How to Measure a Serving Size of Spaghetti

When cooking pasta, it can be tempting to just eyeball a spaghetti portion size rather than measuring the noodles out carefully. But you sometimes need exact amounts of pasta—like if you’re following a recipe, trying to perfect your sauce-to-pasta ratio, hosting a dinner party, or sticking to a certain diet. No matter the reason, there are many quick and easy methods to measure out the perfect serving of spaghetti for one or more people!

Measuring a Spaghetti Serving

A single serving of spaghetti is 2 ounces (56g) of dry pasta per person. To measure a serving of spaghetti, make a quarter-sized circle with your thumb and forefinger. Fit dry spaghetti noodles through that hole until no more can fit—that’s a perfect serving size of spaghetti!

Section 1 of 7:

How to Measure Spaghetti with Your Fingers

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Fit a serving of spaghetti through a quarter-sized hole in your fingers. Make a circle with your thumb and pointer finger. Adjust the size of the circle until it’s about the size of a bottle cap or U.S. quarter. Place the dry spaghetti noodles through your fingers until the circle is filled. Whatever fits is a single serving of spaghetti!^{[1]
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- Repeat this process for however many servings of spaghetti you’d like to cook.

Section 2 of 7:

How to Measure Spaghetti with a Soda Bottle

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Fit a serving of noodles through the top of a 1-liter soda bottle. Stand the bottle upright on a table and place a small amount of noodles into the bottle. You should continue to hold the noodles so they don't spread out and mess up the measurement. Add more spaghetti until the bottle's opening is filled in.^{[2]
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- One bottle-cap’s worth of spaghetti is approximately equal to one serving. Repeat this process if you want to make multiple servings.
- If you like this method but don't want to have an empty soda bottle taking up your counter space, cut off the top of the bottle and keep it in a drawer.

Section 3 of 7:

How to Measure Spaghetti with a Scale

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Weigh out 2 ounces (57 g) of dry spaghetti on a kitchen scale. Take some dry spaghetti out of the box and place it on your kitchen scale. Note what the initial measurement is, then add or remove pasta to reach the amount of servings you want—which should be 2 ounces (57 g) of spaghetti per person.^{[3]
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- If you’re hosting a pasta dinner for 4 people, for example, weigh out 8 ounces (230 g) of spaghetti.

Section 4 of 7:

How to Measure Spaghetti with a Pasta Spoon

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Put a small amount of dry spaghetti through the hole in the middle of the spoon. Add more noodles until the pasta spoon’s hole is completely filled. Once filled, release the spaghetti into the pot. Repeat as necessary to make more than one serving of spaghetti.^{[4]
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Section 5 of 7:

How to Measure Spaghetti with a U.S. Quarter

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Compare the size of a small bunch of noodles to a U.S. quarter. A single serving of spaghetti, when bunched into a circle, has a diameter of ⁷⁄₈ inch (22 mm)—same as a U.S. quarter.^{[5]
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Research source} If you have one of those coins around, gather a small bunch of spaghetti and line it up on top of a quarter. Add noodles until the quarter is completely blocked by the spaghetti, but not more than fits on top.
- Place this measured pasta in a pot and repeat the process for any additional servings.

Section 6 of 7:

How to Measure Spaghetti with a Pasta Measure Tool

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Use the pre-measured holes in a spaghetti measure tool. Take a small amount of dry spaghetti out of the box and put it through the hole that matches the number of servings you want to make. Add spaghetti noodles to fill the hole completely and find your spaghetti portion size for any number of people.^{[6]
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- Spaghetti measure tools are small devices with various-sized holes cut into them.
- Each hole equals a different number of servings (typically from 1-4), which makes it easy to measure spaghetti per person!

Section 7 of 7:

How to Use Leftover Spaghetti

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Freeze leftover spaghetti in a sealed bag for up to a month. If you ended up cooking more servings of spaghetti than you needed, place the extra portions of pasta (with or without sauce) into a freezer bag. Make sure the cooked pasta has completely cooled to room temperature before placing it into the bag. Eat the pasta within one month of freezing it.^{[7]
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- When you’re ready to eat the pasta, place the freezer bag into a bowl of warm water to thaw.
- Once it’s thawed enough to remove it from the bag, place the defrosted pasta into a pan and warm it over gentle heat.
- After a few minutes, your spaghetti will be ready to eat!
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Repurpose leftover spaghetti into a frittata. To make frittata di spaghetti, a popular southern Italian dish, mix every 8 ounces (230 g) of leftover spaghetti with about 4 eggs and ½ cup (50g) of your preferred grated cheese. Pour the mixture evenly into a nonstick skillet. Cook for about 8 minutes or until the bottom of your frittata is set, then flip it onto a plate.^{[8]
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- Slide the frittata back into the pan and cook the other side for about 5-10 minutes until it begins to brown.
- Place the spaghetti frittata onto a serving plate, and enjoy!

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If your spaghetti is already cooked, a single serving of cooked pasta is 1 cup (200g). You can measure cooked pasta with a measuring cup or by using a kitchen scale.

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A less exact way to measure dry pasta is dividing the box into the amount of servings it holds. If a box of spaghetti holds 10 servings, for example, pour out the spaghetti and divide it into 10 equal sections. Each section should be about a single serving of pasta.

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When making spaghetti, use 8 fluid ounces (240 mL) of water for every 4 ounces (125g) of pasta.

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