tortellini

American

[tawr-tl-ee-nee, tawr-tel-lee-nee] / ˌtɔr tlˈi ni, ˌtɔr tɛlˈli ni /

plural noun

Italian Cooking.

small rounds of pasta, filled, as with a meat or cheese stuffing, and then shaped into rings and boiled: often served in broth or with a sauce.

tortellini British

/ ˌtɔːtəˈliːnɪ /

noun

pasta cut into small rounds, folded about a filling, and boiled

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

See zucchini.

Etymology

Origin of tortellini

1905–10; < Italian, plural of tortellino, diminutive of tortello stuffed pastry, diminutive (with gender change) of torta cake; see torte

Compare meaning

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

tortellini vs. ravioli

Explanation

Tortellini is a kind of pasta that's filled with meat or cheese and shaped into small circles. In Italy, tortellini is traditionally served in a rich broth. Many Americans think of tortellini as cheese-stuffed pasta smothered in marinara, topped with more cheese. This Italian dish originated in the Emilia-Romagna region, where it's usually filled with a mixture of pork and cured meats, Parmesan, and egg, and seasoned with nutmeg. Each tortellini is small, no larger than an inch across, and twisted into a distinctive ring. The Italian tortellini is the plural form of tortellino, from Latin torta, "round bread or cake."

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“It’s not ‘Hey, let me show you Stanley trying to ride a horse or roll tortellini.’

From Salon • May 23, 2025

Typical dishes include tortellini in broth from the northern Emilia region, spaghetti alla carbonara from central regions around Rome, and pasta alla Norma in Sicily.

From Reuters • Nov. 25, 2023

This is a colorful salad, and you can make it even more so by using multi-colored tortellini.

From Washington Times • Jun. 21, 2023

Anthony Esposito, the owner of Via Sposito, an Italian restaurant in Old Bridge that serves spaghetti, linguine, penne, tortellini and gnocchi, said that he could only speculate about where the pasta might have come from.

From New York Times • May 4, 2023

You’ll make the pasta dough from scratch, then roll it out and create tagliatelle, tortellini and tortelloni.

From National Geographic • Apr. 17, 2023

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023