Dry to Cooked Pasta Converter
Estimate how much cooked pasta you'll get from any dry amount using practical kitchen ratios.
Common shapes that trap sauce and absorb standard amounts of water.
Cooked weight (grams)
460 g
Cooked weight (ounces)
16.2 oz
Cooked volume (cups)
4.2 cups
How to Use This Calculator
Enter the amount of dry pasta
Use either weight (grams or ounces) or cups measured dry—whichever your recipe specifies.
Choose your pasta type
Different shapes absorb varying amounts of water. Pick the category that best matches your pasta.
Check the cooked amount
Instantly see total cooked weight and volume so you can plan portions or scale recipes.
Formula
cookedWeight = dryWeight × cookedWeightFactor
cookedVolume = dryCups × cookedVolumeFactor
Weight units: The calculator converts ounces to grams internally for accurate scaling.
Example: 8 oz of short pasta → 226.8 g dry × 2.3 = 521.6 g cooked → 18.4 oz cooked and 4.2 cups.
Note: Ratios assume pasta is cooked al dente in salted water and drained thoroughly.
Full Description
Pasta roughly doubles in weight and volume once cooked, but the exact amount depends on the pasta shape and recipe. This converter uses culinary school ratios to give a realistic estimate of how much cooked pasta you'll serve.
Use it when meal prepping, planning for events, or checking whether a box of pasta will feed the number of guests you expect. By providing both weight and cup-based outputs, you can match the calculator to whatever measurements your recipe requires.
Great for
- Estimating buffet servings and catering quantities.
- Scaling pasta salads where dressing volume matters.
- Meal prepping balanced portions for the week.
- Converting cookbook instructions between metric and U.S. units.
Factors like sauce absorption, overcooking, and draining technique can slightly change yields. For large events, build in a 5–10% buffer to ensure every plate is full.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does salt or sauce change the weight?
Adding salt to the cooking water has minimal impact. However, cream or oil-based sauces can add additional weight after draining.
What if I cook the pasta beyond al dente?
Softer pasta absorbs more water, increasing cooked weight slightly. Expect up to 5% more weight than the calculator shows.
Can I convert cooked pasta back to dry weight?
Yes. Divide the cooked weight by the factor listed. For example, 600 g cooked short pasta ÷ 2.3 ≈ 261 g dry.
How many servings per cup of dry pasta?
One cup of dry pasta typically yields about two cooked cups, which makes two side servings or one hearty main course.