Mezzi rigatoni
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Half-length rigatoni.
14.5 mm across, 1.2 mm wall
Name. Mezzi, half, plus rigatoni.
What it is
Mezzi rigatoni is rigatoni cut to half its length, about three centimetres, so the wide ridged tube becomes a bite-sized piece. It is close to mezze maniche and the two names overlap on the shelf.
The short length suits sauces with lots of small pieces and dishes eaten with a spoon.
How to cook mezzi rigatoni
11 to 13 minutes in boiling salted water. Al dente at 12 minutes, fully cooked at 13.
12:00
Start when the water returns to the boil.
Water and salt
- Pasta, dry
- 400 g
- Water
- 4 L
- Salt
- 40 g
100 g per person as a main. A litre and 10 g of salt per 100 g. Adjust with the portion calculator.
The steps
- Bring 4 L of water to a full boil in a tall pot. Add 40 g of salt when it boils.
- Add the mezzi rigatoni. Stir for the first minute so nothing sticks. Start the timer when the water returns to the boil.
- Bite a piece at 11 minutes. A hairline of white at the centre is al dente.
- Scoop out a cup of the cooking water. Drain, or lift the pasta straight into the pan.
- Toss with the sauce over the heat for a minute. Add cooking water a splash at a time until it clings.
Read more: what al dente means and why the pasta water matters. Times for every shape are on the cook page.
How it holds sauce
As rigatoni, with a shorter tube that fills more easily: sausage ragu, amatriciana, a chunky vegetable sauce, the oven.
Pairs with: Amatriciana · Sausage ragu · Meat ragu · Baked (al forno) · Carbonara
Classic plates: Mezzi rigatoni alla gricia, Mezzi rigatoni al forno.
By brand: numbers, cook times, spec sheets
4 brands, 9 product pages. Cook times run from 11 to 17 minutes across brands, so read the box, not a rule. A blank cell is a figure the brand does not state.
| Brand | Product | No. | Cook | Length | Width or Ø | Wall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Cecco | Mezzi Rigatoni no. 26 | 26 | 14 min, al dente 12 | |||
| Rummo | Mezzi Rigatoni | 51 | 14 min | 24 mm | 14.5 mm | 1.4 to 1.75 mm |
| Rummo | Mezzi Rigatonigluten-free | 51 | 12 min | 20 mm | 14.9 mm | 1.35 to 1.7 mm |
| Rummo | Mezzi Rigatoniwhole wheat | 51 | 13 min | 24 mm | 14.5 mm | 1.4 to 1.75 mm |
| Barilla | Mezzi Rigatoni | 11 min, al dente 10 | ||||
| Barilla | Mezzi Rigatonial bronzo | 17 min, al dente 15 | ||||
| La Molisana | Mezzi Rigatoni | 32 | 12 min | |||
| La Molisana | Mezzi Rigatoni N.32extra di lusso | 32 | 13 min | |||
| La Molisana | Mezzi Rigatoni Integraliwhole wheat | 32 | 12 min |
Nutrition
Per 100 g of dry semolina pasta. The shape does not change these numbers. The dough does, so a whole wheat or egg version of this shape reads differently. See every dough.
| Per 100 g | Energy | Protein | Carbohydrate | Fibre | Fat | Sodium | Iron |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry | 371 kcal | 13.0 g | 74.7 g | 3.2 g | 1.5 g | 6 mg | 3.3 mg |
| Cooked | 158 kcal | 5.8 g | 30.9 g | 1.8 g | 0.9 g | 1 mg | 1.3 mg |
One portion. 100 g dry becomes about 235 g cooked, 371 kcal and 13 g of protein. Pasta takes on 2.3 times its weight in the pot.
Who makes mezzi rigatoni
33 mezzi rigatoni products are catalogued, most of them sold in Italy, United States, Germany. Of those, 3 are gluten-free, 3 are organic, 1 are Gragnano PGI, 1 are made in Italy.
Brands: Rummo (4), Barilla (2), Laselva (1), De Cecco (1), F Lli de Cecco di Filippo Fara San Martino Spa (1), La Molisana (1), Grisspasta (1), Rummo Lenta Lavorazione (1), Despar (1), Pastificio di Martino (1).
No mezzi rigatoni? Use these
Ranked by how they behave with sauce, not how they look. Full substitute list.
Side by side
Easy to confuse with
Other names
half rigatoni, rigatoni corti.
Sources
- Mezzi Rigatoni no. 26, De Cecco (cook time, catalogue number, from the brand's own product page)
- Mezzi Rigatoni, Rummo (cook time, catalogue number, spec sheet dimensions, from the brand's own product page)
- Mezzi Rigatoni (gluten-free), Rummo (cook time, catalogue number, spec sheet dimensions, from the brand's own product page)
- Mezzi Rigatoni (whole wheat), Rummo (cook time, catalogue number, spec sheet dimensions, from the brand's own product page)
- Mezzi Rigatoni, Barilla (cook time, from the brand's own product page)
- Mezzi Rigatoni (al bronzo), Barilla (cook time, from the brand's own product page)
- Mezzi Rigatoni, La Molisana (cook time, catalogue number, from the brand's own product page)
- Mezzi Rigatoni N.32 (extra di lusso), La Molisana (cook time, catalogue number, from the brand's own product page)
- Mezzi Rigatoni Integrali (whole wheat), La Molisana (cook time, catalogue number, from the brand's own product page)
- Cook time: De Cecco no. 26: 12 min.
- Open Food Facts (products, brands, labels), Open Database License, read on 2026-08-25.
- USDA FoodData Central (nutrition per 100 g, by dough: FDC 169736, Pasta, dry, enriched; FDC 169737, Pasta, cooked, enriched, without added salt), public domain. The cooked yield is derived from the two energy figures.
- Dimensions: brand spec sheets and measured boxes. Blank fields are unmeasured, never guessed.