How Much Cooked Pasta Do You Need Per Dinner Guest?

Whether you're planning an Italian-themed, multi-course dinner party or just making a pot of spaghetti for your family, getting portion sizes right can be a challenge. Some overzealous home cooks will make enough food to feed an army, leading to endless leftovers, and sadly food waste, as some will likely end up in the trash. However, other cooks are more abstemious, leaving guests hungry and unhappy.

How do you know how much is enough? In Italy the locals are quite discerning about portion sizes. While folks in the U.S. are gobbling dinner plates piled high with spaghetti, Italians generally eat pasta as a smaller first course, or primo. The rule of thumb for primo portioning is 2 ounces of dried pasta per person, which will equal anywhere from ¾ of a cup to 1 ¼ cups of cooked pasta, depending upon what type you happen to be using. This is a good approximation, especially if you plan to serve additional courses and sides.

If you're serving pasta as the main course, you can up the quantity to nearly two cups of cooked pasta per person, but it might better for us to take a page from the noodle masters across the pond, and keep our portions smaller, adding protein and vegetables to round out the meal. After all, the Mediterranean diet has been proven to be incredibly healthy, without cutting out carbs.

It's also good to keep in mind that different kinds of dried pasta will yield larger (and occasionally smaller) portions when cooked. For example, a two-ounce portion of dried mini Penne will make ¾ cup when cooked, while the same amount of dried Campanelle will cook up to 1½ cups. On the other hand, fresh pasta, gnocchi and filled pastas such as tortellini or ravioli, should be divided into 3.5 to 4 ounce portions per person.