What to use instead of ziti
A smooth tube holds sauce inside the bore rather than on the surface, so it wants a sauce with enough body to fill it: a slow ragu, the Neapolitan onion Genovese, a baked tomato and cheese.
The closest swap: penne lisce
A smooth tube of the same width, cut diagonally.
Ziti is tubes, 50 to 60 mm long, 11 to 14 minutes in the pot. Penne lisce sits in the tubes family and cooks in 10 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 ziti, 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
Penne lisce
Tubes · Liguria
A smooth tube of the same width, cut diagonally (chosen)
- 2
Rigatoni
Tubes · Lazio
Wider and ridged, for a heavier sauce (chosen)
- 3
Mostaccioli
Tubes · United States
The American name for a smooth diagonal tube (chosen)
- 4
Candele
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 4 sauces
- 5
Paccheri
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 3 sauces
- 6
Sedani
Tubes · All of Italy
Same family, also hollow, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 7
Tortiglioni
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 8
Calamarata
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
Match the sauce, not the look
Ziti is listed against 5 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 baked (al forno): Pasta finished in the oven with sauce and cheese, or stuffed and baked. It needs a sturdy shape that survives twice cooking.
- 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 marinara: A quick tomato sauce with garlic and oregano. Thinner than a ragu, faster than a pomodoro. Strands and small tubes.
- 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.
Side by side
The measured difference between ziti and each swap.