What to use instead of tonnarelli
A porous square strand grips a cheese emulsion like nothing else, which is why Roman trattorias serve tonnarelli cacio e pepe. It also takes lamb ragu in Abruzzo and a light seafood sauce on the coast.
The closest swap: spaghettoni
A thick dried strand for the same sauces.
Tonnarelli is long strands, 250 to 300 mm long, 3 to 5 minutes in the pot. Spaghettoni sits in the long strands family and cooks in 12 to 15 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 tonnarelli, 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
Spaghettoni
Long strands · Campania
A thick dried strand for the same sauces (chosen)
- 2
Tagliolini
Ribbons · Piedmont
A fresh egg strand, flatter and finer (chosen)
- 3
Bigoli
Long strands · Veneto
Another rough thick fresh strand (chosen)
- 4
Pici
Long strands · Tuscany
Same family, also solid, also rough, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 5
Troccoli
Long strands · Puglia
Same family, also solid, also rough, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 6
Spaghetti
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 7
Bucatini
Long strands · Lazio
Same family, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 8
Capellini
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, close in size
Match the sauce, not the look
Tonnarelli is listed against 4 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for cacio e pepe: Pecorino Romano and black pepper emulsified with starchy pasta water. A creamy film that clings to a rough long strand.
- Best pasta for gricia: Guanciale, pecorino, pepper. Carbonara without the egg. It wants a rough tube or a wide strand that holds the fat.
- Best pasta for meat ragu: Any slow meat sauce with solids in it. It wants a shape with a cavity: a wide tube, a cup, or a broad ribbon.
- Best pasta for carbonara: Egg yolk, pecorino, guanciale, pepper. A silky coating with crisp pieces of pork. Long strands or a ridged tube, both are Roman.
Side by side
The measured difference between tonnarelli and each swap.