How Many Pasta Shapes Are There?

Traditional wisdom says there are between 300 and 350 pasta shapes, but thanks to the rise of 3D printing and AI, the number is now virtually unlimited.

How we categorise pasta shapes

Everyone has their own way of categorising pasta shapes, but we like to classify them into nine distinct groups: minute, stuffed, short cut, speciality, irregular, ribbon, long, 3D printed, and shapes created by AI.

Within the first seven of these groups, there are hundreds of different shapes, with the Encyclopaedia of Pasta stating that there are over 300 pasta shapes in total.

Slight differences in a pasta shape’s size, the type of dough used to make it, and a plethora of regional nuances mean that even shapes that look pretty much identical can have a whole host of different names. That makes categorising shapes a tricky task.

The UK's most popular pasta shape

Take farfalle, one of the UK’s most popular pasta shapes, as an example. In parts of northern Italy, you’ll hear it called strichetti. A small farfalle shape is known as farfalline, while a larger one is called farfalloni. Outside of Italy, you may hear it called “bow tie” or “butterfly” pasta, so you can see how quickly the number of shapes starts to add up. Let's look at our nine categories in turn.

Minute pasta shapes

The smallest pasta shapes tend to be served in soups rather than with a sauce. The only shape from this group sold in UK supermarkets is orzo, but in Italy there are numerous different shapes, including risoni, anellini, and the smallest of the lot, tempestine.

Stuffed pasta

Everyone has heard of ravioli, but there are dozens of types of filled pasta shapes, with tortellini coming a close second in terms of popularity. Different sizes, crimping techniques, and fillings make this group of shapes one of the most exciting in terms of customisation.

Short-cut shapes

Penne is the most obvious shape to be classified in this group, although in Italy you won't have any trouble getting hold of its close cousins, macaroni, rigatoni, ziti, and many more.

Speciality pasta shapes

Farfalle leads these intricate and elaborate shapes, accompanied by varieties such as corzetti, torchio, and radiatori, among many others. The latest shape to join the lineup is cascatelli, a pasta shape that was three years in the making.

Irregular pasta shapes

The pasta-making process creates quite a few offcuts, which companies hate to waste. These irregular scraps won't win any design awards, and they don't tend to cook very evenly because of their different shapes and sizes, but they are perfectly edible. In Italy, you will find them served as budget pasta dishes, although traditionally these scraps would have been given away to the poorest members of society, with the pasta shape maltagliati being the most well-known example.

Ribbon shapes

We classify these shapes as anything that is long and flat, and that includes everything from one of our favourite shapes to pair with pesto, fettucine, right up to pappardelle and super-wide sheets of lasagne. Many of these shapes are cut using a fluted pasta cutter, which produces stunning zigzag edges.

Long pasta shapes

This category includes not just the most famous pasta shape in the world, spaghetti, but a whole variety of long, slender shapes with very specific names depending on the exact thickness of the dough. Vermicelli is a good example, as is angel hair, but there is an even thinner shape that is often cited as the rarest shape in the world, su filindeu.

3D printed pasta

Although still far from mainstream, the advance of 3D printing technologies means that the possibilities for inventing new and exciting types of pasta are unlimited. It allows creative cooks to produce insanely intricate shapes that simply couldn't be created using any other method.

AI pasta shapes

Chat GPT exploded onto the scene in late 2022, and even though it was still in its relative infancy, it was already able to make up new names and shapes of pasta. With research labs like Midjourney already using AI to create pasta shapes inspired by celebrities, this technology is here to stay and is set to be the biggest disrupter the pasta industry has ever seen.