How Much Pasta Per Person?
75-85g of dried pasta per person is perfect for a main course. This increases to 100-150g when serving fresh pasta.
The metric system is the best way to measure the right amount of pasta per person.
In many parts of the world, recipes are still written using cups, pounds, and ounces (the imperial system) rather than kilograms, grams, and milligrams (the metric system). While this is fine for things like bread making, where many ingredients are equally dense, it is a profoundly flawed system for measuring how much pasta you need per person.
The reason is that small pasta shapes like orzo pack very densely into a cup, leaving hardly any air pockets between each piece. On the flip side, a large shape like rigatoni packs very sparsely into a cup, meaning a large amount of that cup's volume will be nothing more than air pockets.
The result is that a cup of small shapes can weigh 2-3 times as much as a cup of larger shapes, which is a problem when accurately measuring the right amount of pasta per person. The simple solution is to switch to metric and buy good-quality digital kitchen scales.
Recommended grams of pasta per person for a main course
| Pasta type | One serving |
| Dried pasta | 75g |
| Fresh pasta | 100g |
| Filled pasta | 150g |
Note that these are only approximate guidelines. If we're watching our weight or eating pasta as part of a much bigger meal, we'll often reduce these amounts by 25%. On the flip side, if we're feeling particularly ravenous, we've been known to increase these portion sizes by up to 50%.
Recommended grams of pasta per person for a starter
| Pasta type | One serving |
| Dried pasta | 35g |
| Fresh pasta | 50g |
| Filled pasta | 75g |
Italians don't have starters and mains in quite the same way as other European nations. They generally only eat pasta as their first course (primo), preferring their second course (secondo) to be meat or fish-based. Therefore, when ordering pasta in an Italian trattoria, don't be surprised when the dish arrives with about half the amount of pasta you would expect to be served in other countries.
How many grams of dry pasta per person
| Number of people | Grams of pasta |
| 1 | 75g |
| 2 | 150g |
| 3 | 225g |
| 4 | 300g |
| 5 | 375g |
| 6 | 450g |
| 7 | 525g |
| 8 | 600g |
| 9 | 675g |
| 10 | 750g |
Note that portion sizes are ultimately entirely subjective and will vary depending on your guests' appetites (or gluttony!). Although we make a conscious effort to reduce our food waste, it's better to cook a little more pasta than you think you might need. After all, it is a relatively cheap ingredient, and there is nothing worse than dishing up a meal only to find that when it comes to serving yourself, you only get the dregs.
How many grams of fresh pasta per person
| Number of people | Grams of pasta |
| 1 | 100g |
| 2 | 200g |
| 3 | 300g |
| 4 | 400g |
| 5 | 500g |
| 6 | 600g |
| 7 | 700g |
| 8 | 800g |
| 9 | 900g |
| 10 | 1kg |
We've already laid bare our case for always using the metric system when measuring pasta, but our main gripe with the imperial system is the use of cup sizes. Providing you have good, accurate scales, it is possible to measure the right amount of pasta using the imperial system. Here is what you'll need:
How much dried pasta per person in pounds and ounces
| Number of people | Quantity of pasta |
| 1 | 3oz |
| 2 | 6oz |
| 3 | 9oz |
| 4 | 12oz |
| 5 | 15oz |
| 6 | 1lb 2oz |
| 7 | 1lb 5oz |
| 8 | 1lb 8oz |
| 9 | 1lb 12oz |
| 10 | 2lb |
Don't feel bad if you cook a little more pasta than you need. If you wrap it well in cling film and refrigerate it within an hour or two, it will be perfect for eating hot or cold the next day. In a bizarre twist of science, reheated pasta can even be healthier for you than it was the night before.
How much fresh pasta per person in pounds and ounces
| Number of people | Quantity of pasta |
| 1 | 4oz |
| 2 | 8oz |
| 3 | 12oz |
| 4 | 1lb |
| 5 | 1lb 4oz |
| 6 | 1lb 8oz |
| 7 | 1lb 12oz |
| 8 | 2lb |
| 9 | 2lb 4oz |
| 10 | 2lb 8oz |
Now that you know exactly how much pasta you need per serving, check out our guide for the right amount of pesto to pair with pasta.