Its no secret that pasta is undeniably delicious. It’s also no secret that making the perfect amount of pasta can be a challenging task.
For a tasty dinner for one, two, or four people, eyeballing the “perfect” serving doesn’t always work; frequently, the sauce-to-pasta ratio is ruined or you end up with an absurd amount of leftover noodles.
There are plenty of simple ways to determine how much pasta you’ll have after it has been swimming in salted water, whether you’re entertaining with a dish like rigatoni with corn and spicy sausage or having a quick lunch like Giada DiLaurentiis’ cacio e pepe.
Amy Brandwein, owner and chef of Washington D. C. s Centrolina and a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award shared simple techniques to end less-than-ideal pasta servings. Here’s how to prepare dish sizes that are acceptable in restaurants every time you don your Sicilian chef hat.
Did you make this recipe?
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 equal one cup, four serve two cups, six serve three cups, and eight serve four cups.
Use a measuring cup to portion dried pasta.
When you cook semolina pasta, its size can double, so take proper measurements. Barilla advises using 2/3 cup dried pasta for 1 1/4 cups of cooked pasta when cooking semolina penne, and 1/2 cup dried pasta for 1 cup of cooked pasta when cooking rotini. The typical serving size for cooked pasta is 1 to 1 1/2 cups, but keep in mind that you’ll probably be adding sauce and other ingredients, like vegetables or proteins, to bulk up your dish.
To determine how many cups to measure, home cooks can use Barillas handy chart.
The Recommended Serving Size for Pasta
While the USDA states a serving size of all grains, including pasta, is 1 ounce, they understand that’s not actually realistic since 1 ounce of dry pasta is just 1/2 cup of cooked pasta. Therefore, it’s noted that the common portion size of dry pasta, and the recommended portion to shoot for, is actually 2 ounces. You’ll see that number on most nutritional labels and it’s the most sensible to go by.
Although 1 cup of cooked pasta can be made from roughly 2 ounces of dry pasta, the amount varies slightly depending on the shape.
FAQ
How much is a serving of spaghetti noodles?
Two ounces of dry spaghetti or one cup of cooked spaghetti constitutes one serving, which is roughly the same volume of dry pasta as would fit through the opening of a soda bottle.
What is a serving size of pasta noodles?
A typical serving of pasta is two ounces of dry pasta, which is equivalent to about a cup of cooked pasta.
What is 2 oz of spaghetti?
One cup of cooked pasta is equal to two ounces of any dry long pasta, such as spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, angel hair, or bucatini.
How many servings is 4 oz of spaghetti?
– Long pasta with a small diameter, like vermicelli or spaghetti: Four ounces, held together in a bunch, measure about an inch in diameter. That yields approximately 2 cups of cooked pasta, which is sufficient for 2 servings.
