What to use instead of capellini
There is almost no mass to carry sauce, so the sauce must be nearly weightless: butter, lemon, a splash of oil, a raw tomato, a little broth. Anything with body clumps the strands into a mat.
The closest swap: spaghettini
The next thickness up, more forgiving.
Capellini is long strands, 250 to 260 mm long, 2 to 4 minutes in the pot. Spaghettini sits in the long strands family and cooks in 6 to 9 minutes. Match the cook time first. A swap that is right in shape and wrong in time still ends up wrong on the plate.
Every swap for capellini, ranked
A substitute must behave the same way with the sauce you are making. The ones marked as chosen are hand-picked. The rest score on family, cavity, surface, size, and shared sauces.
- 1
Spaghettini
Long strands · Campania
The next thickness up, more forgiving (chosen)
- 2
Vermicelli
Long strands · Campania
A fine strand in the Neapolitan naming (chosen)
- 3
Fedelini
Long strands · Liguria
Between capellini and spaghettini (chosen)
- 4
Linguine
Long strands · Liguria
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 5
Spaghetti
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 6
Su filindeu
Long strands · Sardinia
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 7
Trenette
Long strands · Liguria
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 8
Spaghettoni
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, close in size
Match the sauce, not the look
Capellini is listed against 4 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for lemon and butter: Butter, lemon zest and juice, parmesan, pasta water. Light and bright. Thin strands and delicate ribbons.
- Best pasta for aglio e olio: Garlic, olive oil, chili, parsley. The thinnest sauce there is. It needs a strand that it can coat, with nothing to hide in.
- Best pasta for in brodo: A clear meat or chicken broth. Pastina or filled pasta, cooked and served in the liquid.
- Best pasta for pomodoro: Tomato, olive oil, garlic or onion, basil. Smooth and light. Almost any shape works; the classic is spaghetti or penne.
Side by side
The measured difference between capellini and each swap.