and parmesan

tegamaccio

fish stew with tomatoes

terlaner

wine and cream soup

tofeja

pork and bean stew

vellutata

creamed soup

vignarola

the soup of spring

virtù

the serious soup of sevens

wallishuppa

Walser onion and bacon soup

zemin

bean and greens soup

zimino

cooked with spinach or chard and tomatoes

zuppa

soup

Text © Dana Facaros & Michael Pauls