Pasta Database

What to use instead of fusilli lunghi

The spiral traps sauce in its coils and the bore takes some inside, so it carries more than a plain strand. Tomato with meat, a sausage ragu, a chunky vegetable sauce.

The closest swap: bucatini

The same bore without the twist.

Fusilli lunghi is long strands, 250 to 300 mm long, 10 to 13 minutes in the pot. Bucatini sits in the long strands family and cooks in 9 to 12 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 fusilli lunghi, 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. 1
    Bucatini, uncooked, on linen

    Bucatini

    Long strands · Lazio

    The same bore without the twist (chosen)

  2. 2
    Fusilli, uncooked, on linen

    Fusilli

    Short shapes · Campania

    The short version, same grip (chosen)

  3. 3
    Cavatappi, uncooked, on linen

    Cavatappi

    Tubes · All of Italy

    A short hollow spiral (chosen)

  4. 4
    Perciatelli, uncooked, on linen

    Perciatelli

    Long strands · Campania

    Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 3 sauces, close in size

  5. 5
    Capellini, uncooked, on linen

    Capellini

    Long strands · Campania

    Same family, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size

  6. 6
    Fedelini, uncooked, on linen

    Fedelini

    Long strands · Liguria

    Same family, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size

  7. 7
    Spaghetti, uncooked, on linen

    Spaghetti

    Long strands · Campania

    Same family, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size

  8. 8
    Spaghettini, uncooked, on linen

    Spaghettini

    Long strands · Campania

    Same family, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size

Match the sauce, not the look

Fusilli lunghi is listed against 4 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.

  • Best pasta for ragu napoletano: Whole cuts of meat braised for hours in tomato. The sauce dresses the pasta; the meat is the second course. Ziti and paccheri.
  • Best pasta for sausage ragu: Crumbled sausage, often with fennel, cooked in tomato or white wine. Orecchiette in Puglia, rigatoni everywhere else.
  • Best pasta for pomodoro: Tomato, olive oil, garlic or onion, basil. Smooth and light. Almost any shape works; the classic is spaghetti or penne.
  • Best pasta for amatriciana: Guanciale, tomato, pecorino, chili. A short cooked sauce with pieces in it. Bucatini in Rome, spaghetti in Amatrice.

Side by side

The measured difference between fusilli lunghi and each swap.

Fusilli lunghi vs BucatiniFusilli lunghi vs FusilliFusilli lunghi vs Cavatappi

Where to buy

Find a substitute for any shape · The full fusilli lunghi page