10 most popular Pasta shapes in Italy (suggested recipes)

Everyone knows that Italian cuisine has a huge and varied selection of regional recipes and many of them always have one thing in common, pasta! A lot of different types of pasta.

Perfect in its simplicity, prepared only with flour and water, it is always different, thanks to the combinations that can be made among the many shapes of pasta and various seasonings.

To this day, pasta is practically an international food, cooked and loved all over the world, even in the United States it is possible to find a truly disarming amount of pasta shapes, so much so that this question may arise in many people, which pasta formats do Italians love the most?

Of the more than 300 pasta formats produced in Italy, how do Italians that live in Italy prefer pasta?

Although I am Italian and already had a possible personal ranking of pasta formats in mind, I did some research and found data to answer the question:

Which pasta shapes are the most loved and eaten by Italians?

From research published in the book “I Love Pasta: An Italian Love Story in 100 Recipes” the ten best-selling pasta formats here in Italy are revealed, below you will find this ranking in order of sales volume expressed in percentage.

In addition to the pasta format in the relative sales position, you will also find some recipe suggestions that can enhance the characteristics of the specific pasta types.

Here is the ranking of the 10 most loved pasta shapes in Italy:

1. Spaghetti

In first place reigns Spaghetti, by far the most consumed shape of pasta in Italy (it has a 14.4% share of the total volumes sold in Italy *), it is the pasta format that most represents Italian food culture in the world.

The term spaghetti comes from “piccolo spago” Italian words for “little string” and is present in all regional culinary traditions, from North to South Italy. There is even an Italian term, “spgahettata“, which refers to eating spaghetti at night.

Spaghetti pasta is very adaptable and goes well with many sauces: such as the legendary spaghetti with tomato and basil. Another recipe that enhances their characteristics is “la carbonara”: a classic dish of Roman cuisine; it has a very short preparation time – (10/15 minutes), and the few selected ingredients (guanciale, eggs, Roman pecorino cheese) are the guarantee a fabulous dish, don’t try to vary the carbonara please.

2. Penne rigate

In second place here is penne rigate, very widespread throughout Italy (8.5% of volumes sold), owes its name to the quill pen, anciently used for writing, which was cut obliquely to obtain a thin stroke tip.

Penne is one of the rare formats whose date of birth is certain: 1865, the year a Genoese pasta maker patented a machine that could cut fresh pasta diagonally (in the shape of a pen) without crushing it. Penne rigate goes perfectly with “all’arrabbiata” sauce: a must-have dish on the menus of Italian restaurants around the world.

For an exhaustive explanation of what is the peculiarity of penne rigate, follow the link.

3. Fusilli

Third on the podium are fusilli, a form of pasta of Arab derivation that first spread to southern regions, from which the Muslim expansion into the Mediterranean began. Fusillo derives from the term ‘fuso,’ a wooden hand-spinning tool on which spaghetti was wound to make a serpentine strand of pasta.

It goes well with many sauces, from the most elaborate to the simplest, such as diced garden vegetables dressed with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, light and colorful. (7% sales volume).

Personally, I love fusilli and for me they are better than penne, I even wrote an article on how to eat them.

4. Tortiglioni

This shape of pasta is typical of southern Italy, particularly Campania, but today they are found in all Italian regions. The name comes from Latin and means “to turn.”

Its characteristics are enhanced by flavorful, full-bodied sauces such as paired with a Parmesan fondue and a few drops of balsamic vinegar. (5.6% volume of sales).

They’re so good to bite into, you might as well eat them plain! Read here to find out what Italians mean by white pasta.

5. Mezze penne rigate

Make no mistake, mezze penne rigate is different from simple penne rigate. In the large penne family, the difference between types is thickness, diameter, and length. Mezze penne rigate is the shortest, but not the smallest: in fact, they have the same diameter as penne rigate. If you’re wondering if they have the same taste despite the different shapes, I’ll explain it at the link.

Very versatile, they go well with sauces of all kinds and are also used for cold pasta salads and as a base for baked pies. For an original first course, they can be paired with clams and chickpeas: an unusual and tasty recipe! (5,3% sales volume).

6. Spaghettini

The second presence of the spaghetti family in the ranking, spaghettini is a variation of spaghetti with a thinner diameter, perfect for quick, light, and not very dense sauces.

They are traditionally paired with oil-based sauces, which do not weigh down their thin, runny shape. They are also perfect for the classic “aglio, olio e peperoncino.” a dish popular throughout Italy and easy to prepare in a short time. (5 percent of sales volumes).

By the way, if you’re in a hurry and don’t want to wait for the pasta to cook, read here which pasta shape cooks faster.

7. Bavette

An ancient pasta format of Ligurian origin, possibly already present in the 13th century. Long like spaghetti but the flattened shape provides a larger surface area for sauces and pestos to adhere, enhancing their taste and aroma.

They are typically paired with pesto alla genovese, one of Italy’s most typical regional sauces (3.7 percent of sales volumes). Here I wrote about how pesto is really eaten here in Italy

8. Pennette rigate

Still penne, but thinner in thickness than their big sisters, pennette rigate dive into the sauce, blending to perfection. They are widely used for pasta alla norma, a typical Sicilian cuisine recipe in which three typical ingredients are enhanced: tomatoes, eggplant, and salted ricotta cheese (2.7% of sales volume).

If you are interested in the theme, “how to combine each pasta shape with the right sauce exactly as we Italians do”, follow the link.

9. Farfalle

One of my favorite pasta shapes, “farfalle” in Italian is butterfly, although this pasta actually resembles more of a ribbon. The wide wings manage to hold the sauce in; the central staple is differently consistent and enhances the sauce even more.

Widespread in all regions, they are perfect both for robust sauces, typical of the winter period, and for lighter, typically summery sauces, such as tuna, cherry tomatoes, and olives (2.6% of sales volumes).

10. Rigatoni

At the last place of the ranking we find rigatoni, which are typical pasta types of central/southern Italy, the name comes from the rifling present on the outside obtained thanks to the incision of the bronze drawn, which allows the sauce to be absorbed and collected.

Perfect for baked pies and timbales, they are also suitable for creaming sauces, as in the typical cacio e pepe recipe (2% of sales volumes).

Total volumes of pasta sold in Italy, divided by different shapes

I summarize the ranking in this handy table where the pasta shapes are in descending order of sales volume.

Pasta shapes	% sales volume in Itlay
Spaghetti	14,4%
Penne rigate	8,5%
Fusilli	7%
Tortiglioni	5,6%
Mezze Penne Rigate	5,3%
Spaghettini	5%
Bavette	3,7%
Pennette rigate	2,7%
Farfalle	2,6%
Rigatoni	2%

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