5 Ways To Measure Dry Pasta - WikiHow

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• Pasta and Noodles

How to Measure Dry Pasta Download Article Explore this Article IN THIS ARTICLE 1 Measuring Spaghetti and Other Long Pastas 2 Measuring Elbow Macaroni 3 Measuring Penne Pasta 4 Measuring Ribbed Lasagna 5 Measuring Egg Noodles + Show 2 more... - Show less... Other Sections Questions & Answers Video Tips and Warnings Things You'll Need Related Articles References Article Summary 52 Recipe Ratings | Success Stories Co-authored by Abyssinia Campbell

Last Updated: January 26, 2024 Fact Checked

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This article was co-authored by Abyssinia Campbell. Abyssinia Campbell is an Executive Chef and the Owner of Chef Abyssinia, Personal Chef and Catering. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in catering, event planning, menu development, meal planning, and food business operations. When it comes to cooking, Chef Abyssinia enjoys using fruits, vegetables, healthy food alternatives, and local farm-fresh ingredients. She holds a BASc in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management from Johnson and Wales University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 2,377,177 times.

When cooking pasta, you must measure the dry pasta to ensure you don't cook too little or too much for your sauce. Pasta generally doubles in size and weight when cooked.[1] It is also measured differently depending upon whether it is macaroni pasta or egg noodles. Some recipes merely specify the number of servings of pasta you should cook which means you have to figure out the measurements yourself. Measuring pasta servings depends upon serving size and pasta shape. This article will teach you how to measure dry pasta.

Steps

1

Measuring Spaghetti and Other Long Pastas

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1. Measure spaghetti, fettuccini, spaghettini, capellini, fedelini, or vermicelli using your hand. Place a bunch of spaghetti between your thumb and forefinger. 1 serving of pasta, or 2 oz. (57 g), will be equivalent to a bunch of pasta between your fingers with a diameter of 7/8 inch (24.26 mm).[2] This is the diameter of a United States quarter.
   • Two servings = 1.75 inches (4.44 cm); four servings = 3.5 inches (12.7 cm); six servings = 5.25 inches; eight servings = 7 inches.
   • Spaghetti, linguine, and other long pastas can be measured using a pasta measure. A pasta measure is a tool that is available at kitchen supply stores, in pasta-making kits, and online.[3] You place the long pasta in various loops to measure a serving of the pasta.
   • Some pasta spoons have a hole in the middle; this will measure one serving of long pasta.
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2

Measuring Elbow Macaroni

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1. Measure elbow macaroni using measuring cups or a food scale. If using a food scale, place the pasta in the cup attached to the scale and measure 57 g. If using measuring cups, a single 2 oz. (57 g) serving is 1/2 cup of dried pasta.
   • Two servings = 1 cup; four servings = 2 cups; six servings = 3 cups; eight servings = 4 cups.

3

Measuring Penne Pasta

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1. Measure penne pasta using measuring cups or a food scale. If you are using measuring cups, a single 2 oz. (57 g) serving is 3/4 cup of dried pasta.
   • Two servings = 1 1/2 cups; four servings = 3 cups; six servings = 4 1/2 cups; eight servings = 6 cups.
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4

Measuring Ribbed Lasagna

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1. Measure ribbed lasagna using a food scale or individual pieces. A 2 oz. (57 g) serving of lasagna is approximately 2 pieces of dry lasagna sheets.
   • It is typically best to use about four layers of noodles when making a lasagna. The typical baking dish used to make lasagna is either 8x8 inches or 10x8 inches[4] . With four layers of lasagna noodles, an 8x8 pan of lasagna will typically feed four people, while a 10x8 pan will usually serve six.

5

Measuring Egg Noodles

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1. Measure egg noodles using measuring cups or a food scale. When measuring egg noodles using measuring cups, 2 oz. (56 g) of egg noodles is approximately 1 1/4 cup of egg noodles and also 1 1/4 cup of cooked noodles.
   • Unlike macaroni pastas, egg noodles measured in measuring cups are typically the same both dry and cooked.
   • Typically, for extra wide egg noodles, a 2 oz. serving equals 1 1/4 cups of dry egg noodles, which will yield approximately 1 1/2 cups of cooked noodles.
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Community Q&A

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• Question If I have a 16 oz pkg of orecchiette, but only need 10 oz, how do I measure the 10 oz? Community Answer The best choice would be to use a kitchen scale. Otherwise, you can divide it into four groups as equally as possible and use two and a half of the groups. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 15 Helpful 34
• Question How do you measure with a spaghetti tool? Community Answer A pasta measure (or spaghetti tool) has various holes which indicate various serving sizes. Usually, there is one labeled as a single serving. To measure, simply fill the hole with a bunch of the pasta until full. These tools are quite straight-forward to use. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 15 Helpful 35
• Question How much dry elbows do I need for 2 cups of cooked? Community Answer As dry pasta generally doubles in size when cooked, 1 cup of dry elbows should be perfect. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 11 Helpful 37

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Tips

• A single serving of pasta is generally regarded as 2 oz. (57 g) of cooked pasta for a first course or side dish. A serving can be raised 3 to 4 oz. (85 to 113 g) if it is the only course. Occasionally a serving is approximated as 1/2 cup (114 g) of pasta; however, this depends upon the shape of the pasta.[5] Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Know what constitutes an egg noodle. Most pasta contains egg, but to be considered an egg noodle, it must contain at least 5.5 percent egg solids.[6] Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Read the recipe to decide how many servings of pasta are required. You can either read directly from the recipe or pasta sauce bottle, or if you are making pasta sauce from scratch, figure out how many people you will feed with your sauce. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Show More Tips Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published Name Please provide your name and last initial Submit Thanks for submitting a tip for review! Advertisement

Things You'll Need

• Dry pasta or egg noodles
• Measuring cups
• Food scale (optional)
• Pasta measuring tool (optional)

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References

1. ↑ Abyssinia Campbell. Executive Chef. Expert Interview
2. ↑ https://healthyeating.nhlbi.nih.gov/recipedetail.aspx?linkId=1&cId=5&rId=137
3. ↑ https://sharethepasta.org/cooking-pasta/tips/cooking-techniques/
4. ↑ https://www.myplate.gov/recipes/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/skillet-lasagna
5. ↑ https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/eat-right/buttons-bows-pasta.htm
6. ↑ https://sharethepasta.org/cooking-pasta/tips/cooking-techniques/

About This Article

Co-authored by: Abyssinia Campbell Executive Chef This article was co-authored by Abyssinia Campbell. Abyssinia Campbell is an Executive Chef and the Owner of Chef Abyssinia, Personal Chef and Catering. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in catering, event planning, menu development, meal planning, and food business operations. When it comes to cooking, Chef Abyssinia enjoys using fruits, vegetables, healthy food alternatives, and local farm-fresh ingredients. She holds a BASc in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management from Johnson and Wales University. This article has been viewed 2,377,177 times. 52 votes - 80% Co-authors: 17 Updated: January 26, 2024 Views: 2,377,177 Categories: Pasta and Noodles Article SummaryX

To measure dry pasta, start by reading your recipe to determine how many servings you need. If you're using spaghetti, fettuccini, spaghettini, capellini, fedelini, or vermicelli noodles, you can estimate by using your thumb and forefinger, or you can use a pasta measure, which is a special tool for this purpose. Use measuring cups or a food scale for elbow macaroni and penne pasta, and use a food scale or count the individual pieces for ribbed lasagna. To learn more about measuring egg noodles, read on! Did this summary help you?YesNo

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Reader Success Stories

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  Anonymous

  Sep 6, 2016

  "The differences in measuring egg noodles vs pasta were very helpful."

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Yes No Advertisement Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Co-authored by: Abyssinia Campbell Executive Chef Co-authors: 17 Updated: January 26, 2024 Views: 2,377,177 80% of voters found this recipe helpful. 52 votes - 80% Click a star to add your vote

Anonymous

Sep 6, 2016

"The differences in measuring egg noodles vs pasta were very helpful."

Carol Carson

Apr 21, 2022

"The measurements for dry pasta are perfect! Thank you." Rated this article:

Bob Ivory

Jun 6, 2016

"That was great. It helped me so much, thanks."

Riley A.

Jun 2, 2023

"I learned how to measure sphagetti."

Jane Gee

Nov 15, 2022

"Great measurements! " Rated this article: Share yours! More success stories Hide success stories

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