21 Types of Pasta—Every Shape and Size—and the Best Ways to Use Them (2024)

Every pasta lover and Italian food fanatic knows that picking the right pasta can elevate a good pasta recipe into a great pasta dish. There's a reason restaurants keep many types of pasta in stock: They know there's a perfect noodle for every sauce or dish.

We lined up our favorite noodle types—with pictures, cooking times, best uses, and sauce pairings—so you can pair your perfect pasta with a dish that makes it shine. Whether you're just learning how to cook pasta or you make it yourself, you'll learn something new with this handy noodle guide.

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Angel Hair and Capellini

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The Italian "capellini" means "little hairs," an apt description for these long, thin, delicate strands. Angel hair pasta, or Capelli d'angelo,is even thinner and often sold in a nest-like shape.

Cooking time: 3 to 5 minutes
Best for: Tossing with sauce
Ideal sauces: Light tomato, olive oil, cream, butter, seafood

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Elbow Macaroni

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For most of us, our first thought about macaroni—that dry pasta shaped like narrow tubes—is that it's half of the beloved mac and cheese found on nearly every kid's menu. Short and C-shaped, elbow pasta is arguably the most common macaroni shape.

Cooking time: 6 to 8 minutes
Best for: Baked dishes, salads, soups
Ideal sauces: Cheese, butter

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Farfalle or Bow Ties

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In Italian, farfalle (pronounced far-FAH-lee), which means "butterflies," are pinched in the middle to look like bow ties. A larger variation is known as farfalloni, while the miniature version is called farfalline.

Cooking time: 10 to 12 minutes
Best for: Tossing with sauce, salads
Ideal sauces: Cheese, olive oil, butter

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Fettuccine

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These spaghetti-length noodles, sometimes made with eggs, are flat and about ¼-inch wide. Fettuccini, a term that translates to "little ribbons," is often compared to tagliatelle, which is a bit wider and always made using eggs.

Cooking time: 10 to 12 minutes
Best for: Tossing with sauce
Ideal sauces: Meat, cream, cheese

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Fusilli and Rotini

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Both twisty, 1½-inch long noodles, fusilli and rotini are essentially interchangeable as far as recipes go, but there are subtle differences between the two:

Jumbo Shells

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These large shell-shaped noodles have a ridged exterior and a big, open cavity that practically begs to be stuffed. They're sometimes referred to by their Italian name, conchiglioni (pronounced kon-KEEL-yoni), which means—you guessed it—"large shells."

Cooking time: 11 to 13 minutes
Best for: Stuffing, baked dishes
Ideal sauces: Tomato, cream

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Orzo

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This pasta takes the shape of rice or barley, from which it gets its name. It's classified as pastina or "little pasta," a category of very small pasta.

Cooking time: 9 to 11 minutes
Best for: Salads, soups
Ideal sauces: Light tomato, olive oil, vinaigrette

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Penne

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Penne are small 2- to 4-inch-long tubes, about the size of a pinkie finger. Cut on the diagonal, some have ridges (and some don't). Penne is Italian for "pen," a reference to the angled ends of the tube that resemble the tip of a quill pen.

Cooking time: 10 to 12 minutes
Best for: Tossing with sauce
Ideal sauces: Chunky tomato, meat, vegetable, cream

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Shells or Conchiglie

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Most of us refer to conchiglie (pronounced kon-KEEL-yay) as its English translation, which is "shells" or "seashells."This pasta's shape creates a cavity that's conducive to clinging sauce.

Cooking time: 10 to 12 minutes
Best for: Baked dishes, salads
Ideal sauces: Tomato, meat, vegetable, cream, cheese, vinaigrette

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Linguine

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These spaghetti-like noodles are flat, like fettuccini, but half as wide: about ⅛-inch. Its Italian name means "little tongues."

Cooking time: 10 to 12 minutes
Best for: Tossing with sauce
Ideal sauces: Tomato, pesto, olive oil, seafood

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Orecchiette

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This distinctive form of pasta originated in the "heel" of Italy's boot and can be challenging to make by hand. Orecchiette (pronounced oh-reck-ee-ET-tay) are small concave disk shapes that look like little ears, which is exactly what this pasta's name translates to.

Cooking time: 10 to 12 minutes
Best for: Tossing with sauce
Ideal sauces: Meat, cream, seafood

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Pappardelle

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Pappardelle (pronounced pap-par-DAY-lay) are long, flat egg noodles about ⅝-inch wide. Their name translates to "gulp down," perhaps referencing its delicious nature or the less than dignified way it's consumed.

Cooking time: 7 to 10 minutes
Best for: Tossing with sauce
Ideal sauces: Tomato, meat, vegetable

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Rigatoni

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These tubular, ridged noodles are about 1½-inches long with a ¾-inch diameter. Their name translates to "large grooves" or "large stripes."

Cooking time: 11 to 13 minutes
Best for: Tossing with sauce, baked dishes
Ideal sauces: Chunky meat or vegetable, cream, cheese

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Spaghetti

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For many of us, spaghetti was our introduction to pasta. These entry-level noodles are thin, round strands about 10 inches long. This type of pasta is not to be confused with spaghetti squash, which is a vegetable; spaghetti code, which means badly written code; or spaghetti westerns, which are a type of movie made in Europe, usually with an Italian director.

Cooking time: 9 to 11 minutes
Best for: Tossing with sauce
Ideal sauces: Tomato, pesto, meat, seafood

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Ziti

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Ziti noodles are medium-width tubes (just a bit wider than a drinking straw), at least 2 inches long, and almost always have smooth sides. When compared with penne, ziti have squared-off ends (as opposed to penne's angled cuts) and are generally larger. The word "ziti" means "bride" or "bridegroom," referring to this pasta's popularity in baked dishes served at Sicilian weddings.

Cooking time: 10 to 12 minutes
Best for: Baked dishes
Ideal sauces: Light tomato, olive oil, cream, cheese

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Ditalini

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Translated from Italian, ditalini means "little thimbles," which is a good description of this pasta's size and shape. They're short, small tubes that fit nicely on a soup spoon and hold their own in a hearty stew.

Cooking time: 8 to 10 minutes
Best for: Soups, like minestrone, because it cooks quickly
Ideal sauces: Tomato-based soups

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Gemelli

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Gemelli is the word for "twins," which aptly describes this pasta that looks like two thick noodle strands twisted together. You'll most likely find it in a casserole or a pasta salad.

Cooking time: 12 to 13 minutes
Best for: Oil-based sauces that can drizzle down the strands
Ideal sauces: Light tomato sauces, dairy-based sauces, or oil-based sauces

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Paccheri

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Paccheri (pronounced PAH-ker-ee) is a large, tubular type of pasta. Its root, "pacca," means "pat" or "slap," referring to the sound the pasta makes when it's tossed with sauce. These noodles are commonly stuffed with ricotta (or other fillings) and then baked.

Cooking time: 7 to 10 minutes.
Best for: Rich, heavier sauces or seafood
Ideal sauces: Tomato and oil-based sauces, which coat the sides in a slick layer

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Campanelle

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Campanelle means "bells," which is a good description of this cone-shaped noodle with distinctive ruffled edges. Its unique shape helps it stand up well in a pasta salad or under a heavy topping.

Cooking time: 10 to 11 minutes
Best for: Heavy, creamy sauces
Ideal sauces: Dairy-based sauces such as béchamel, vegetable sauces with chunky vegetables, meat sauces, fish-based sauces, or hearty tomato-based sauces

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Lumaconi

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Lumaca is Italian for "snail," so lumaconi means "large snails." These noodles are essentially big tubes with one end pinched closed. This pasta's hollow part is great for scooping up hearty sauces, but you'll also find them stuffed and served as finger food.

Cooking time: 11 to 14 minutes
Best for: Hearty sauces filled with vegetables
Ideal sauces: Stuffed and served on their own; or paired with robust meat, vegetable, or tomato sauces

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Reginette or Mafaldine

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This ruffly pasta noodle is named for the Italian princess Mafalda of Savoy, hence its dual moniker: Reginette means "little queens," and mafaldine means "little Mafalde." They're often used as long spaghetti-length noodles, but short versions are available as well.

Cooking time: 9 to 12 minutes
Best for: Tossing with wilted greens or bacon
Ideal sauces: Light, simple sauces, seafood sauces, or meat sauces