What to use instead of macaroni
A small smooth tube with a curve, so it holds a cheese sauce inside and a dressing in the bend. Mac and cheese, pasta salad, minestrone. It has no ridges, so a thin oil sauce slides off.
The closest swap: chifferi
The Italian ridged elbow.
Macaroni is tubes, 20 to 35 mm long, 7 to 10 minutes in the pot. Chifferi sits in the tubes family and cooks in 8 to 10 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 macaroni, 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
Chifferi
Tubes · All of Italy
The Italian ridged elbow (chosen)
- 2
Ditali
Tubes · Campania
A short straight tube (chosen)
- 3
Cavatappi
Tubes · All of Italy
A longer hollow spiral for more sauce (chosen)
- 4
Tubetti
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 5
Pennette
Tubes · All of Italy
Same family, also hollow, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 6
Calamarata
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 1 sauce
- 7
Candele
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 1 sauce
- 8
Cannelloni
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 1 sauce
Match the sauce, not the look
Macaroni is listed against 5 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for mac and cheese: A cheddar or American cheese sauce, often baked. Elbows are traditional. Shells and cavatappi hold more sauce.
- Best pasta for pasta salad: Cooked, cooled pasta dressed with oil or mayonnaise and mixed with vegetables. Short shapes with folds that hold dressing.
- Best pasta for minestrone: A thick vegetable soup with beans and a small pasta added at the end. Ditalini, conchigliette, or anellini.
- 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 four cheese: Gorgonzola, fontina, parmesan, and one more, melted into cream. Heavy. Gnocchi, penne, or a baked shape.
Side by side
The measured difference between macaroni and each swap.