This calculator will calculate the amount of dry pasta you will need per person/serving. The calculations are based on Barilla’s recommendations, which are roughly 2 ounces of dry pasta per person. This is equivalent to approximately 56 grams of dry pasta. Two ounces of dry pasta generally will equal one serving of cooked pasta.
Read more or skip to the bottom of the page to use the calculator.
Portion Size By Cups?
Pastas come in a large array of shapes and sizes; this also varies by brand. While their weight is the same, their volume is different. For this reason, serving size is measured in ounces (or grams).
Some pastas like rotini are large and come with a lot of crevices for holding sauces. Others, like ziti, are smaller. One 2 ounce dry serving size of rotini equals 3/4 cup whereas ziti’s 2 ounce dry serving size is 2/3 cup. The nutritional label on your purchased pasta should provide the serving size by cup.
Whether you’re trying to figure out how much to serve per person for small dinner or you’re cooking for a large gathering, you’ll have results in both ounces, ounces, grams, and other measurements.
How Much Water Does Pasta Absorb
Off-the-shelf pastas such as penne, spaghetti, macaroni, and other pasta variations all absorb relatively the same amount of water despite having different shapes. A comparison of nutrition labels based on weight for dry versus cooked spaghetti showed that the cooked spaghetti would have contained 1.4 times its dry weight in water. However, pasta cooked at this ratio would be past “al dente”. A ratio of 1.25 of pasta to water resulted in a noodle texture closer to al dente.
The Secret To Perfect Pasta
As with our rice calculator, we researched what it takes to make great pasta. And it turns out much of the chemistry is the same, with a few additional tricks.
- Season the water with salt. Three teaspoons of salt will increase the boiling temperature of your water by a few degrees. This higher temperature is a good thing for the starches in pasta. It will also season your pasta noodles as they cook.
- Wait until your water is at a rolling boil before adding your pasta. The starches in the pasta need both consistent heat and water to cook evenly.
- Should you add oil to your pasta’s water? Chemists found that most of the oil that is added to the water used to boil pasta rinses off when you strain the pasta.
- Pasta should be cooked minutes before it is served. The starches on the outside of pasta are meant to be sticky so that they hold onto sauces they are being served with. The sauces will help in preventing the pasta from sticking to itself.
- When to rinse pasta? Rinsing with cold water stops the cooking process and washes off starches. For this reason, rinsing is only recommended when you will be serving the pasta later, or using it in a salad.
If you are cooking for a large gathering and need to calculate other food items, check out our Cooking For A Crowd Calculator.
