The range of dried pasta types at the store can be bewildering. Do you want corkscrews, stovepipes, or little ears tonight? Perhaps a big dish of priest stranglers (that’d be “strozzapreti” in Italian).
There are reasons pasta exists in so many forms. It’s partly regional (Italian cities big and small always seem to have a specialty pasta). But it’s also practical — certain types of pasta better suit certain sauces. The workhorse pastas, like farfalle, work well with a wide variety of sauces.
The general rule is that delicate noodles (including fresh pasta) are for delicate sauces, while heartier noodles are for heartier sauces. But, like wine pairing, it’s not always that simple. Here’s a guide to help you sort it all out. And if you can’t tell your radiatore from your penne, we’ve got pictures.
We’ve cross-referenced this visual guide by pasta or by sauce and included some suggestions for specific recipes you can try. So dig in and mangia!
Acini de pepe
Best served
- in soup
Acini di pepe are “little peppercorns,” named for their tiny ball shape. They’re reminiscent of Israeli couscous, and you’ll find them floating in dishes such as Italian wedding soup.
Annelli/annellini
Best served
- in pasta salad
- in soup
Annelli are little rings. It’s best to eat these round pieces by the spoonful.
Bucatini
Best served
- baked
- with tomato sauce
Bucatini is a long, pipe-shaped pasta with a hole in the center that’s just wide enough to soak up a few saucy juices. Check out our recipe for bucatini all’amatriciana alla Robert Sietsema for some inspo.
Calamari
Best served
- with seafood and tomato sauce
These pasta bands are named for their squid-like shape. They work best with other shapely ingredients and sauces that have a bit of substance.
Campanelle
Best served
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- in pasta salad
Campanelle are bells that are the perfect size for pocketing little nubs of cheese, veggies, or meat. Check out our recipe for heirloom tomato-basil pasta with olives and feta with campanelle.
Capellini (aka angel hair)
Best served
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with seafood
- with pesto
- in pasta salad
Light and ethereal, these wispy strands do well with lighter, thinner sauces. Check out our recipes for angel hair pasta with green garlic cream sauce and angel hair pasta with spicy vodka sauce.
Casarecce
Casarecce literally means “homemade,” owing to the pasta’s loose, free-form shape. Their crevices are great for soaking up sauce.
Cavatelli
Best served
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- in pasta salad
- in soup
“Cavare” means “to scoop” in Italian — appropriate for the hot-dog-bun-style crevices in cavatelli. They’re a signature shape in the southern Italian region of Puglia.
Cavaturi
Best served
- in pasta salad
Cavaturi also have that scooped center, but they’re slightly longer and scroll-like.
Conchiglie
Best served
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- in pasta salad
- in soup
Named for their conch-shell-like appearance, these tubes can hold ample amounts of liquid. Check out our recipe for pasta with arugula pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and pine nuts with conchiglie.
Ditalini
Best served
- baked
- in pasta salad
- in soup
These “tiny fingers” are a classic choice for soups like pasta e fagioli, although they’re also great for soaking up cheese and sauce in baked dishes. Check out our pasta e fagioli recipe with ditalini.
Farfalle
Best served
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with seafood
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
- in pasta salad
- in soup
You may know them as bow ties, but these all-purpose shapes are actually named for fluttering butterflies. Check out our recipe for bow tie pasta with corn, thyme, and Parmesan.
Fettuccine
Best served
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with seafood
- with vegetables
- with tomato sauce
A versatile favorite, fettuccine are “little ribbons” that work famously well with Alfredo sauce. But they also hold steady against robust meat, seafood, and vegetables.
Check out our recipes for fettuccine Alfredo; fettuccine with pesto, asparagus, and artichoke; and milk-braised pork shoulder ragu with fresh fettuccine.
Fregula
Best served
- in soup
- with tomato sauce
A Sardinian specialty, these grain-like bits add a chewy bite to soups and more. They’re usually toasted, which gives them a brown color. Check out our recipe for soup of fregula with baby clams (fregula kin arsellas).
Fusilli
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
- in soup and pasta salad
Fusilli is a short “spun” pasta with twisted surfaces that provide a chute for sauce to slide down. Check out our recipes for spinach pesto fusilli and fusilli with parsley, walnut, and black olive pesto.
Fusilli col buco
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
- in soup
- in pasta salad
Also known as fusilli bucati, these long corkscrew spirals have a tiny hole inside each strand. Pasta impresarios originally made this shape by wrapping bucatini around knitting needles.
Fusilli napoletani
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
- in soup
- in pasta salad
Fusilli napoletani look like tightly twirled ribbons, although they have just enough space at their center to hold a range of sauces.
Gemelli
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- in soup and pasta salad
Gemelli are “twins,” named for their double-helix-shaped strands. Check out our recipe for dill, chickpea, and feta pasta salad with gemelli.
Gigli
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
Similar to campanelle, gigli are a little bit tighter and frillier, resembling the lilies they’re named for (not that regrettable J. Lo movie from the early 2000s).
Jumbo shells
Best served
- baked
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
An oversized variation on conchiglie, these egg-size pieces are great for filling with cheese, chopped veggies, and more. Check out our Swiss chard stuffed shells recipe.
Lasagna
Best served
- baked
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
These flat sheets are well known for their most common use: baked into saucy, belly-filling recipes. Check out our recipes for lasagna alla Bolognese, butternut squash lasagna, pesto and pea lasagna, and vegan lasagna.
Linguine
Best served
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with seafood
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
Long, flat, and narrow, linguine are best known for being paired with clam sauce, although they are versatile and suitable for use with a wide range of sauces.
Check out our recipes for linguine with clams and zucchini (linguine con vongole e zucchini), linguine with squash noodles and pine nuts, and linguine with clams and chorizo.
Lumaconi
Best served
- baked
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- vegetables
Named after snails, these large roly-poly shapes are big enough to stuff with cheese and veggies.
Macaroni
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with tomato sauce
- in pasta salad
Macaroni, of course, are iconic for their ability to hold cheese. It’s a pairing that has already gone down in history.
Check out our classic macaroni and cheese recipe and Tex-Mex macaroni and cheese recipe for starters, and then branch out to muffin pan mac and cheese bites and healthy mac and cheese.
Malloreddus
Best served
- with butter/oil
- with meat and tomato sauce
This Sardinian shape (a cousin to gnocchi) may resemble a grub, but its ridged surfaces and chewy, thick texture make it perfect for holding heavier sauces.
Check out this recipe for malloreddus with pork and pancetta (malloreddus kin purpuzza).
Manicotti
Best served
- baked
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
These large tubes are a favorite shape for stuffing with ricotta or ground meat.
Orecchiette
Best served
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
- in pasta salad
These “little ears” are popular for their soft, rounded shape, which adapts easily to all manner of accompaniments.
Check out our recipes for orecchiette with broccoli rabe, red pepper flakes, and anchovies; orecchiette with chorizo and Swiss chard; and orecchiette with pistachios.
Orzo
Best served
- baked
- in pasta salad
- in soup
These rice-shaped pieces, which readily soak up flavor, are perfect for lightly dressed salads or baked casseroles.
Check out our recipes for celery and olive orzo salad and poached chicken and pomegranate orzo.
Paccheri
Best served
- with tomato sauce and vegetables
These smooth, thumb-size tubes have their origins in Naples. They’re suited for tossing in tomato-based sauces, but you can also find them stuffed in some recipes.
Pappardelle
Best served
- with meat sauce
These long, broad, and weighty egg noodles have the heft to hold up to heavy meat- and cream-based preparations.
Check out our recipe for fresh pappardelle with butternut squash. (This is an easy shape to master when making pasta at home.)
Pastina
Best served
- in soup
The tiniest pasta of them all! You can eat pastina almost like a porridge or add it to soups.
Penne lisce (aka mostaccioli)
Best served
- baked
- with cream/cheese
- with tomato sauce
- with meat
- with vegetables
A bit on the slippery side, these smooth-surfaced quills are cut on the diagonal.
Check out our beet greens and feta pasta recipe using this pasta type.
Penne rigate
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
- in pasta salad
These penne noodles have a bumpy surface that allows them to pick up sauce better than their smooth counterparts. Check out our recipe for fresh tomato sauce with penne.
Radiatore
Best served
- baked
- with tomato sauce
These short, frilled shapes may look like deep-sea creatures, but they can catch chunks of tomato or cheese between each wing.
Riccioli
Best served
- baked
- with tomato sauce
- in pasta salad
These delicate twisted scrolls can pick up light sauces and stud cheesy bakes.
Rigatoni
Best served
- baked
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
Named for their ridged lines, rigatoni are most commonly found in Sicily. They’re sturdy enough to take on thicker and chunkier sauces. Check out our recipe for creamy rigatoni with chicken and mushrooms.
Rotelle
Best served
- baked
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
- in pasta salad and soup
Rotelle are wheels. (They even have spokes.) These quarter-size circles can be used in a variety of ways, such as in mac and cheese and soups.
Rotini
Best served
- baked
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
- in pasta salad
Rotini are barely discernible from fusilli, but they do have a slightly tighter spiral and a shorter overall length. Check out our recipe for pasta with broccoli, crispy prosciutto, and toasted breadcrumbs.
Sfoglia
Best served
- baked
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
These are broad sheets of pasta — the kind you can make simply by passing dough through a pasta roller. You can use them to make stuffed cannelloni.
Spaghetti
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- tomato sauce
- meat
- seafood
- vegetables
The legendary classic — these long, rounded noodles are perfect for twirling around a fork. Check out our recipes for spaghetti and meatballs and slow cooker spaghetti Bolognese.
Spaghetti alla chitarra
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with tomato sauce
- with meat
- with seafood
- with vegetables
Associated with the central Italian region of Abruzzo, these long strands have a square shape that is created by running pasta sheets through the guitar-like instrument that gives them their name.
Spaghettini
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with tomato sauce
- with meat
- with seafood
- with vegetables
Thinner than regular spaghetti, these wiry pieces are best suited for lighter sauces.
Stelline
Best served
- in soup
Oh, my stars! These twinkling shapes will have you seeking out constellations in your soup.
Strozzapreti
Best served
- with meat and vegetables
Pasta pros make these twists by tightly coiling flat strips of pasta. The origin of their name (“priest stranglers”) is debated. Some say the pasta is so named because gluttonous priests would choke themselves on it.
Tagliarini
Best served
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
Similar in width to fettuccine, these long, flat strands are often served in butter sauce.
Trenette
Best served
- baked
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
- with pesto
Associated with the northwestern Italian region of Liguria, these linguine-like threads are usually served with pesto or simple sauces.
Trofie
Best served
- with pesto
Trofie are formed from tapered twists of dough. They’re most closely associated with Genoa, where you can often find them mixed with pesto.
Tubettini
Best served
- baked
- in soup
Smaller than ditalini, these tubular pieces are associated with minestrone soup. Check out our minestrone recipe.
Ziti
Best served
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with tomato sauce
- with meat
- with vegetables
- in pasta salad
Ziti are tubular and short like penne, but they lack ridges and have a square cut. They’re a key element in many pasta bakes, although they also match up perfectly well with a range of sauces.
Check out our recipe for baked ziti with prosciutto.
Baked pasta
Recipe: Easy baked macaroni and cheese
These shapes work best in baked casseroles such as winter greens lasagna or baked radicchio and mozzarella pasta:
- bucatini
- ditalini
- fusilli
- fusilli col buco
- fusilli napoletani
- gemelli
- gigli
- jumbo shells
- lasagna
- lumaconi
- macaroni
- manicotti
- orzo
- penne lisce
- penne rigate
- radiatore
- riccioli
- rigatoni
- rotelle
- rotini
- sfoglia
- spaghetti
- spaghetti alla chitarra
- spaghettini
- trenette
- tubettini
- ziti
Butter/oil
Recipe: Basic garlicky spaghetti
These pastas are best with delicate butter- and oil-based sauces, such as sage browned butter or aglio e olio:
- campanelle
- capellini
- farfalle
- fettuccine
- fusilli
- fusilli col buco
- fusilli napoletani
- gemelli
- gigli
- linguine
- macaroni
- malloreddus
- penne rigate
- spaghetti
- spaghetti alla chitarra
- spaghettini
- tagliarini
- ziti
Cream/cheese
Recipe: Fettuccine Alfredo
Use more delicate sauces, such as cacio e pepe or green garlic cream sauce, with the thinner noodles on this list, and a robust sauce, such as one made with Robiola Bosina cheese, for the more substantial noodles:
- campanelle
- capellini (aka angel hair)
- casarecce
- cavatelli
- conchiglie
- farfalle
- fettuccine
- fusilli
- fusilli col buco
- fusilli napoletani
- gemelli
- jumbo shells
- lasagna
- linguine
- macaroni
- penne lisce (aka mostaccioli)
- penne rigate
- rigatoni
- rotelle
- rotini
- spaghetti
- spaghetti alla chitarra
- spaghettini
- tagliarini
- ziti
Meat
Recipe: Pasta with roasted chicken, raisins, pine nuts, and parsley
Pair these pastas with chunky meat sauces such as wild boar ragu or ragu alla Bolognese:
- campanelle
- casarecce
- cavatelli
- conchiglie
- farfalle
- fettuccine
- fusilli
- fusilli col buco
- fusilli napoletani
- gemelli
- gigli
- jumbo shells
- lasagna
- linguine
- lumaconi
- macaroni
- malloreddus
- manicotti
- orecchiette
- pappardelle
- penne lisce (aka mostaccioli)
- rigatoni
- rotelle
- rotini
- sfoglia
- spaghetti
- spaghetti alla chitarra
- spaghettini
- strozzapreti
- ziti
Pasta salad
Recipe: Antipasto pasta salad
Match the smaller pastas on this list with recipes that use finely chopped ingredients, such as this couscous salad with zucchini and pine nuts, in which you can substitute pasta such as acini di pepe or fregula for the couscous. The larger pastas will hold up well in other pasta salad recipes that call for coarsely chopped ingredients:
- anelli/anellini
- campanelle
- cavatelli
- cavaturi
- conchiglie
- ditalini
- farfalle
- fusilli
- fusilli col buco
- fusilli napoletani
- gemelli
- macaroni
- orecchiette
- orzo
- penne rigate
- riccioli
- rotelle
- rotini
- ziti
Pesto
Recipe: Basil-parsley pesto
Try these shapes in anything from a watercress-walnut dip or arugula pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and pine nuts to parsley, walnut, and black olive pesto:
- bavette
- capellini
- casarecce
- conchiglie
- fettuccine
- farfalle
- fusilli
- fusilli col buco
- fusilli napoletani
- gemelli
- linguine
- orecchiette
- trofie
Seafood
Recipe: Shrimp, lemon, and herb kamut spaghetti
These shapes are ideal for scooping up pieces of seafood. Try them with this San Marzano red clam sauce or clams and chorizo:
- bavette
- calamari
- capellini
- casarecce
- farfalle
- fettuccine
- linguine
- spaghetti
- spaghetti alla chitarra
- spaghettini
Soup
Recipe: Easy chicken noodle soup from a leftover roasted chicken
Brothy soups are even better with a handful of pasta thrown in. Try these in minestrone or pasta e fagioli or as a substitute for the rice in this chicken soup:
- acini di pepe
- anelli/anellini
- capellini
- cavatelli
- ditalini
- farfalle
- fregula
- fusilli
- fusilli col buco
- fusilli napoletani
- gemelli
- orzo
- pastina
- rotelle
- stelline
- tubettini
Tomato sauce
Recipe: Angel hair pasta with spicy vodka sauce
The more delicate noodles pair well with simple sauces, such as a basic tomato sauce or raw tomato sauce (marinate tomatoes and garlic in oil for a few minutes, and then toss with cooked pasta and torn basil). The more substantial noodles hold up nicely when prepared all’amatriciana or paired with caramelized tomatoes and sausage:
- bavette
- bucatini
- calamari
- capellini
- casarecce
- conchiglie
- farfalle
- fettuccine
- fregula
- fusilli
- fusilli col buco
- fusilli napoletani
- gigli
- jumbo shells
- lasagna
- linguine
- lumaconi
- macaroni
- malloreddus
- manicotti
- orecchiette
- paccheri
- penne lisce
- penne rigate
- radiatore
- riccioli
- rigatoni
- rotelle
- rotini
- sfoglia
- spaghetti
- spaghetti alla chitarra
- spaghettini
- trenette
- ziti
Vegetables
Recipe: Kale and mushroom stroganoff
Try these pastas with an assortment of vegetable sauces, from eggplant-pepper tomato sauce to beet greens and feta or broccoli, prosciutto, and toasted breadcrumbs:
- campanelle
- capellini (aka angel hair)
- casarecce
- cavatelli
- cavaturi
- conchiglie
- farfalle
- fettuccine
- fusilli
- fusilli col buco
- fusilli napoletani
- gemelli
- jumbo shells
- lasagna
- linguine
- lumaconi
- macaroni
- manicotti
- orecchiette
- paccheri
- penne lisce
- penne rigate
- rigatoni
- rotelle
- rotini
- sfoglia
- spaghetti
- spaghetti alla chitarra
- spaghettini
- strozzapreti
- trenette
- ziti
