pancetta

American  

[pan-chet-uh] / pænˈtʃɛt ə /

noun

1. Italian pork belly cured with salt, pepper, and other spices and air-dried up to four months, tightly rolled in a cylinder.

---

pancetta British  

/ panˈtʃetta, pænˈtʃɛtə /

noun

1. a lightly spiced cured bacon from Italy

---

Etymology

Origin of pancetta

First recorded in 1950–55; from Italian: literally, “little belly,” diminutive of pancia “belly, paunch,” from Latin pantic- (stem of pantex ) “belly, paunch, guts” + -etta diminutive suffix ( cf. -ette ( def. ))

---

Compare meaning

How does pancetta compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• salt pork vs. pancetta

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pancetta

For their first course guests enjoyed yellow squash, wild mushrooms and crispy pancetta.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

Note: Very finely diced pancetta should cook through alongside the eggs.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

The sprouts are more like the main event than a side when generously embellished the way these are, with creamy béchamel, Parmesan and pancetta.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2025

Pi00a isn’t a restaurant but pops up all over Los Angeles and beyond, baking puffy-edged, char-crusted pizza pies with toppings such as miso eggplant; soppressata with chili crunch; Hainan chicken; and Asian pear with pancetta.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2024

I could go to the farmer’s market on the Broad; I could buy venison and pancetta and spend the day cooking.

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• pork

---