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Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Key Takeaways
- Store-bought dried pasta isn't just a weeknight hero, it's a pantry staple that can help you whip together a quick and easy meal any day of the week.
- With so many new pasta options available in stores, we spoke to four chefs to find out which brands they keep coming back to for delicious texture and flavor.
- To our surprise, a New York-based pasta maker, known for its unique shapes and quality ingredients, took the top spot.
Affordable, versatile, and easier than ever to cook up, boxed pasta is one of our essential pantry staples. Whether you’re in the mood for mac and cheese, have been assigned pasta salad duty at the next potluck, or are dreaming of recreating the iconic scene from “Lady and the Tramp” with your true love, the solution is always the same: pasta.
And if you’ve stepped into a grocery store recently or shopped online, you’ve probably noticed that there are more options than ever when stocking up on spaghetti or filling your cart with farfalle. We’re firm believers that you always deserve the best, so when it comes time to whip up any of the above, which brand should you buy? We turned to professional chefs to find out which boxed pasta brand they buy the most.
Our Panel of Pasta-Loving Chefs
- Jeanette Donnarumma, a recipe developer and Emmy Award-winning producer in Ridgewood, New Jersey
- George Formaro, chef-partner of Orchestrate Hospitality restaurants (including Italian cuisine-focused Centro) in Des Moines, Iowa
- Mary Payne Moran, chef and owner of The Silver Lake Kitchen cooking school in Los Angeles and the author of “The Vita Gang Mysteries: Who Stole Vita D?”
- Alix Traeger, the Los Angeles, California-based recipe developer and author of the forthcoming cookbook “Scratch That: Embrace the Mess, Cook to Impress”
Qualities of the Best Store-Bought Pasta
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The pasta recipe you’re following—and who you’re sharing it with—can help you decide which brand to buy, believes Chef George Formaro of Des Moines, Iowa. If you’re aiming to impress or serving a straightforward sauce that relies on the pasta to take center stage, you may want to invest more. But rest assured that you can find some seriously solid noodles for $2 per box.
Regardless of the price, here are the features you’ll want to seek out in the best pastas, the chefs say:
- Few, high-quality ingredients. Recipe developer Jeanette Donnarumma of Ridgewood, New Jersey, confirms that great ingredients can drastically impact pasta texture. She prefers 100% durum wheat semolina as the base when possible.
- Diversity in noodle shapes. Classic shapes are beloved for a reason, explains cookbook author Alix Traeger of Los Angeles, California. “Pappardelle and rigatoni are always in my pantry. They’re reliable, satisfying, and know how to play well with just about any sauce,” Traeger tells us. That said, some wild cards are wonderful to mix things up. Some shapes can act as better vehicles for sauce and introduce some uniquely satisfying textures, including campanelle (a cone with a ruffled edge), casarecce (a medium-cut scroll-shaped pasta), and the extra-long, giant fusilli (aka fusilli colonne pompei) that’s having a big moment online. “I’m super picky about the shape,” Traeger adds. “I gravitate toward fun, unique shapes that bring texture and personality to the plate. A ruffle here, a twist there, a dramatic curl. These little details make a dish feel instantly more exciting—and honestly, more impressive—without any extra work.”
- Bonus: Proper packaging. This might sound purely aesthetic, and it partially is: “I’m a sucker for good packaging. When it comes to pasta, I want it to look like it was hand-carried from a tiny shop in Italy. Give me paper bags with a little peekaboo window and charming typography,” Traeger says. The package also plays a significant role in how the noodles hold up. Seek out something sturdy enough so that there isn’t a large proportion of broken pieces in the box or bag, Donnarumma advises.
The Best Store-Bought Pasta, According to Chefs
You can savor pasta warm or cold, but the results of our professional poll prove that the concept of boxed pasta is quite the hot topic. Six brands earned the chefs’ stamp of approval, but only one came out on top: Sfoglini.
Sfoglini / Allrecipes
With votes from Traeger, Formaro, and Donnarumma, this is the brand to turn to “when you want a ‘pinky out’ level of fanciness,” Formaro explains. The brand takes home gold for its “high quality and amazing texture,” Donnarumma notes. And with unique shapes specifically designed to hold sauces, Sfoglini pasta makes it easy to transform a simple sauce into something that “still feels special,” Trager adds. Look for it at retailers, ranging from Whole Foods Market to Walmart, for about $6 per pound, or order it directly from the source online.
Honorable Mentions
Coming in closely behind the MVP, Sfoglini, two brands tied for second place with two votes each:
- Rustichella d’Abruzzo Pasta: The eye-catching packaging, which “looks like it came straight from a shop in Italy,” initially drew Traeger in. But what keeps her coming back for more is the quality. It’s admittedly a splurge at around $9 per pound, but it’s well worth that price because the noodles are “slow-dried, bronze-cut, and have that firm, chewy bite that holds up really well with sauce,” Traeger says. Formaro agrees, noting that “you could tell people that you know a pasta chef or an Italian grandmother (or my mom!) who made it for you, and they’d believe it. High-end Italian restaurants would proudly use it if they could afford it. Yes, I’m fan-girling over this—it’s worth every penny.” The best compliment of all? “This pasta reminds me of my mom. It’s that simple.”
- Barilla: Both of the previous contenders are a bit of a splurge. When you’re looking to save or use for everyday use, at about $2 to $3 per pound, Formaro believes that dried pasta from Barilla doesn’t disappoint. “They have a great national selection, the pasta cooks up al dente, and more importantly, my Sicilian-born and raised mother—if she were alive—would approve,” Formaro explains. “Barilla uses state-of-the-art equipment throughout their plant, and that makes a difference,” he adds. Chef Mary Payne Moran of Los Angeles echoes those sentiments, praising Barilla’s short ingredient list (durum wheat and water) as delivering “spot-on consistency. It’s a denser, thicker pasta, and I love that,” Moran says.
Other Pasta Brands to Try
If you can’t find the top three near you, the following brands also offer a fantastic product, per our pros.
- De Cecco: Formaro, who prepares pasta for restaurant diners and his own dinner table, describes De Cecco as “a fantastic brand that has been the top choice of many industry professionals for decades. The uncooked texture is slightly more rustic than cheaper brands; a quality I seek in store-bought pasta,” he says.
- Giadzy: Giada De Laurentiis’ signature line of pasta is a new favorite addition to Traeger’s collection. “Let’s be honest: The woman clearly knows her noodles. Plus, the pasta feels really thoughtfully sourced. The shapes are beautiful, and it cooks up exactly the way I want it to every time.”
- Rao’s: Snagging a reservation at this legendary New York City restaurant is rarely easy, Formaro admits, but scoring the brand’s boxed pasta? That’s a breeze. “Rao’s is synonymous with quality. Every single item with its name on it is fantastic. I love everything about them! Just once in my life, I would love to dine in person at this legendary eatery,” Formaro tells us. “Until then, I’ll happily enjoy their products.” (In case you missed it, Rao’s swept the vote of our best pasta sauce competition, too.)
Your Pasta Sauce Pairing Guide
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Speaking of sauces, no matter which boxed brand you buy, it can be helpful to “think of your sauce first,” Traeger says. “Then you can match the noodle to it. We want a pasta shape that carries the sauce, enhances the sauce, and doesn’t get lost in the sauce. The shape matters more than people think.”
For a strong, hefty sauce like bolognese, seek out a noodle with “main character energy,” Traeger says. “Rigatoni or pappardelle is my go-to, since they can hold their own alongside the meat.” Medium-bodied sauces, such as carbonara or vodka, pair well with spaghetti and bucatini. And for thinner or lighter sauces with an olive oil, browned butter, or white wine base, tender shapes shine.
Especially when you splurge on a quality boxed pasta, Formaro is fond of tossing it with a “thin, simple sauce that allows the high-quality ingredients of the noodle to step into the spotlight. Thin tomato sauces or stock-based sauces with grated cheese and a few complementary flavors allow the texture to stand out,” he says. (Donnarumma’s signature dish that checks this box is linguine and fresh white clam sauce. “It sounds fancy, but it’s actually a very easy-to-make dish that relies on the quality of the pasta and seafood to be perfectly delicious,” she says.)
When to Make Fresh Pasta
Dried pasta is definitely quicker and makes far less of a mess in your kitchen. Plus, shapes like rigatoni and anything tube-shaped are better dried, if you ask Traeger: “They’re meant to be sturdy, and the dried versions are engineered to hold up and trap sauce in all the right places.”
That said, fresh pasta has its place, “and for certain shapes, it just hits differently,” Traeger says. “The dough is tender, eggy, and silky in a way that dried pasta just can’t replicate. It absorbs sauce beautifully and melts in your mouth,” Trager notes. And when you make pasta from scratch, Moran explains, “You can control the thickness. I tend to make very thin pasta for bolognese and thicker for Alfredo sauce.” Moran adds that fresh pasta is her most-requested cooking class theme.
If you've ever had a curiosity about making pasta by hand, some shapes are easier to achieve in your home kitchen than others. Ribboned pasta like tagliatelle and fettuccine is relatively beginner-friendly. Filled pasta, such as ravioli and tortellini, can also be easily tackled.
If you need extra guidance to make homemade pasta, don’t miss our guide, which will help you master the skill in no time.
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