How to Measure Dry Pasta

Measuring Spaghetti and Other Long Pastas

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). 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. 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.

Measuring Elbow Macaroni

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.

Measuring Penne Pasta

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.

Measuring Ribbed Lasagna

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. With four layers of lasagna noodles, an 8x8 pan of lasagna will typically feed four people, while a 10x8 pan will usually serve six.

Measuring Egg Noodles

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.