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When cooking pasta, it's essential to measure the dry pasta to ensure you don't cook too little or too much compared to the sauce. Pasta typically doubles in size and weight when cooked. The method of measurement can vary depending on the type of pasta, whether it's macaroni or egg noodles. Some recipes provide vague instructions on the amount of pasta to prepare, so you will need to measure it yourself. You should base the pasta portion on the serving size and the pasta shape. This article will guide you on how to measure dry pasta.
Steps
Measuring Macaroni Pasta
Read the recipe to determine the required amount of pasta. You can check directly in the recipe or on the pasta sauce bottle. If you're making your own pasta sauce, you should decide how many servings of sauce you're preparing.
- A typical serving of pasta is about 60 grams of cooked pasta for a starter or side dish. A serving can increase to 90-120 grams if it’s the main dish. Sometimes, one serving of pasta is roughly 1/2 cup (114 grams); however, this can vary depending on the pasta shape.
- 1 serving = 60 grams; 2 servings = 120 grams; 4 servings = 240 grams; 6 servings = 360 grams; 8 servings = 480 grams.
Measuring Spaghetti, Fettuccini, Spaghettini, Capellini, Fedelini, or Vermicelli by Hand. Place a bundle of Spaghetti pasta between your thumb and index finger. One serving of pasta, or 60 grams, is equivalent to a bundle of pasta with a diameter of 24 mm, about the size of a coin.
- 2 servings = 4.5 cm; 4 servings = 9 cm; 6 servings = 1 cm; 8 servings = 18 cm.
- You can also use a pasta measuring tool to measure Spaghetti, Linguine, and other types of pasta. These measuring tools are available in kitchen stores, pasta making kits, or online. You place the long strands of pasta into the tool and measure out one serving of pasta.
- Some pasta measuring spoons have a hole in the center, helping you measure one serving of pasta.
Measuring Elbow Macaroni with a Measuring Cup or Food Scale. If using a food scale, place the macaroni in the attached cup to measure 60 grams. If using a measuring cup, one serving of 60 grams is 1/2 cup of dry pasta.
- 2 servings = 1 cup; 4 servings = 2 cups; 6 servings = 3 cups; 8 servings = 4 cups.
Measuring Penne Pasta with a Measuring Cup or Food Scale. If using a measuring cup, one serving of 60 grams is about 3/4 cup of dry Penne pasta.
- 2 servings = 1 1/2 cups; 4 servings = 3 cups; 6 servings = 4 1/2 cups; 8 servings = 6 cups.
Measuring Wavy Lasagna Pasta with a Measuring Cup or by Individual Pieces. One serving of 60 grams of lasagna noodles is about 2 dry lasagna sheets.
- Typically, it’s best to use around 4 sheets of pasta when making lasagna. A standard lasagna baking dish is around 20x20 cm or 25x20 cm. With 4 sheets of lasagna, a 20x20 cm dish serves 4 people, while a 25x20 cm dish usually serves 6 people.
Measuring Egg Noodles
Identifying What Egg Noodles Are. While most pasta contains eggs, to be classified as egg noodles, the pasta must have at least 5.5% solid egg content.
Measuring Egg Noodles Using a Measuring Cup or Food Scale. When using a measuring cup, 60 grams of egg noodles is roughly equivalent to 1 1/4 cups of dry noodles and 1 1/4 cups of cooked noodles.
- Unlike macaroni pasta, the amount of egg noodles measured by a cup is generally the same whether the pasta is dry or cooked.
Understanding the Differences with Larger Noodles. Generally, for large egg noodles, a 60-gram serving equals about 1 1/4 dry noodle strands, yielding approximately 1 1/2 cups of cooked egg noodles.
Helpful Tips
- You can purchase measuring tools designed for portioning spaghetti and other long pasta types. These tools are available in sizes like 60g, 80g, 100g, or 125g and are commonly called multi-purpose pasta measuring instruments.
Things You Will Need
- Dry pasta or egg noodles
- Measuring cup
- Food scale (optional)
- Pasta measuring tool (optional)
