When can babies eat pasta?

From around 6 months, once your baby is ready for solids, served in a safe shape and texture for their age.

Pasta

Soft, fun to grab, and an easy way to start wheat.

Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review

Quick answer

Babies can eat pasta from around 6 months, once they show signs of being ready for solids. Prepare it as shown below.

From 6 monthsLow choking risk as servedAllergen: Wheat

How to serve pasta by age

6 months+

Large soft shapes or wide strips

Cook pasta a few minutes past the package time, until very soft. Drain, let it cool, and offer it plain or with a smooth sauce with no added salt.

Size: Large shapes your baby can grip, such as fusilli, rigatoni or penne, or lasagna sheets cut into strips about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in).
Check before serving: Squash a piece between your thumb and finger. It should flatten easily, with no firm center.

US and UK advice differ here. The AAP suggests mashed food or soft pieces no larger than ½ inch; the NHS suggests soft finger-sized pieces your baby can hold in their fist. Both agree the food must squash easily.

Always have your child sit upright in a high chair or at the table, and stay with them the whole time they eat. Keep to the size and texture for their stage. Every baby develops on their own timeline.

How to prepare pasta

1
Boil plain wheat pasta in plenty of water. Don't add salt.
2
Cook it a few minutes longer than the package says, until a piece squashes easily between your fingers.
3
Drain, let it cool, and cut it to the right size for your baby's stage. Serve plain or with a smooth sauce with no added salt.
4
First time? Pick a day your baby is well, at home, when you can watch them for a couple of hours afterward.

How much to offer

For the very first taste, offer a small amount: a few pieces. If there's no reaction, offer more next time. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth. Once wheat is in your baby's diet, keep offering it regularly.

Common mistakes

Cooking it al dente

Firm pasta is too hard for babies. Cook it until it squashes easily between your fingers.

Salting the water or using salty sauces

Babies shouldn't have added salt. Skip salt in the cooking water, and don't use stock cubes or gravy.

Adding egg or cheese before they've been introduced

Egg pasta contains egg, and cheese sauces contain milk. Offer plain wheat pasta on its own first, so you know what caused any reaction.

Offering it once and stopping

Once wheat is in your baby's diet, keep offering it regularly as part of their usual meals.

Questions parents ask

Can pasta be a choking hazard for babies?

Well-cooked pasta is a low choking risk, and the AAP lists it among good early finger foods. Firm, undercooked pasta is harder to manage, so cook it soft. Cut long strands for young toddlers, and stay with your child during meals.

Can babies be allergic to pasta?

Most pasta is made from wheat, one of the most common food allergens. Wheat can be introduced from around 6 months, like other foods: offer it on its own first, in a small amount, and watch for signs of a reaction. Once it's introduced, keep it in your baby's diet regularly. Egg pasta also contains egg. Wheat allergy is different from celiac disease, a digestive condition triggered by gluten.

Is pasta healthy for babies?

Enriched pasta provides carbohydrate for energy, some protein and folate, and a little iron (about 1.3 mg per 100 g cooked).

Can babies eat pasta at 6 months?

Yes. Well-cooked pasta can be one of your baby's first foods. Choose large shapes your baby can grip, cook them very soft, and offer wheat on its own the first time.

What's the best pasta shape for babies?

At 6 months, large shapes like fusilli, rigatoni or penne, or wide lasagna strips, are easiest to grip. From about 9 months, small shapes or pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch) help with pincer-grasp practice.

Can babies eat whole wheat pasta?

Yes. Cook it until very soft, the same as regular pasta. It contains wheat, like most pasta.

How soon would a wheat reaction show?

Reactions usually start within minutes of eating, but can take up to 2 hours. See the signs to look for, and when to get help, on our allergens page.

If your baby refuses pasta

Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
Try another shape, or a different sauce.
Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.
If your baby keeps refusing pasta, offer wheat another way, such as soft toast strips or wheat infant cereal.

Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.

Buying and storing pasta

Keep dry pasta in a sealed container in a cool, dry place.
Cooked pasta keeps for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge.
Cooked pasta can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. Reheat only once, to 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot, then let it cool before serving.
Throw away any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F / 32°C).

When to talk to your doctor

Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if:

Your baby has had any reaction to wheat, even a mild one. Stop offering it until you've talked to your pediatrician.
Your child has ongoing diarrhea, tummy pain or poor weight gain while eating foods with gluten. These can be signs of celiac disease.
You notice mild signs of an allergic reaction after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.
You're worried about how much your baby eats, their growth, or they refuse most solid food for weeks.

Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.

Offered pasta?

Add it to your first 100 foods.