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.

1

Measuring Spaghetti and Other Long Pastas

  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; four servings = 3.5 inches; 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

  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

  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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5

Measuring Egg Noodles

  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

  • Question
    If I have a 16 oz pkg of orecchiette, but only need 10 oz, how do I measure the 10 oz?
    Community Answer
    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.
  • Question
    How do you measure with a spaghetti tool?
    Community Answer
    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.
  • Question
    How much dry elbows do I need for 2 cups of cooked?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    As dry pasta generally doubles in size when cooked, 1 cup of dry elbows should be perfect.
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Things You'll Need

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

About This Article

Abyssinia Campbell
Co-authored by:
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 ten years 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 2,121,139 times.
30 votes - 86%
Co-authors: 16
Updated: June 28, 2022
Views: 2,121,139
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!

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